I wonder whether it will recognise the correct battery capacity and hence display the correct charge state percentage if you replace the standard battery with some other battery (whether custom built by yourself or store bought).
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18650 is an ok choice if you make this thing such that they are easily removable for changing and charging with standard charger. That kind of holder adds to the thickness. If thatâs ok, then no problem.
Iâd probably approach this by making the whole backplate a changeable batterypack (as in, use original battery + external battery via USB-C) by sourcing a flat battery that doesnât waste space by being round and needing a holder. Just make a couple of those âbackplatebatteriesâ that are usb-chargeable, and the effect is the same (you can have as thick/powerfull as you want). And you can probably cleverly use some powerpack already out there to make it easy - just rip the case away, glue the battery and readily available electronics on your L5 backplate or a printed backplate that has a place for them. Youâd probably get more power with less added space and mass.
The added benefit would also be that you can change these âpowerbackplatesâ while the phone stays on, since the original battery is still there and L5 uses the usb-power/batterypack first. If you are worried about needing USB-C for something else, you can always get a mini port splitter. Alternatively this could be done to an external case instead of the backplate.
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I would rather have a skinny solar-charging/energy-storing backplate (if that could ever be powerful enough to run the L5).
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Not a bad thing, but it would have to be powerful and constantly towards the sun to have an impact to L5⌠unless that too device has a battery that the panel charges (instead of directly the phone). Thereâs nothing preventing adding a panel to the previous design.
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Or maybe you could add in both another battery pack and a keyboard like the Pinephone. PinePhone (Pro) Keyboard - PINE64 .
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Note what I wrote:
P.S. I tried my Hypergear Solar 10000mAh Model 13681 Powerbank (Output 5V/2.1A (10.5W Max) with the L5, but it didnât seem to work, unfortunately.
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Sorry, missed the second half. But to be fair, a black backplate will store solar energy anyways⌠
Maybe we should try using Seebeck generator and harness the CPU excess as well?
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I did a keyword search of this page and couldnât find the word âlithiumâ.Should I assume then that the batteries in the device are not lithium?
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They are. Itâs kinda assumed and default at this point in time with this kind of devices and powerbanks. Larger search of the whole forum will show you lithium is mentioned.
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No. They are âLithium-Ionâ or âLi-ionâ batteries. Pretty much all cell phones, battery packs, and laptop batteries are Lithium these days.
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Can it feasibly be done? Sure, with enough money, time, and interest. But isnât that the case with anything?
Youâd need a BMS of some kind to monitor everything and provide overcharge/undercharge/short/etc protection. Here is the protected battery pack module for the MNT Reform. Note that the L5 uses a Li-ion battery whereas the Reform uses 8x LiFePO4 batteries in series, and the battery chemistries have different voltages, C-rate, DOD tolerance, and a long list of other design differences.
Disclaimer: be extremely careful with batteries. As stated to me by my circuit design professor:
Batteries contain significant potential energy in a very confined space. Do you know what else shares these characteristics?
A bomb.
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Did you get more detail on that?
I am taking the product link as: 10,000mAh | Dual USB Solar Power Bank | HyperGear â HYPERGEAR
Looks like both power outputs are USB-A connectors, which may mean that it doesnât negotiate a good outcome with the Librem 5. You really want one that has a USB-C connector and which supports USB PD 3.0.
Maybe this baby: 10,000mAh | Wireless Solar Power Bank | HyperGear â HYPERGEAR
Web site is a bit useless i.e. devoid of technical specifications, that I could see.
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Youâd have to reconfigure MAX17055. Not a rocket science, battery parameters are given to it by the kernel driver from the device tree.
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Rephrasing for clarity: It did not charge the Librem 5.
Maybe Iâll get the other HyperGear power bank, once I switch over to the L5 full-time. The model I have charges my main phone (degoogled Android) from USB-A, even with a -C adapter on one end, so Iâm covered in that respect.
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That PD 3.0 @irvinewade mentioned is important with L5 and is C specific (itâs not just about the size and shape of it)
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Yep. I figured out it wasnât delivering enough juice somehow. I thought it might register something at least, either in the Power Statistics app, or the notifications area.
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If you want to investigate then
cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
will show you how the negotiations panned out. As an example, when I connect my Librem 5 with a USB-C cable to a USB-A port on my computer via an adapter, it negotiates to 500mA and not PD - which may just be enough to run the device but with little or nothing left over for charging the battery.
Two differences that may exist, in this scenario, between the Librem 5 and a spyphone:
- The spyphone may be more energy efficient such that a bit more is left over for charging the battery even if only 500 mA is available.
- The spyphone may support power protocols that the Librem 5 does not, such that higher current can be used even on a vanilla USB-A port. (As always, that is the beauty of standards. There are so many to choose from.)
So you would need to confirm with the manufacturer that the powerbank supports PD 3.0 on the USB-C output - or get a loan unit - or get one on a returnable basis - or test in store if buying f2f.
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Connected to HyperGear Power Bank:
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=0
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=0
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
Not connected to HyperGear Power Bank:
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=0
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=0
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
When plugged into electric outlet (power-off required to make charging LED illuminate; then power-on again. Due to this ongoing issue.):
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_USB_TYPE=SDP DCP CDP C [PD]
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=1
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=1500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=12000000
Disconnected from electric outlet:
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_USB_TYPE=SDP [DCP] CDP C PD
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=0
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=1500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
When connected to electric outlet, but without the aforementioned power-off-then power-on trick to force charging to start; no charging LED illuminated):
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_USB_TYPE=SDP DCP CDP [C] PD
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=1
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=3000000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
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I noticed today that a place where I frequently shop sells solar power banks (from a different brand), so maybe Iâll pick one up soon and report back here.
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