Rechargeable ZOIA EUROBURO

[steviet]

Hello fellow wigglers! I am looking to make a DIY travel case for the ZOIA EUROBURO, and I need some help.

Does anyone know what type of connector this is? Or if you can point me in the right direction it'd be much appreciated... I've tried every type of molex and connector I had laying around...

[jorg]

Maybe the same as the audio connectors used on old-style PCI PC sound cards (for example, to connect audio from an internal CD drive to the card)? There's a shop near me with big stocks of all those legacy PC cables and stuff.

[steviet]

Maybe the same as the audio connectors used on old-style PCI PC sound cards (for example, to connect audio from an internal CD drive to the card)? There's a shop near me with big stocks of all those legacy PC cables and stuff.

Hmm it could be. I'll poke around with that in mind. Thank you! What's the shop called? Just out of curiosity.

Right now I think I might just shave down a connector I have laying around. It's for power so I'd like it to be as tight as it can be. Ideally I'd find the exact little connector to make the best connection. Maybe I can bug Empress Effects even...

[Elahrairah]

it looks like a standard thing, but of course there's a thousand types, and you have to take precise measurements to whittle down the selections.

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/fil ... WzxAF0BfIA

[guest]

ive heard them called "JST" connectors, but thats a brand name, and they make a lot of different connectors. typically i see them on lipo battery packs for small projects.

[guest]

for example:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/261

[steviet]

Thank you Elahrairah and guest!

I've measured the connector and will see which of these is the most likely candidate. I was hoping someone would throw a name out, and JST sounds like a winner (possibly!).

I will report back when I've found this port's soulmate.

[steviet]

Empress Effects were very kind and sent me the connector, which is great. I have some connectors on order as well, so I will keep everyone posted if I find a part number.

Now I have a question that hopefully I can get a hand with...

I wanted to power the Euroburo with a battery pack. I figured it would be simple as the port this little connector goes into needs between 9-12v 300mA to operate. I rigged up these three devices:

8000mAH 3.7V Li-Ion battery (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3302483 ... 4c4dyd5K0i)
connected to
Charge Module (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001 ... 4c4dyd5K0i)
connected to
DC-DC Step up converter (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001066 ... 4c4dyd5K0i)
connected to
EUROBURO 2 Pin Power Header

And when I flip the switch, the Euroburo won't boot... it doesn't seem like it's getting enough juice. Through the above circuit the Euroburo pulls around 120-180 mA, but doesn't ever boot. I need it to get up to 300mA+, and had assumed the module would draw as much amperage as needed.

I attached the Euroburo's two pin connectors to my bench top power supply, fed it 9V 300mA, and it booted up perfectly fine. It drew around 200-290 mA while I was fiddling around with it.

Is there something simple I'm missing here? Could I use two batteries to get more amperage, or is my limit coming from somewhere else?

[guest]

take youre benchtop supply, set it to 3.7V (to mimic the battery) and run the DC-DC switcher from the benchtop and see if it will boot. this will let you know if its the battery or the switcher. another thing you can try, is put a very large capacitor across the battery where it connects to the DC-DC input.

[steviet]

Thank you guest, you rule. I will give these both a try today.

[steviet]

take youre benchtop supply, set it to 3.7V (to mimic the battery) and run the DC-DC switcher from the benchtop and see if it will boot. this will let you know if its the battery or the switcher. another thing you can try, is put a very large capacitor across the battery where it connects to the DC-DC input.

Large cap across the battery into the DC-DC did the trick, thank you again so much guest! But now, a slightly different issue.

It doesn't boot consistently, it needs to draw more mA when it starts, so I can use one of two methods to get it going:

1. Toggle the power switch a few times in a row, sometimes it will boot.

2. Leave the connector removed from the EUROBURO, toggle the power switch on, then plug into EUROBURO. It boots every time with this method.

A couple questions now... First, could I use a 555 timer circuit like this to delay power on http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com ... ircuit.php , or am I misinterpreting/over-complicating the issue here?

Second, I am using a 4700uF cap. Do you think 1000uF would be sufficient? I've tried both, 4700uF seems to boot more consistently using method 1, but this could just be more to do with the in-rush than the size of the cap, was my thought.



Also just for fun here's a shot, I'm going to see how long a full battery lasts me. Have the patch taking up 100% CPU and we're gonna letter rip:

[guest]

try adding a large cap at the output of the switching regulator as well. i feel like 470uF should be as large as any of those caps need to be. perhaps the boost regulator has poor transient response.

[steviet]

Is 4700uF overkill then? Either way I'll give that a try once the battery dies! Thank you again guest, you are a true gift to the SDIY world.

[steviet]

I changed the topic name because this topic has morphed into a new adventure.

