For many people, the PowerBoost can be used with just the power input and power outputs. However, we have a couple handy breakouts so lets get started!

Power Pins

There's two power 'ports' - an input (called BAT) and an output (called 5V)

• BAT - this is the battery input, it can range from 1.8V to 5V. Higher voltages will let you draw more current and in general, are more efficient. Try to keep the wires going to this pin nice and short - 3" or less is best!
  
• GND - this is the power ground. This boost converter is not 'isolated' - the ground input is the same as the ground output
• 5V - this is the boosted output. When the board is running, the voltage will be 5.2V approximately. It may dip down to 5V as the current draw starts to go up (over 500mA). When the board is disabled, this output is 'floating' but you should still try not to apply a voltage to it while the board is disabled. There's a green LED connected to this pin which will let you know when there's power output
  

Control Pins

There's two 'control' pins.

• EN - this is the 'enable' pin. By default it is pulled 'high' to VBAT. To turn off the booster, connect this pin to ground. The switch can be as small as you like, it is just a signal. Contrast this to an inline power switch which would have to be able to handle up to 2A of current! When the chip is disabled the output is completely disconnected from the input.
• LBO - not a leveraged buy out! this is the Low Battery Output. By default it is pulled high to BAT but when the charger detects a low voltage (under 3.2V) the pin will drop down to 0V. You can use this to signal when its time to shut down or alert the user that the battery is low. There is also a red LED connected to this pin.
  

LEDs

There are two onboard LEDs. The Green LED sits next to the USB connector socket, and indicates the 5V output power state. The Red LED is next to the battery JST port and indicates when the battery voltage is below 3.2VDC

Battery and USB connection

You can connect a battery to the breakout strip or to the JST connector. All of Adafruit batteries come with JST cables that will plug in nicely. Watch the polarity of the cable! the + and - markings next to the JST will let you know which way is which.

The USB connector can be soldered on to create a portable 'USB power pack'. The two data lines on USB have resistor dividers that match Apple charger values so that you can plug any iOS device in to charge. 99% of other phones, devices and tables are totally cool with these resistors as well. You can always short the D+ and D- lines if you happen to have a phone that wants shorted data lines.

If you don't want a USB connector attached, there are two holes that are designed for a 3.5mm spaced terminal block (not included)