> **Source:** Core Electronics is an Australian maker-electronics retailer and manufacturer based in Newcastle, NSW, run by a team of makers and educators. We design and manufacture our own product lines (PiicoDev, CE originals) and are official retailers for iconic maker and industrial brands including Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Adafruit, SparkFun and DFRobot. Orders ship Australia-wide from our Newcastle warehouse. Prices are in AUD and include GST. Pricing, stock and dispatch on this page are generated from the store's live catalog. Full machine-readable index: https://core-electronics.com.au/llms.txt # Adafruit BQ25185 USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer charger **Type:** Product page · **SKU:** ADA6091 · **Brand:** [Adafruit](https://core-electronics.com.au/brands/adafruit-australia) **Page:** https://core-electronics.com.au/adafruit-bq25185-usb-dc-solar-lithium-ion-polymer-charger.html ([markdown](https://core-electronics.com.au/adafruit-bq25185-usb-dc-solar-lithium-ion-polymer-charger.html.md)) Coming sooon!We're always on the look out for better ways to make projects portable: being able to charge your battery in the most convenient manner... ## Pricing - **Price:** $13.10 (inc GST) — $11.91 AUD, exc GST - **Quantity discounts:** 10+ $11.55 (exc GST) · 50+ $11.31 (exc GST) ## Availability & dispatch - In stock, ships same business day if ordered before 2PM (Australia/Sydney). - We can dispatch 9 today, and up to 500 more in 8–12 days. ## How to buy - **Build a cart:** compose `https://core-electronics.com.au/cart/link?items=ADA6091:1` (comma-separated SKU:qty pairs) and share the link. Opening it shows a confirmation page with live pricing and stock before anything is added to the cart. - **Verify the cart first:** fetch `https://core-electronics.com.au/cart/link/ADA6091:1.md` for live line prices (inc & exc GST, quantity discounts applied), stock and dispatch estimates, and totals. Append `/to/{AU-postcode}` (or `/to/{country-code}:{postcode}`) before `.md` for delivery options and prices to that destination. Unknown, retired, or out-of-stock SKUs are flagged. (Query form `cart/link.md?items=...` also works but some robots parsers refuse query strings here.) - **Checkout** is completed on-site and includes a captcha at the payment step. Share the cart link; checkout takes it from there. - **Search the catalogue:** `https://core-electronics.com.au/search/{query}.md` (URL-encode the query; pages 2-3 at `search/{query}/{page}.md`; `search.md?q=` also works) - **Payment methods, purchase orders, policies and contact details:** https://core-electronics.com.au/llms.txt ## Description Adafruit are always on the look out for better ways to make projects portable: being able to charge your battery in the most convenient manner will let projects run no matter what power is available. The **Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Charger Board** uses the new [bq25185](https://www.ti.com/product/BQ25185) is a nifty charger chip which has a lot of flexibility for different kinds of batteries (LiPoly, LiIon or LiFePO4), charging rates (250mA, 500mA, or 1A) and power sources (USB, DC or solar). It's also a great value, so it's a good upgrade from [MCP73833](https://core-electronics.com.au/usb-liion-lipoly-charger-v1-2.html) or [MCP73831-based](https://core-electronics.com.au/adafruit-micro-lipo-charger-for-lipoly-batt-with-usb-type-c-jack.html) charger boards. To let folks really explore what this chip can do, Adafruit made a basic breakout board with all the things Adafruit find most useful: two ways to power/charge including a solar-friendly DC input, adjustable current and voltage, power path management, and status and control I/O. - **USB Type C** connector with 5.1k CC resistors so it will work with any computer or power supply to get 5V and up to 1A - **Separate DC or Solar Input** - Two pads on the side can be used to connect a 5 ~ 18V power supply, which can be used instead of USB. If the input is a solar panel, the charging chip will adjust the current draw so that the voltage does not dip below the battery, thus optimizing the