Question 1

I have my battery going into the green block, and i am powering my raspi using the 5v. my batteries are getting drained beyond repair. can i prevent?

Accepted Answer

You need to put the 5V into the PiZ-UpTime and not the Pi. If you put the 5V into the Raspberry Pi, the battery WILL NOT CHARGE. This is done to prevent a power loop between the UPS and the Pi-5V bus. 
Try that. 
If that fails, please contact Alchemy Power support - support at alchemypower dot com - we can work through with you regarding your setup and the issues you have.  Thanks.

Question 2

Can input power be supplied to solder pads on the board instead of the micro usb b in?

Accepted Answer

Yes, absolutely, however you SHOULD NOT have both as it will create a power loop. That is why they are there. You can also tap 5V out from the solder points.  I would recommend a 2.54 mm terminal block. You can get that from TE, OST, Amphenol etc. DigiKey, Mouser etc. - they all carry those terminal block parts. TE part number 282834-3 is a 3 port Terminal Block, 282834-2 (note the -2 and -3) is a 3 port terminal block. I found that on Amazon here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HPLT5EE/ as well.

Question 3

If i utilize the iuniker usb dongle expansion breakout will i be able to restore power/ charge the battery via the pi gpio connections?

Accepted Answer

The simple answer is no. USB power on PiZ-UpTime is the input side. Pins 2,4 is the output side. Putting power on the output side would damage the electronics and will not work. For battery charging, power has to be applied to the USB IN port on PiZ-UpTime board.

Question 4

How to setup i2c address in Rasbian Buster? The address not show up with i2cdetect -y 1 or 0!

Accepted Answer

Make sure I2C is enabled first. I assume it is.
If the address does not show up, there are a few possibilities: (1) the I2C bus on the Pi has stopped working, which does happen occasionally, especially if some I2C device you have used in the past used 5V instead of 3.3V (some Arduino boards use 5V for I2C bus). Please make sure you can see some other I2C device. The i2cdetect command will give all "--" display for all devices, whether the I2C bus is working or not. To check the Pi-Zero-UpTime, put the Pi-Zero-UpTime UPS on another pi and see if the address shows up. If it does, then the I2C bus on the original Pi is not working. If it does not, see (3) below. (2) There is another device on the I2C bus with a conflicting address.  To test that, remove the Pi-Zero-UpTime and reboot the Pi. Check the i2cdetect command and check the addresses on the I2C bus. If it shows addresses, check and see if there is 0x48 address for another device. If that is the case, the default address on the Pi-Zero-UpTime is conflicting with another device. In that situation, change the address jumpers on the Pi-Zero UpTime to another address. The Python code lists alternate addresses supported. Make sure you change the Python code to the new address used. Make sure to use i2cdetect command to check the address, after you reboot and have connected the Pi-Zero-UpTime.. (3) It is possible the ADC chip on the Pi-Zero-UpTime has been damaged. Please work with Alchemy Power support, via Contact Us on the alchemypower dot com web page to get a replacement unit.

PiZ-UpTime 2.0 UPS for Raspberry Pi, Pi-Zero, SBC & IoT

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