Trying to set up a solar node. I bought this 18650 charging board. It does not seem to work as an uninterrupted power supply, it shuts USB output when the solar charge kicks in. If the pic didn't show then the link is below. Trying to figure out what number 3 does (below) and what needs to be modified on the board.

Also of note and possibly related, the switch does not seem to do amything. The mode button turns the power on/off with 1 for ON and 2 for OFF.

I'm still testing it but it may work for my purpose using the outputs on the side of the board.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255801110884401.html

From the website

Product parameter:

1. This mobile power bank has built-in lithium battery protection IC, with over-current, over-voltage, under-voltage and over-temperature protection

2. USB port output and mobile power board have expansion ports 3V and 5V output ports to facilitate customer needs and use, greatly reducing the problem of fewer ports

3. The 5-level LED light shows the power. The default power-on is always in the working state, and it needs to be turned off manually (if you need to change to the non-working state automatic power-off mode, you only need to cut off the middle line of the "NC" bit or the "ROUT" resistance Just remove it)

4. Highly integrated mobile power IC with 1.5A charging and 3A discharge

5. Motherboard size: 99.16mm*29.28mm*21mm (length * width * height)

6. Input port: MICROUSB (Android port)

7. Input requirements: 5V constant voltage power supply can be used as charging power input, matching the charger above 5V1A

8. Output port: USB or expansion port

9. Output parameters 5V/3A or 3V/1A

10. The conversion efficiency is as high as 95% (high conversion rate)

11. Working temperature: -20?~70?

Instructions:

Click to boot

Press three times to shut down // (non-automatic shutdown mode) If you need to change the non-working automatic shutdown mode, please refer to the third point of the above product parameters.

Charging power display instructions: 100% (all five LEDs are on) 80-99% (D5 is flashing) 60-80% (D4 is flashing) 40-60% (D3 is flashing) 20-40% (D2 is flashing) Flashing) 0-20% (D1 is flashing)

Description of discharge power display: 80-100% (all five LEDs are on) 60-80% (D5 is off) 40-60% (D4, D5 is off)20-40% (D3, D4, D5 off)5-20% (D2, D3, D4, D5 off) 1-5% (D1 is flashing) 0% (all off)

With intelligent input and output, there is no need to worry about the charging time being too long, so that users are free from worries

I might be wrong and often am,

Is it saying that you need to remove the LED that is constantly on, if you are needing to kill all current draw during charging?

Normal operation mode is you have to manually turn it on and off, i.e. power is always at the output connections unless you turn it off manually.

If you remove the resistor on the back labeled "RNC", it will switch to some sort of power auto off mode.  It's not explained what the details of that are, but I imagine it turns off power to the outputs if nothing is drawing power from them for a bit of time.

According to the reviews, this is meant to be a power bank, like for recharging a phone.  Not a UPS, and one user states it can't be uses as a UPS because something in the circuit cuts output for a brief moment if charge input status changes, meaning anything setup to be powered by this will reboot anytime the charging starts/stops.

@shootindave
@d_man

I saw another model that describes the various modes as shutting power when the power in the battery gets Low so that you were not completely draining the batteries. I'm wondering if that is what it is.

And Dman is confirming that the resistor marked RNC is what has to be removed. I think removing it activates that ON/OFF switch so that it can manually be shut off with the switch. As it comes, I think it is auto shut-off via the resistor. Other than controlling on and off in its current state, I can't figure out what the mode button does or if it will do anything different if the resistor is removed.

I think my solution is to direct wire power from the battery terminals to my Heltec Lora device. The heltec will, I believe, auto shut down if power fall below a certain point. I'll plug my solar panel to usb c on this to charge the batteries. This will thien act as a UPS. I'll get the benefits of the safer charging and the hetec will protect the batteries from completely draining overnight.

I have to figure out if the the heltec will come back to life on its own or need to be restarted.