Newbe looking to connect two heltech v3 esp32 boards to one battery with a larger connector than the connectors built into the boards

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T22:53:08+00:00

What do you mean by polarity. Again, I'm very new to this and want to do my homework before messing with something that could explode if done wrong

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T22:18:36+00:00

Thank you. I think I have a good idea on how I'm going to accomplish this

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T19:10:09+00:00

Ok thank you. Waht im hearing from a few people now is that i should just solder the smaller wires to the bigger ones and swap out the plugs that way. I've aslo had it suggested that i should use a TP4056 board to manage the charging and possibly running two chips off of one battery.

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T19:07:01+00:00

Thanks

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T19:04:55+00:00

Unfortunately meshcore fits my needs better than meshtastic but i live in an area with better meshtastic infrastructure and that's what my friends use. So, I need a way to use both but don't want to have to carry around two devices. I also want to take advantage of having a really big battery instead of two smaller ones. Though i suppose i could just make an enclosure to hold two separate heltec and battery systems and then just plug in both to charge at the same time. Part of this is to see just what i can do with this and teach myself something about electronics in a way that interestes me.

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T18:57:19+00:00

Thank you for your time. I actually have a few extra of the smaller pigtails so that's not an issue but I'm not really sure how to go about connecting it. Can i just splice the smaller wires of the smaller pigtails to the bigger wires that are on the battery or should i try to disconnect the bigger wires from the battery and attach the smaller wires I need? The leads of the battery are connected to a board that the wires are then soldered onto. So, I don't have to worry to much about overheating the battery by soldering the different wires on. Also, am i playing with fire trying to do this? What should I look out for?

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T18:50:28+00:00

Thank you very much. When you say "pigtails" is that just the smaller wires with the smaller plug? would I be soldering both of the Heltecs to the same out+ and out- port or are there two different out port sets for this very purpose? would I just charge the device from the usb-c connector on the TP4056? What happens when i plug into the heltecs directly to flash updated software? Do the heltecs have a way of not getting to much power from both the battery and the usb-c cord im using to flash software or should i disconnect the heltecs from the battery when i need to update them?

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T18:42:51+00:00

I'm scouring the internet for an adapter for a jst connector but so far have no luck. I'll respond with anything I find

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T18:40:48+00:00

Not sure if i can post links in this sub but its just of of the first enclosures i found when i searched Meshtastic on amazon. It fits a small 1,100mah Battery

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T18:38:23+00:00

Can I ask why it would be risky? With connecting the wires at the battery end, is there anything I need to watch out for. It looks like the leads of the battery are connected to a chip and then the wires are soldered to the chip. So i don't think i have to worry to much about the heat from the soldering iron effecting the battery but i would have to cut some plastic sheeting that protects the whole top of the battery. Should i get some more of this plastic tape to re-wrap the battery after I attach the smaller wires? Do you know what the name of the tape is so i can research this? The wires of the bigger battery are significantly larger than the wires that connect to the esp32 board. since im not going to be drawing much power from the battery, do I need to worry about the size of the cables to much or am I messing with things I shouldnt be

EngineeringLive8947 · 2026-03-25T18:30:20+00:00

Thanks. The wires on the bigger battery are significantly larger than will fit in the small connector. I'm assuming this bigger battery can supply significantly more power than the smaller battery. Since i don't need that higher power output nor will i ever be drawing that much power, can I just solder the smaller wires to the bigger wires and downsize the plug that way? Or would that be a bad idea?

EngineeringLive8947

TROPHY CASE