The two large caps on either end of the DC-DC converter doesn't seem to allow the ZOIA to boot more consistently. But, the waiting before plugging it into the ZOIA still seems to work consistently. (Turn on power, then plug into the ZOIA rather than flipping the power switch while it is plugged in)

On the battery level front, it seems to go on forever. 300mA from a 8000mAH battery would give me 26.666 hours ( ) battery life. I gave up after 12 hours of running a patch at 100%+ CPU usage, so I'm very happy about how that portion of the experiment is going

[guest]

sorry that didnt work. just so i understand correctly:

1. there are 2 power connections: (1) battery to DC-DC, and (2) DC-DC to module.
2. leaving (1) connected, but only plugging in (2) after the module powerswitch is on is what makes it work.

do you have any idea what the input switch and power situation is like on the module? the only thing i can think of at the moment is that plugging in takes longer, so the current doesnt surge as much. if thats the case, you can try adding a 1ohm or 0.5ohm resistor in series with (2). an inductor would be better suited here, if you happen to have one kicking around.

[guest]

also, what happens if you leave (2) connected, and the switch (1) on and off? this would be a better way of doing things anyways, as it would keep the DC-DC converter off while its not in use.

[steviet]

sorry that didnt work. just so i understand correctly:

1. there are 2 power connections: (1) battery to DC-DC, and (2) DC-DC to module.
2. leaving (1) connected, but only plugging in (2) after the module powerswitch is on is what makes it work.

do you have any idea what the input switch and power situation is like on the module? the only thing i can think of at the moment is that plugging in takes longer, so the current doesnt surge as much. if thats the case, you can try adding a 1ohm or 0.5ohm resistor in series with (2). an inductor would be better suited here, if you happen to have one kicking around.

No need to apologize, your help is very much appreciated.

1. Yes, correct. There is also an ON/OFF switch and a USB charging board to charge the battery. Here is a little picture:

2. Yes. I first turn the ON/OFF switch to power the DC-DC (1) while leaving the DC-DC to module (2) unplugged. Once I have flipped the switch, I plug the module in with the 2pin connector (approximately 3-5 seconds between flipping the ON/OFF switch and plugging in).

As far as the power situation, it looks like it spikes to a little over 300mA when it first powers on based on my testing. The site lists 300mA 9-12v as the required current when using the 2 pin power connector (listed as the required current for the standalone desktop enclosure https://empresseffects.com/products/zoia-euroburo).

I will give the resistor a try. To be clear, 1 ohm from the module's + terminal to the + terminal of the DC-DC, or on both the + and - terminals? Thank you again for your help.

also, what happens if you leave (2) connected, and the switch (1) on and off? this would be a better way of doing things anyways, as it would keep the DC-DC converter off while its not in use.

Sorry, wasn't very clear here. It is currently setup so that the rocker switch switches (1) on and off.

[guest]

ok, so turning switch (1) on after you turn module power on doesnt help?

for 1ohm resistor, just put it between DC-DC + and module +, leave the grounds connected as normal.

[steviet]

Switch (1) is the only switch in this case. The module doesn't have a power switch itself.

1ohm resistor still doesn't get it booting while it's plugged in. The method of flipping power switch on (1), then plugging DC-DC into module allows it to boot. The device doesn't boot when flipping power (1) with the DC-DC already plugged into the module

[guest]

ok, so what if you put a second switch on in position (2)? turn on switch (1) then (2)? i see now why you wanted to do a 555 circuit. it probably has something to do with the brownout detector on the mirocontroller in the module. the output capacitor on the DC-DC switcher actually hurts in that case, and its probably best to remove it. if you dont want to use 2 switches, then a 3 position switch might work, where the first is off, the second is (1) and the third is (1)+(2). otherwise we can rig up a circuit with a FET and either a 555 or comparator/opamp/transistor, etc.

[steviet]

I think you're exactly right; the second capacitor on the DC-DC out made it less reliable, I ended up removing it because the module would either not boot, or I'd have to wait a good bit of time before plugging in.

Two switches or a 3 position is something I hadn't thought of... that would definitely work.

But, I like the idea of one switch turning things on. Would this circuit need any more to get it going? I see you mentioned a FET, is this circuit too rinky dinky for what I want it to handle?

555-timer-delay-before-turn-on-circuit.png (49.45 KiB) Viewed 1006 times

Instead of 5v it would be 9v, but is 300mA too much for this lil guy?

[guest]

yeah, 300mA is too much, but thats what the FET would be for. the 555 would turn the FET on. if you dont have a 555 or FET, the circuit can be made with other components.

[steviet]

I've got a 555, no FET, but I'm not opposed to snagging one on my next mouser order if that is the best way to do it.

I've got lots of transistors, can definitely scrounge up a OP amp or two.

[guest]

well, if you have a large NPN transistor (TO-220 package), you can try replacing the LED in your 555 circuit with the transistor. the collector would go to ground on the module, the emitter to DC-DC ground.

[steviet]

Thanks guest, I am going to try this tonight after work. The 555 is OK with 9v, but should I change any of the resistor/cap values?