Current consumption

ExpLoRer
#1

Hi,

I am trying to reduce current consumption on a Sodaq Explorer board.
For that, I have create a sketch which disable USB, bluetooth, lora, and put the board in sleep mode.

I have two Sodaq Explorer boards, when I put my sketch on them, I arrive to a current consumption of 100uA on one, and with the same sketch, I obtain 3mA on another.

The boards seems to be the same, so, I don’t understand why I have different results.

Does someone have an idea to fix this?

Thank you in advance :slight_smile:

#2

Hi @polol,

Can you try with our sketch to see if the results are the same?
https://support.sodaq.com/Boards/ExpLoRer/Examples/low_power_sketch/

Best regards,
Jan

#3

Hi Jan, thank you for your response.

Yes, the result is the same, with this sketch, I have a current consumption lesser than 100uA for the first board, and about 3,6mA for the second one.

Best regards,

#4

The 3.6mA current would indicate that the LoRa module has not been put to sleep.
I would recommend checking the following:

  • Make sure that you are only calling the sleep() method once, as a second call will wake the board.
  • Do not shutdown the UART to the LoRa module after putting it to sleep.

It is strange though if you are seeing different results on two separate boards when using the same sketch.
Can you check that both boards are the same revision? Also are you having any other issues with the board which uses more power?

#5

Hi @GabrielNotman, thank you for your response.

  • LoRabee.sleep() method is called just once.

  • I don’t know how to shutdown the UART of the LoRa module, but I don’t think it’s done. The sketch is exactly the same as here : https://support.sodaq.com/Boards/ExpLoRer/Examples/low_power_sketch/

  • Yes, the two boards are Rev. 5b and with an RN2483 Microchip module.

  • Finally, I haven’t got other issues with this boards…

Best regards,