99
votes
Accepted
Raspberry Pi Power Limitations
Power requirements of the Pi
Raspberry Pi Trading (RPT) has recommendations for various models which range from 700mA to 3.0A.
These are quite generous, and all models will operate on a decent 1A ...
- 53.5k
43
votes
Accepted
Is setting `max_usb_current=1` to give more power to USB devices a bad idea?
It seems that the only concern is that your power supply, if it's not a decent, reliable supply capable of 2A+ of clean output power, might not be able to power the Pi sufficiently, resulting in ...
- 1,506
26
votes
How can I cut power coming out of the Pi's USB ports?
You can use my tool uhubctl, it supports Raspberry Pi models B+, 2B, 3B, 3B+ and 4B - these models have hardware ability to turn USB power off and on.
Use it like this:
Turn off power to all USB ports ...
- 425
25
votes
Accepted
USB Cables... Why are some of them bad for Raspberry Pi?
Everything for sale is built to a price.
Tha manufacturer wants to make a profit.
There is no need for many USB cables to carry more than a fraction of an amp so they would be built with thin wire. ...
- 66.5k
20
votes
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Can the Pi 4 power 2 external USB 3 HDDs?
Not without voiding your warranty. An RPi4 can deliver a maximum of 1.2 A to all the USB ports together. This is done to protect the USB-C connector which is rated for 3A maximum.
The disks you have ...
- 26.1k
16
votes
How much energy does the Raspberry Pi consume in a day?
I am running a Raspberry Pi2 with a 2TB Western Digital element hard disk mounted as root disk (apm set to 254 - effectively disabling standby) via a Y-connector.
Using a USB VA meter (eBay link - ...
- 161
15
votes
Accepted
Can the Raspberry Pi power this 2.5" drive without a USB hub?
These type of enclosed hard drives conform to the USB specification 2.0 specification, even though it's USB 3.0 it must be able to fall-back. USB 3.0 provides lots more power, but since it falls back ...
- 17.1k
15
votes
USB Cables... Why are some of them bad for Raspberry Pi?
Cables do make a difference once you start to draw hundreds of mA or several A.
You can often tell how much current a cable can carry simply by its looks. Anything thick and stiff is good, thin and ...
- 26.1k
11
votes
Choosing a Pi4 power supply
Use a PoE Hat:
Third-party USB-C charging devices can be cheaply wired, potentially destroying connected devices as well as starting fires. A safer alternative is to power your Pi using PoE which ...
- 1,559
10
votes
Accepted
Powering Raspberry PI With Broken Micro USB Connector
This qualifies under category circuit rework.
The "best" solution, if the pads are still usable, is to purchase the replacement part and re-attach it. The part is about $1 USD but this does not ...
- 2,895
9
votes
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Choosing a Pi4 power supply
The best option is a good quality power supply, as cheap brands may say they are rated at 2.4 amps, when they don't actually supply that much. Based on the numerous bad experiences i've had with 3rd ...
- 180
8
votes
Accepted
Why do people use powered USB hubs?
There are a few factors to consider here:
The power input to your Pi is probably through a wall adapter or PSU. You should check the rating of the adapter/PSU. If it is in the range of 1.5A to 2A, ...
- 246
8
votes
How to make a high powered USB hard drive work with the Pi?
The Pi 2 should be able to run that HDD directly. However, by default the power to USB is limited to 600 mA, which is not enough (I've had the same issue with an external drive).
To make 1.2 A ...
- 55.8k
8
votes
USB Cables... Why are some of them bad for Raspberry Pi?
Popular things like the Raspberry Pi surround themselves with Urban Myths.
One such is the USB cable Myth.
That is not to say there is some grain of truth, there usually is, but people jump to ...
- 53.5k
8
votes
Accepted
Can I power a Raspberry Pi 3 with a Smart TV's USB-Port?
