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Battery

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This page contains important information about using a battery with Inkplate 6FLICK. For safety reasons, please read this page carefully!

Inkplate 6FLICK includes a 2-pin 2mm JST connector, allowing you to connect a 3.7V Li-ion battery. The onboard charging IC, MCP73831, automatically charges the battery when Inkplate is plugged into USB-C and switches to battery power when unplugged. A charging indicator LED provides real-time charging status.

Inkplate 6FLICK battery JST connector
JST battery connector
Inkplate 6FLICK Onboard charging indicator LED
Onboard charging indicator LED
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Get the battery polarity right. Check the markings on the PCB before connecting a battery. When orienting the JST connector with the notch at the top, the positive (+) terminal is on the left, and the negative (-) terminal is on the right.
Battery polarity on Inkplate 6FLICK
Battery polarity on Inkplate 6FLICK
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Battery polarity can vary! Some Li-ion batteries have reversed polarity. Connecting a battery with the wrong polarity may permanently damage your Inkplate! Double-check before plugging it in.

Compatible batteries​

Inkplate 6FLICK is compatible with 3.7V Li-ion batteries with protection. If you purchased the Inkplate 6FLICK enclosure and battery kit, it includes a 3000mAh 3.7V Li-ion battery with a built-in protection circuit.

3.7V li-ion battery with protection
3.7V li-ion battery with protection

Any of Soldered's 3.7V Li-ion batteries will work as long as they fit inside your enclosure.

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Due to shipping restrictions, we cannot ship Li-ion batteries outside the EU. If you're in the US, we recommend checking out Adafruit's Li-ion battery stock.

Check out our battery documentation page.

Charging IC (MCP73831)​

The MCP73831 is a single-cell Li-ion/Li-Polymer charge controller. It manages the whole charge cycle over USB so you do not have to. The chip uses a constant-current / constant-voltage (CC/CV) profile: a deeply discharged cell first gets a low preconditioning (trickle) current, then the full charge current until the cell reaches its regulation voltage, and finally constant voltage until the charge terminates.

On Inkplate 6FLICK the charge current is set by resistor R39 (2.49 kΩ) on the charger's PROG pin. The datasheet's equation is I = 1000 / R_PROG(kΩ) in mA, which works out to a charge current of roughly 400 mA.

Key features:

  • Automatic charge termination when the battery is full
  • Reverse discharge protection, so the battery does not drain back into the charger
  • Thermal regulation, which reduces the charge current if the chip gets hot
  • Charge status indicator (connected to the onboard LED)
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For full technical details, refer to the MCP73831 datasheet:

MCP73831/2 Data Sheet

Official data sheet for MCP73831/2 charger by Microchip