# WRL-15435 Battery Charging via V\_USB **URL:** \ **Category:** Other Radios\ **Created:** [October 4, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/wrl-15435-battery-charging-via-v_usb/44510 "2022-10-04T19:43:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![originaldev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@originaldev](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/originaldev)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/wrl-15435-battery-charging-via-v_usb/44510/1 "2022-10-04T19:43:12Z")
Good afternoon, I’m currently testing an XBee3 setup using the Thing Plus -XBee3 Micro (U.FL) boards as both my coordinator and my end devices. I’m attempting to test a solar-powered version to act as a network nodes for connecting moving end devices. When using a battery and USB power, I get the charging LED indicator. However, when powering the board via V\_USB and Ground through a solar panel and buck converter it runs but I do not get the charging LED indicator. (I’ve also tried a 12vdc power supply to the buck converter and still don’t get the charging indicator) Is the onboard charger limited to the actual USB port only? Or is the USB indicator only limited to this? Thanks! ![IMG_1074 Large.jpeg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/original/3X/d/d/dd4b9fbdec5c7325d1b2cb88e5d0594d661cd60b.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![TS-Russell](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/user_avatar/community.sparkfun.com/ts-russell/32/6092_2.png) [@TS-Russell](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/TS-Russell)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/wrl-15435-battery-charging-via-v_usb/44510/2 "2022-10-04T21:00:46Z")
My 1st guess is that the solar panel might not be outputting enough mA to supply the board + charging? Test it to see how many amps the panel is pushing out ---
**Author:** ![originaldev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@originaldev](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/originaldev)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/wrl-15435-battery-charging-via-v_usb/44510/3 "2022-10-04T21:04:55Z")
Hi TS-Russell, thanks for the reply! I figured that might be it as well. However, I did try it with a 12VDC 2A power supply connected to the buck converter with similar results ---
**Author:** ![originaldev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@originaldev](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/originaldev)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/wrl-15435-battery-charging-via-v_usb/44510/4 "2022-10-04T21:09:55Z")
With 12VDC supply only ![IMG_1078.jpeg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/original/3X/8/2/82e59a21f368398a5ddc8d36dc299311f7e44dc6.jpeg) Battery and 12VDC supply ![IMG_1079.jpeg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/original/3X/6/5/6554103f73cad3d1b96033213ee0f678ff5e50eb.jpeg) Battery Only ![IMG_1080.jpeg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/original/3X/a/6/a6cec19f5206b1877765f36d8001d6a62aae165c.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![originaldev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@originaldev](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/originaldev)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/wrl-15435-battery-charging-via-v_usb/44510/5 "2022-10-04T21:14:40Z")
USB and Battery ![IMG_1081.jpeg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/sparkfun/original/3X/1/5/15398d80e932782b022d73da603b64c177d7435c.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![originaldev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@originaldev](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/originaldev)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/wrl-15435-battery-charging-via-v_usb/44510/6 "2022-10-04T21:24:04Z")
Also, I did just verify that the same behavior is present on 3 separate WRL-15435 boards trying 2 separate buck regulators (COM-18356) ---
**Author:** ![n1ist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@n1ist](https://community.sparkfun.com/u/n1ist)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://community.sparkfun.com/t/wrl-15435-battery-charging-via-v_usb/44510/7 "2022-10-05T00:49:53Z")
The AP63203 regulator board outputs 3.3v. Vusb should be 5v /mike