Moteino power consumption! [SOLVED]

[timson81]

Hi! I try to use moteino R2 as a low power weather station. I start from simple sketch from Low-Power library. In this sketch, moteino going to power down mode in loop. But when I try to measure power consumption of moteino, I get 3.5 ma ! I perform measure using two different multimeters and the both show 3.5 ma. I work with pure moteino without any peripherals connected, only 4xAAA batterry block connected to 3.3V and GND. Could anybode help me to make power consumption lower in power down mode, the same as in moteino coin cell test - http://lowpowerlab.com/blog/2012/12/24/moteino-coin-cell-battery-tests/. Thanks!

The sketch is:

#include "LowPower.h"

void setup()
{
    // No setup is required for this library
}

void loop()
{
    // Enter power down state for 8 s with ADC and BOD module disabled
    LowPower.powerDown(SLEEP_8S, ADC_OFF, BOD_OFF); 
   
    // Do something here
    // Example: Read sensor, data logging, data transmission.
}

[Felix]

You have to put to sleep EVERYTHING, not just the atmega328 chip. You have to sleep the transceiver, the FLASH chip (if any), and any other peripherals you have attached to it, like anything that draws power. Power leaks through pullup or pulldown resistors, through transistors, through sensors. So you have to use low power techniques in hardware, not just in software. I think there have been several other posts in the forum about this, so please take a look around, you might find more useful info.

FWIW the Narcoleptic library in an alternative to the RocketScream LowPower lib, not that it works better but it might be easier to use.

[timson81]

Problem was with incorrect connection battery block and moteino. I connected battery to GND and +3.3 V pin, not to VIN. When I  connected it correctly to GND and VIN pin, power consumption became normal. And of course I disabled radio module in my code sketch.

[Felix]

Yeah that would totally explain it. Connecting to 3.3V would probably cause leakage through the regulator. Also not sleeping everything in your circuit will likely cause more power draw.