I just installed a RAKBox B2 Solar with a 5005 and 4631, currently running meshtastic 1.2.59.
Using 2x 18650 3000mAh
I don’t have the GPS board. Upgraded the antenna.
Anyone else have experience using these with meshtastic? So far i seem to be loosing battery percentage, mounted in a tree 3 days ago @ 92% battery, now it is 88%
It gets alot of direct sunlight. I did some tests at home in the window before i monted it, and if i recall it was online 30+ days and had 18% power after that, with only 2-3 hours of sunlight. Now it has 8+.
The percentage of battery on meshtastic firmware is based on battery voltage. This is not an accurate estimate of battery capacity but can be a good estimate. If I remember correctly they have certain correlation of voltage level and estimated percentage. 92% to 88% is a very small change and likely to be still around 3.9-4.0v.
I am not sure if you can still recall on your initial test (the 30+ days), what is the percentage after 3 days. But I still think your setup in the tree can still be fine. Maybe we can wait for a week to see if there will be a dramatic drop in percentage (which is basically battery voltage and not capacity).
Best of course is to check the current consumption before deploying it so you’ll be sure nothing all is still ok.
Yes, i think the voltage will stabilize after a few days. I will keep an eye on it.
Edit: If by any chance the solar panel is not sufficient, i would like to add a bigger solar panel(with 5v regulator)
Can it cause any problems connecting it to the usb on the 5005? Assuming i get it waterproof, or do i have to disconnect the small solar panel connector on the 5005?
Bigger solar panel will not cause any problem. The charger IC will only get the needed current by the battery. There is no need to worry if you get an oversized solar panel as long as it will not exceed 6V. This is actually a good idea if you have no size or cost constraints since it will ensure that you capture enough sunlight as possible.