instructables

DIY Battery Level Indicator/Auto Cutoff for 12v Battery

by DIY KING 00

DIYers...We have all been through the situation when going to built a battery capacity level indicator by
our high end chargers are busy charging those lithium using a LM3914 IC and we are also going to add an
polymer batteries but you still need to charge that 12v important feature to our existing charger to cut off the
lead acid battery and the only charger you got is a charging current when the battery is fully charged.
blind one …. Yes a blind one as it never know when
its killing the battery by overcharging it…. Same goes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmBXvUhGZiQ
while discharging the battery as you have no idea
what charge state it's at. If you are also facing the same problem then this
intractable is for you.
Well I have got a solution for that situation as we are

DIY Battery Level Indicator/Auto Cutoff for 12v Battery: Page 1

The basic idea is to design a battery level indicator the resistor across pin 7 of LM3914 IC so we don’t
but after going through the data sheet I found that we need to use individual resistors for each of them.
can easily control the overcharging problem by
adding a relay that switches off the supply to the Besides that the variable resistors R3 and R4 are
charger when the battery hit the max charge level. used to set the upper and lower voltage levels for the
battery pack that you are going to use. For the lead
Even though its not exactly what controlled charging acid battery its usually 10.8v fully discharged and
is but its better to cut off the charging current before 14.4v fully charged. More on that later.
we jump above the max voltage limit stated on the
battery pack thats 14.4v. The rest you see are a bunch of complimentary
components as advised in the data sheet.
Since we are going to use 10 LEDs to indicate the
battery capacity level so each LED represents I have also added the Gerber file for the PCB in this
approximately 10% charge. step so be sure to check it out.

Moreover the current through LEDs is limited using

DIY Battery Level Indicator/Auto Cutoff for 12v Battery: Page 2

Step 2: Designing the PCB (Printed Circuit Board)

Well I love it when I make it neat and thats the one the gerber files. The best part about their services is
thing that I always prefer. So instead of messing up that they review your design within an hour and let
everything on a perfboard I decided to built this circuit you know if there is any issue with it.
over a PCB, so I designed one. Well this step is not
mandatory but these extra efforts are going to payoff We received the PCBs within a week and the quality
later and I must say you should give it a try. pretty much talks on its own so guys have a look at
their website as they made this project possible by
As the layout is finalised I went to PCBWAY, sponsoring it.
checked out all the options that I want and uploaded

DIY Battery Level Indicator/Auto Cutoff for 12v Battery: Page 3

After receiving the PCBs, we have decided to gather the tools and components that are used in this project.

LIST OF TOOLS USED:

Soldering Iron
Soldering Wire
Multi Meter
Pliers

Components that are used in this project are listed in the BOM (Bill Of Material).

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FW0/R8IL/JOMTIIGN/FW0R8ILJOMTIIGN.csv
…

DIY Battery Level Indicator/Auto Cutoff for 12v Battery: Page 5

Later we plugged the soldering iron, grab all the Now once everything is soldered in place we just
components and start soldering them. I will provide inserted the brain of this project thats the LM3914 IC
the links to schematic, gerber files and the list of the .Make sure to place the IC with the notching correct
components in the description below. Now all the direction as indicated. I always prefer to use an IC
components are dropped in place as indicated on the holeder that comes in handy if you burn the IC you
PCB and thats the advantage of putting up time could easy replace one.
designing the PCB earlier.

DIY Battery Level Indicator/Auto Cutoff for 12v Battery: Page 6

The circuit is then connected to the battery and adding a charge control feature to our so called blind
calibrated according to the upper and lower voltage charger.
limits mentioned on the battery.
For more DIY projects have a look at our youtube
This could be done using the two variable resistors as channel.
we have discussed earlier. Once we connected the
load across the battery we can monitor the charge https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC4584D31N9R
level and safely disconnect the load once the battery uQ-aEUxP86g
seems to run out of charge.
Regards.
Later the supply of the battery charger is connected
across the relay. As the battery reaches its maximum DIY King.
charge the supply of the charger is cutdown and thus

DIY Battery Level Indicator/Auto Cutoff for 12v Battery: Page 7