Electron firmware version 0.8.0-rc.10 now shows the lack of battery charge. Does the Electron always need the Li-Po battery connected even if its power comes from another external battery?
I have an application where I prefer to cycle power to the Electron once daily. This is now being done by an external timed relay. If the Electron always requires the Li-Po battery attached, how can one cycle power to the device?
I would appreciate the community’s input.
You can use the Electron without the LiPo if you have a power supply that can supply 2A, and do so fast enough for the very short power bursts in the cellular modem. You may want to disable the charging LED as well. If you don’t have sufficient power, you probably won’t be able to connect to cellular or connect to the cloud. It will also vary depending on how far away the cell power is (farther away = more power required).
If you have the LiPo connected, you can get pretty close to powering down by using System.sleep with SLEEP_MODE_DEEP for 10-20 seconds.
Thank you @rickkas7. I am using a power supply that can easily supply a lot more power.
I will try System.sleep as you recommended.
BTW, I just noticed with 0.8.0-rc.10 that it is showing the battery charge of 88%. There is no Li-Po attached to the device! Earlier when I wrote the original post, it was correctly showing 0%.
It also “appears” that System.reset() does not sometimes match recycling power in terms of deleting all variables and restarting the system.
Is there a way to simulate COMPLETE power recycling using code?
is the “disable the charging led” still required for DeviceOs 1.2.1, i’ve noticed it doesn’t flash as much with this version, only ever once in awhile and dash board seems to remove battery level when no battery is attached.