Hello everyone,
I'm working on a project to decorate a bike, and for that extent I'm using a Trinket Pro, 2 PowerBoost 1000C from Adafruit, an Electret Microphone, 3 LED strips of 60 LEDs total, 4 potentiometers (to customize the effects displayed on the LEDs) and one on/off switch to switch on/off the system. Circuit FZZ file attached.
In summary, two LED strips are powered using one PowerBoost, and the rest (microphone, Trinket Pro, 4 pots, on/off switch and the last LED strip) is powered on the other PowerBoost. Everything works fine at low brightness, but when I turn the brightness up, the LED strip that is powered on the same battery as the Trinket Pro starts to flicker, as if it was not receiving enough current.
Both my PowerBoosts are powered with 6.6Ah batteries, so I know I have enough current (LED strips never go over 700 mAh at max brightness in my current setting). So I'm thinking that the LED strip might be impacted by the fact that the Trinket Pro and the microphone share the same 5V and GND lines.
I have seen online an installation where the Trinket Pro is powered by the PowerBoost through the USB pins (USB out on PowerBoost --> USB in on Trinket Pro), but I do not know if that would solve the problem. I thought the PowerBoost would do a good job at keeping the voltage at 5V+, but the flickering makes me think otherwise.
I'm assuming the data lines are not the problem, as the two other strips work perfectly (no flickering) and the data is fed by the same Trinket Pro as the flickering LED strip.
I have not tried to power the Trinket Pro through the PowerBoost USB output, I want to try but I also want to make sure it's a good idea before desoldering everything. So I have a few questions:
- Is the USB power on the PowerBoost on a "separate" circuit as the 5V boosted output? Docs here. I could nto figure it out myself.
- If connecting the Trinket Pro through USB, should I also power the microphone and pots using that same USB output and only keep the LED on the 5V boosted output?
- Do I need to add a component to my system (i.e. condensator, something)?
Thank you for your help! 
bike_leds.zip (195 KB)
