Beginning the Ben

Werner Almesberger werner at openmoko.org
Fri Oct 15 23:26:25 EDT 2010


Jane Andreas wrote:
> The same pamphlet says the battery is 2600, 1600, and 1500 Mah
> capacity.

Ah, there's a battery too ? If it's not just a bare panel, but with
electronics, then the 5.5 V may be the peak battery voltage. Or
maybe there's even an up or down converter that regulates the
voltage. In the latter case, the voltage would stay constant under
almost all conditions.

> I do not know how to use a multimeter but I have one, I think it
> might be possible to find out that way? 

I'd suggest to measure the following voltages (without or with a
light load, e.g., a Ben with full battery):

- no light, battery empty
- maximum light, battery close to empty
- maximum light, battery close to full
- no light, battery full

That should give you a fairly accurate idea of how the system
performs.

For using a multimeter, set it to measure DC voltage and touch
the + and - contacts with the probes. Maybe try first with an
AA/AAA/etc. battery. There, it should read 1.5 V for a new
battery.

- Werner




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