solar power input. No large capacitor needed to stabilize it, and you get near-MPPT capability without the cost and complexity of MPPT. - **Default charge rate of 1A**, but you can cut the **IS** jumper on the front and solder either jumper on the back to set the rate to 500mA or 250mA - **Default 3.7V nominal / 4.2V max** battery chemistry/voltage for all modern 1-cell LiPoly or LiIon batteries. You can set this to 3.2V / 3.65V for **LiFePO4** batteries by cutting the **VS** jumper on the front and soldering a jumper on the back - **Power Path to Load** - If the load connector is drawing current while the USB / DC/Solar power is attached, it will default to drawing current from the charger and any left over current will go to the battery. That keeps your battery from constantly charging/discharging which will reduce the battery life. The max draw from USB / DC / Solar is still 1A, if you need more current it will come from the battery and the chip can provide up to 3A current spikes from the battery to the load output! - **Regulated 4.5V-max Load Output** - no matter what voltage you have on the USB or DC / solar inputs, the Load output port will never go above 4.5V due to an internal voltage regulator. Keep this in mind, though, when dealing with high currents and high DC voltages as the LDO will make the board start to overheat and throttle the current. - **Three Status LEDs** - Orange Charging LED, red Fault LED, and Green Power Good LED. The charge/fault pins are also available on the left side breakout pads. - **Thermistor -** cut the TH trace and you can connect a 10K thermistor to the TH pad which will adjust the charge rate to keep the battery from overheating. - **Chip Enable** to disable the charger. - Mounting holes! This board is pretty much plug-and-play. Change any jumpers you like and then connect your battery to the BATT port, and the LOAD goes to your circuit. Don't forget the LOAD will never go above 4.5V, but it can go as low as 3.0V if the battery is nearly empty. You can monitor the voltage on the battery and load via the secondary pads on the right side, if necessary. To use with solar, [pick up a 5~7V solar panel](https://core-electronics.com.au/#), and either cut the connector off to wire it directly, or [use a 2.1mm adapter cable](https://core-electronics.com.au/3-5-1-3mm-to-5-5-2-1mm-dc-jack-adapter-cable.html) plus a [2.1mm terminal block](https://core-electronics.com.au/female-dc-power-adapter-2-1mm-jack-to-screw-terminal-block.html) to get two wires for the DC Input port. If you need a board with higher charge current or a DC plug already on-board, [check out the bq24074 which has up to 1.5A charge rate and a on-board 2.1mm DC jack](https://core-electronics.com.au/adafruit-universal-usb-dc-solar-lithium-ion-polymer-charger-bq24074.html). Play video: #NewProducts 11/13/24 Feat @Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Charger This embedded content is from a site (www.youtube.com, flickr.com, etc) that does not comply with the Do Not Track (DNT) setting now enabled on your browser. Clicking through to the embedded content will allow you to be tracked by the embed provider. ## Technical Details **Revision History:** - **As of February 5, 2025** - The back silkscreen now has the correct jumper details. Product Dimensions: 32.0mm x 26.3mm x 7.2mm / 1.3" x 1.0" x 0.3" Product Weight: 4.0g / 0.1oz ![RoHS 2 2011 65 EU Compliant](https://core-electronics.com.au/attachments/localcontent/RoHS2_2011_65_EU_7356c5574c.svg)![RoHS 2 2015 863 EU Compliant](https://core-electronics.com.au/attachments/localcontent/RoHS2_2015_863_EU_86773f57f9.svg) Learn ![](https://core-electronics.com.au/attachments/localcontent/6091-00_316148139bc.jpg)[](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-bq25185-usb-dc-solar-lithium-ion-polymer-charger)[ Primary Guide: Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer Charger ](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-bq25185-usb-dc-solar-lithium-ion-polymer-charger) USB, DC or solar charging for your batteries ## Images - [Product image 1](https://core-electronics.com.au/media/catalog/product/A/D/ADA6091-1.jpg)