The BattBorg is a power converter for your Raspberry Pi which allows you to power the Raspberry Pi off batteries. It will work with most batteries/battery packs that are between 7-36V so it's great for 12V car batteries, 8xAA battery packs, and so on. We're including an AA battery holder in two of the kits as rechargeable AA's are inexpensive, and readily available at most shops, and Ebay etc.

The BattBorg uses a highly efficient (~90%) OKI78SR DCDC converter which has a maximum 1.5A output and due to it's efficiency, requires no heatsink.

Watch the time lapse video

The time lapse video was taken with a Contour+2 on one shot per 30 seconds picture mode, which gave approximately 1750 images. The battery pack consists of 8x GP2700 rechargeable AA batteries. It's powering a Raspberry Pi model B+ In this test it lasted approximately 14 hrs 30 minutes. The screensaver runs at approx 22FPS and has an approximate load of 15% on the Raspberry Pi.

It also fits nicely on a PicoBorg Reverse

Side view of BattBorg on a PicoBorg Reverse

PicoBorg Reverse, Batteries and Raspberry Pi not included!

If you want to solder it yourself, buy the unsoldered kit and watch this video

Connecting your BattBorg

Power off Raspberry Pi. Disconnect USB cable from PC or from AC wall adaptor. This should NOT be plugged in at the same time as the BattBorg, or you could damage the BattBorg, damage the Raspberry Pi or could even apply power the batteries. This device is not a UPS, it is a replacement for a USB power source. Orient the board as per the image below. Connect the 3 pin cable male side to pins 2,4 and 6 as per image. Make sure white is to the top and you are using the left three holes.

Orient the Pi as shown in diagrams below. Connect the 3 pin header cable to pins 2,4, and 6 of the Raspberry Pi as per image. Make sure white is to the left, and you are using the leftmost pins and the back row.

Connect the 9V battery connector. Red to V+, Black to GND.

Gently pull on the 9V connector cable to ensure the terminals have correctly grabbed the conductive part of the cable. Make sure it isn't being held by the insulating outer layer of the wire. The Kits come with a standard connector to keep the cost down. These are a little more tricky to connect. The 22AWG cable's connectors have thicker, longer, stronger conductors and are easier to connect.

Double check all these connections and only if they are correct, connect the battery pack to the 9V cable. The BattBorg is intended to power your Raspberry Pi from batteries instead of from a wall charger or USB cable. Do NOT power the Raspberry Pi from the USB and the BattBorg at the same time.