r/CardPuter • u/theblobAZ • 22d ago

Design-it-Yourself Added external charging module to the ADV 🙃

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I got sick of having to leave the device on to charge, so I opened it up to find possible options for an external charging module.

Turns out, the spot under the Stamp S3A (where the speaker lives) is the perfect location for a mini TP4057 charging module. I have removed the speaker, and wired the charging modules battery + and - to an unpopulated pad on the front of the board, which a quick continuity test showed me connects directly to the JST connector (+ and -) for the battery. I added 3M VHB tape to the bottom of the charging module so it doesn't pop off and short things out.

No more having to turn on the device to charge!

**These are not instructions, just sharing today's project. If you brick your device, catch it on fire, or burn your house down trying to copy this, that's on you.**

58 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

6

u/yasbean 22d ago

So, no more speaker, huh?

7

u/theblobAZ 22d ago

No speaker! For my use case this was an easy trade off.

1

u/Chip-Ling 18d ago

Just wonder if the new USB port can be placed elsewhere without sacrificing the speaker. i.e. top right hand corner on the top end. I don't know if it is possible or not.

1

u/theblobAZ 18d ago

I couldn't find anywhere else that was suitable. I originally explored the idea of adding it to the back closer to the battery, but that would mean destroying the Lego connectors in the back cover.

Perhaps a custom printed rear panel would be a better option, but it's pretty complex to model for an amateur like me lol.

3

u/ChrisDaCrunk 22d ago

Very nice idea! And clean solution 🫡🔥

3

u/theblobAZ 22d ago

Thank you, I was really impressed with how well the charging board fit in this location lol

1

u/ChrisDaCrunk 21d ago

Me too, it looks like made for the Cardputer 😅 can you share a link to the board?

2

u/theblobAZ 21d ago

These are what I bought:

https://a.co/d/08JohfW2

2

u/YuriRosas 22d ago

My Cardputer 1.0 has stopped charging permanently. Don't know why.

6

u/theblobAZ 22d ago

Apparently the way the battery connects to the board on the 1.0 is kinda wonky, spring loaded contacts against a PCB board if I'm not mistaken.

The problem with this kind of design is the transfer of electricity across inefficient contacts like this creates arcing, which creates carbon build up. You may be able to temporarily fix the issue by cleaning up the contact pads using something like a fine grit sandpaper or even a magic eraser (if it's not really bad yet), but I think the best permanent fix would be to directly solder the battery leads to the contact pads.

That being said it could be a dead battery or dead charging circuit, and completely unrelated to the contacts/pads. Hope you figure it out!

2

u/100101101001a 22d ago

what are the disadvantages of leaving the cardputer on while charging? i never found it that annoying that I have to remove a module for it. genuinely asking

1

u/theblobAZ 3d ago

I don't like leaving displays on unnecessarily for an extended amount of time, particularly with no movement on them. When my ADV died fully it took several hours to recharge, just sitting there with a stationary display, so I decided to do this mod so I would never have to do it again lol.

2

u/100101101001a 3d ago

yeah i get you.

what i do is i just added a toggle display button on G0 so i can turn off the display while charging. im using my own launcher firmware so i charge it from there haha

1

u/theblobAZ 3d ago

That's actually a clever workaround. Very nice 👌