I am having the same problem. It seems like the HAT firmware is not switching to the input even though its sensors show that the input voltage and current are sufficient. In fact, I have one right now that seems to be load sharing between the input and the battery. The only way I can make the HAT switch from battery to input is to yank the battery. I’ve tried everything to make this work and nothing helps. It seems like a hardware problem as I have two other systems deployed using this same firmware with no issues. And I have been trying without success to get help from Sixfab but it seems there is no listening.
I’m reposting my emails to their tech support here in the hopes it helps.
This is a follow up to more community post here: UPS HAT is always showing 'on adapter' even when it's not and no battery power or current information
I received no reply and so I have replaced the UPS HAT with a new one and now I am seeing a different set of issues. The HAT always reports that it is on battery, even if I disconnect the battery. Right now I have it connected and running with a battery that reports 1% charge status. I’ve removed the software, reinstalled it, deleted the device, re-added it and nothing helps.
The battery was fully charged per the instructions on the website and now I am powering the system from the J4 connector. The result was the same when using the USB-C power connector as well.
Firmware is: 0.3.22 and software version is: 0.4.2
Power supply is 12VDC 45Ah battery with solar charging circuit. The solar storage battery is fully charged and floating at 14 VDC. Even the HAT sees this but remains in a battery discharge state.
Please help me. I have already deployed two remote systems using this HAT with no issues. I need to deploy this one early next week and am running out of time to resolve this issue.
Hello again,
I hope that you can help me soon. I am running short of time to get this system ready for deployment. Since my last email I have attempted the following in an effort to make this HAT work correctly.
- Replaced HAT entirely (I mentioned this in yesterday’s email).
- Swapped battery from 10Ah flat lipo to 3.5 Ah 18560 lipo.
- Upgraded firmware to latest, forced reinstall of same, downgraded to previous version, then re-upgrade to latest.
- Hardware reset by shorting reset pin field to ground.
- Replace J4 input with USB-C using 5V 5A power supply.
- Replace Raspberry Pi
- Attempt to run this with your LTE HAT removed.
In every situation, the HAT behaves the same. If I start the HAT with battery connected, it will ONLY source the battery until the Pi shuts down (safe shutdown enabled) or until the battery is depleted. If I start HAT with the battery not connected, it will source the input (J4 or USB-C) but NEVER charge the battery.
I am including pictures of my setup as per your instructions. I hope you can help soon. This is very disappointing. I had very good results with my first two systems using your product but right now I am on my second HAT and cannot get this system to work correctly.
I also wanted to share this video of what is happening. In it I have replaced the flat lipo with the 18560 and am using a digital power supply configured for 5.1V @ 5A. In the video you can plainly see that when the battery is connected (which is almost depleted) the HAT switches to it and draws no power from the external supply. When the battery is disconnected, the HAT switches to the external power supply connected on USB-C.