According to the Raspberry Pi FAQ on Power requirements ( which can be found here --> https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/faqs/#powerReqs ):
Maximum draw from USB = 1.2A
Recommended Power Source =...
- 206
8
votes
Choosing a Pi4 power supply
The spec specifically states that:
A good quality 2.5A power supply can be used if downstream USB peripherals consume less than 500mA in total.
Using a 2.4A power supply with the Pi 4 and a 2.5" ...
- 15.5k
8
votes
USB Powerbank for Raspberry Pi 4
The Raspberry Pi 4 spec recommends a 3 A supply (15 W), with a minimum current of 2.5 A if downstream USB peripherals consume less than 500 mA in total.
Furthermore the MagPi benchmarks a power draw ...
- 15.5k
7
votes
How much energy does the Raspberry Pi consume in a day?
Power Consumption Benchmarks
The instrument used to measure power consumption with the Dramble and individual Raspberry Pis: PowerJive USB Power Meter
In all measurement cases, nothing is plugged ...
7
votes
Can the Raspberry Pi power this 2.5" drive without a USB hub?
From my personal experience, WD Blue HDD (WD10JPVT/WD10JPVX with 0.55A average current) might work more or less reliably (== require about 1 reboot / month) connected directly to RPi without any ...
- 11.5k
7
votes
Is it correct to power the Raspberry Pi this way?
It is acceptable to power the Pi via the GPIO pins, however to comply with the guidelines you should implement a power isolation circuit (as in the B+ or Pi 2 schematic). Direct connection bypasses ...
- 53.5k
7
votes
Can Rpi3B+ power two USB SSD drives?
Question
For connecting two USB SSD/HDDs, does an Rpi USB Hub need any external power?
Short Answer
Update for Rpi4B buster 2020apr16
Soon after my 2019jul answer below, I upgraded from Rpi3B+ ...
- 4,184
6
votes
Accepted
How to make a high powered USB hard drive work with the Pi?
Use an USB hub that has a power supply?
You should check how much power your HDD needs and how much the USB hub can deliver.
Maybe this question can help: link
- 98
6
votes
Raspberry Pi Power Limitations
The Raspberry Pi Foundation recommendation has always been 5V plus or minus 0.25V.
In practice the Pi works from just over 3.3V to just under 6V. Personally I would limit the voltage to less than 5....
- 66.5k
6
votes
Accepted
6
votes
Accepted
Is it safe to power my external hard drive with a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ USB port?
You SHOULD be able to power a USB HDD from the Pi3B+ as the USB ports can supply 1.2A.
HOWEVER, I and others have found that this is often unreliable - this seems to be due to transient voltage drop ...
- 53.5k
6
votes
Can Rpi3B+ power two USB SSD drives?
The Pi3B+ can supply up to 1.2A total across the 4 USB ports. See Raspberry Pi Power Limitations.
This assumes the Pi power supply is adequate.
Whether this would be adequate for 2 SSD drives, ...
- 53.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Pi 4 - How to be sure to order a model with usb fixed?
Yes - the RPi 4 has had some "controversies" (il dibattito?). One is related to a flawed USB-C interface design. The other is not a design flaw, but rather a thermal management issue. Here ...
- 17.8k
5
votes
Why do people use powered USB hubs?
My opinion is that, yes you should. Especially since you are powering an Arduino and a WiFi dongle.
The reason why some often you need a power USB hub is because the RPi itself doesn't have enough ...
- 190
5
votes
How to use usb ports on raspberry pi?
Not all USB devices are power hungry.
Large disks, even if connected via USB, will have their own power supply.
The B+ will supply up to 600mA to the USB ports by default. By writing 1 to gpio38 ...
- 66.5k
5
votes
Accepted
Powered USB3 Hub vs USB3 Y Power Cable
I doubt it would work, according to this page: USB - port power limits the Raspberry Pi USB ports are designed to handle 100mA each so the advice is to always use an external hub with its own power ...
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