Introducing the Coin Cell Maestro

2014.12.23 15:05

Sparkfun, Adafruit, et. al. offer breakout boards for various coin cell sizes, but each board can only accomodate 1 battery size. The power conscious tinkerer must test with different sized coin cells to determine the optimal runtime/battery size trade off. The Coin Cell Maestro was created to streamline this process and RULE THEM ALL. Well, just the following clip sizes:

• 6mm, using the Keystone-2999 clip
• 11mm, using the BK-5091 clip
• 16mm, using the Keystone-3013 clip
• 20mm, using the BK-888 clip

Assembly

PLEASE read the instructions before starting; you can easily make a bad choice.

1. Deposit a small solder blob on the center circle; this ensures better contact with the coin cell
2. Each clip type only mates with a single pair of holes
3. There are two possible orientations for a clip:
1. For 20 and 16 mm, orient the mouth of the clip away from the GND and VCC connections
2. For 6 and 11mm, orient the mouth of the clip away from the GND,VCC pair on the side
4. Soldering the clip onto the board will require quite a bit of heat from your soldering iron; make liberal use of flux and do not rush the process!
5. There are two possible power connector types
1. Breadboard: solder two pairs of right angle male headers to the VCC and GND terminals. The plastic side of the headers must be on the opposite side from the battery.
2. Hookup: Solder a female right angle or vertical header to the VCC,GND connection on the side. Female headers are recommended to avoid accidental shorts.