Charging slowed due to low temperature

HB9HCI

Charging slowed due to low temperature

This is probably to save the Li-accu.
But it is a bad idea: If the temperature goes low, the sky becomes clear. I lost some beautiful nights!
Suggestion: Please skip the loading of the accu in deep temps. Drive the Raspi directly with the usb-input connector.
Then we could stargaze the whole cold night!

Lilo

HB9HCI
Exactly as it's implemented currently. If the temperature is low it doesn't charge internal battery and it doesn't use internal buttery. It runs on external USB power supply as long as it's available. 20Ah powerbank is usually enough for the whole night. And only when external supply is depleted it switches to the internal battery.

curtismacc

Lilo Exactly. Just have an external power source capable of supply enough power to run the heater (if you have it turned on) and everything else and enough capacity to last the night. Power consumed by the Seestar is less than 10W total, 120Wh for a 10hr night. Then the issue of charging below 0 deg C never comes up.

HB9HCI

No, if the temp is low, there is no charging and S50 stops working!
I am googing to replace the battery with an USB cable. S50 accepts 5V. (Li-Ion-Accu: 4.4V)

Lilo

HB9HCI
Something is wrong with your seestar then.

HB9HCI

I replaced the battery with a USB-cable: It works!
But surprinigly the App shows 100% loaded, after a few hours 0%. But the S50 runs anyway...

curtismacc

HB9HCI Interesting. How exactly did you wire that, it is hard to be certain from the picture? The battery connection has 3 wires, +, - and one for the battery's thermistor which is used to monitor the temperature to prevent charging when the temp is too low or charging/discharging when the temperature is too high. Looks like you left that wire open. What do you see for the temperature on the App now?