Raspberry Pi power supply

kerryked

just wondering would a charging cable from a Sony Xperia mobile work as a power supply for the RPi? Or would I be better off paying the extra few quid for a lead?

U_Fig

kerryked wrote: »

just wondering would a charging cable from a Sony Xperia mobile work as a power supply for the RPi? Or would I be better off paying the extra few quid for a lead?

Yeah it should work.. I power mine using an old camera cable connected to the USB port on my tv..works perfectly

kerryked

Cheers buddy, I just want to make sure before I go ahead and order it without the cable and then realise that my phone lead wont work!

U_Fig

kerryked wrote: »

Cheers buddy, I just want to make sure before I go ahead and order it without the cable and then realise that my phone lead wont work!

If it's the same connection it should be carecful of the mini USB and micro USB are different sizes but look similar

Ghost Train

Power requirement of Pi might be a bit higher than standard usb charger. Might want to check what you plan to use http://elinux.org/RPi_Hardware_Basic_Setup#Power_Supply

fuse

Probably better off with the Sony charger than a cheapo one you'd buy on ebay. Once it's 5v and the right micro USB connection. It's probably been tested and QA'd coming from Sony.

This dude did some research http://www.raspyfi.com/the-best-raspberry-pi-power-supply/

EGriff

Check the ratings on the plug, it has to be 5v and a minimum of 750mA current . They say if you have lots of peripherals connected you will need more current.

I'm using a 1amp phone charger with mine since I got it yesterday with no problems.

Reamer Fanny

I just got a new Pi, and I have been trying to use an iPad/iPhone charger with the MicroUSB cable connected, the LED on the Pi just flickers with either but if I connect it to the USB on my TV I get power for a short time (enough to get into XBMC) and then it reboots.

The iPhone charger is rated at 5v at 1Amp and the beefier iPad charger is 5.1v at 2.1Amps, could it be an issue with the USB cable? I reckon the data wires are connected and this is causing the issue.

EGriff

Before I got my Pi I was doing some reading and I remember something about apple chargers being problematic.

I forget exactly what it said but any other charger should work fine, I've use one from a kindle and one from my phone.

Reamer Fanny

EGriff wrote: »

Before I got my Pi I was doing some reading and I remember something about apple chargers being problematic.

I forget exactly what it said but any other charger should work fine, I've use one from a kindle and one from my phone.

I cut open my cable and found these four wires, I cut green and white and spliced red and black back together and still no joy using the Apple chargers, crap I don't have a kindle charger

EGriff

Well joining the +5 and ground was definitely not the way to go, in that case your current is just flowing back to earth and not going into your Pi at all.
Tbh I don't think removing the data cables would make any difference, I'm not sure how that port on the pi works but I assume its just for power.

You need a new cable anyway, if you have an android phone around the cable from that will work.

Reamer Fanny

EGriff wrote: »

Well joining the +5 and ground was definitely not the way to go, in that case your current is just flowing back to earth and not going into your Pi at all.
Tbh I don't think removing the data cables would make any difference, I'm not sure how that port on the pi works but I assume its just for power.

You need a new cable anyway, if you have an android phone around the cable from that will work.

I didn't I joined the red to red and black to black these deliver power since I'm not using it for data transfer purposes I cut the data lines, didn't work anyways so I'll just buy a charger.

EGriff

Ah right I read that as if you had spliced them together.

Any micro USB cable I've tried has worked fine, as long as the plug part has the right ratings.

beauf

Seems a problem with the cable and the voltage supply according to this...

http://chester.me/archives/2013/04/powering-a-raspberry-pi.html

Wabbit Ears

Buy the PI charger from RS electronics.

Ive tested this on my pi and between ports t1 and t2 the voltmeter reads 4.94v

On the net theres several posts that say 4.85 or similar is the absolute mimimum.

My Samsung charger, Blackberry chargers and any othe rhargers I have around the house measure about 4.5-4.75 volts when measured on teh termnals and I have issues ranging from no boot to constant crashes with tehse but not on the RS plug.

Its not ok to assume a branded charger is somehow better, they all quote 5 v output but are designed for charging phones, not running a mini computer (though that is arguable but you get the point)

excollier

This may be a little expensive, but I bought the powered usb hub from ModMyPi, an it cured the wireless mouse and lock up problems I was having previously.
https://www.modmypi.com/raspberry-pi-accessories/other-peripherals/New-Link-4-Port-USB-Hub-%28USB-2.0-with-Mains-Adaptor%29
If you can source the same elsewhere, to save some money, then it is a real fix.
I was getting 4.95 - 5.1 volts with an HTC charger, but the wireless mouse kept playing up. Using the hub I have never had problems.

Wabbit Ears

A powered hub does seem to be nearly an essential. I spent ages to make sure I bought a wireless N wifi dongle that had a low enough power draw to not cause lock ups but for anything else I use a powered hub.