Where to get a good PSU from

[neufena]

Can anyone recommend where to get a decent power supply from?  I've got about 6 microusb charger lying around of varying quality but none seem to give me enough poer for both the pi, usb keayboard and mouse at one.  So far I'm using a powered hub to run them but it's not ideal.

There's loads on eBay etc but I want to get one that we know is good enough, not a piece of rubbish!

[rmm200]

There have been a ton of posts on this forum about power supplies. Worth reading if you use Search.

Consensus is use a brand name unit (Nokia, Samsung, etc), rated 1 amp or better. Has to have a good quality power cable. Avoid bottom price EBay units no matter what they are rated.

[neufena]

Thanks, I'm using a HTC branded charger (1a) with a nokia cable but still not enough, I'll look for a branded charger giving 2a and try again (or get a cheap keyboard, I have a feeling the apple keyboard is very power hungry!)

[TheCrazyInventor]

rmm200 said:


Consensus is use a brand name unit (Nokia, Samsung, etc), rated 1 amp or better. Has to have a good quality power cable. Avoid bottom price EBay units no matter what they are rated.



I completely agree on that one, definitely don't get the cheap 5 dollar ones. The quality is really shit, there is no way you can make a good quality power supply that costs only 5 bucks. They will most likely fail pretty soon, frying your pi and everything else attached.

If you decide to get a powered USB hub for extra USB on your pi, you can use the powered hub to power your pi as well, problem solved. Please do get a decent USB hub, though. Don't go for the cheap 10 dollar ones, but spend a little money. It'll be worth it.

[TheCrazyInventor]

neufena said:


Thanks, I'm using a HTC branded charger (1a) with a nokia cable but still not enough, I'll look for a branded charger giving 2a and try again (or get a cheap keyboard, I have a feeling the apple keyboard is very power hungry!)



Well, 1A should be more than enough to power the pi and a keyboard + mouse. I can't imagine the Apple keyboard eating up the remaining 300mA (the pi is spec'd at 700mA full load). But feel free to try a different power supply, perhaps the HTC charger has some intelligence build into it that prevents it from powering the pi, or something like that.

[jbeale]

I can't really object to the advice to get a good quality supply. I can say I have tested a $5 supply which does provide 5V at 1A current, with very little voltage ripple or noise, and ought to be fine for R-Pi although I don't have one yet (I tested with a 5 ohm resistive load). It is a bit unusual in that it it designed to provide 5.25 V when not loaded (which is still within the +/- 5% USB spec.) It is the rounded-shape supply at the right in this photo:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/V ... directlink

sold by Adafruit at this link: http://www.adafruit.com/products/501

(I don't have any connection with them, except as happy customer)

[greypower]

I am using a Maplins PSU : http://www.maplin.co.uk/compac.....ply-562310 - notionally capable of 2.1A

After sorting-out a "duff" cable it seems to perform well - with ethernet, keyb'd & mouse

the TP1/2 voltage is at 4.9 V

[mahjongg]

Before blaming the power supply, when your keyboard or mouse doesn't work properly, make sure you are using a "lightweight" keyboard/mouse, there are some (especially keyboards) that use so much current that the R-PIs USB ports polyfuse nearly trips, and this means that the keyboard doesn't get enough voltage (below 4.75 Volt). A weak power-supply then doesn't help (as it might not keep up enough voltage to begin with), but even with the best power supply, if your keyboard draws 130mA then it will fail!

Solution, use it behind a sufficiently powered USB hub, or use a simple keyboard that draws a normal amount of current (say 30mA).

So avoid (directly connecting) keyboards with built in stuff (USB output connector for a mouse, lighted keys etc).

A keyboard with an USB output connector might seem a solution to use one less USB port, but it probably won't work, as it means that the keyboard includes the logic of a USB hub, so it needs the power for the keyboard, the hub, and the device connected to the hub, and that quickly adds up to more than the allowed 100mA

[Impulse405]

Here are some options I am currently looking at

http://www.thinkgeek.com/compu.....ts/e2d2/  This is nice in that each port has a switch to turn of the power to that device. this lets you "disconnect" a device w/o actually disconnecting it.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/compu.....gets/e5be/

If you are like me and have times where you want a lot of USB devices plugged in

[shirro]

jbeale said:


I can't really object to the advice to get a good quality supply. I can say I have tested a $5 supply which does provide 5V at 1A current

[...]

sold by Adafruit at this link: http://www.adafruit.com/products/501


I would say buy a brand name rated at 1A or better from one of the big phone/tablet makers OR buy from the sort of electronics outlet that is likely to have some standards and test these things. I expect, like Adafruit, the labs at RS and Element 14 probably know the difference between a good cheap power supply and one that is rubbish. The discount bin at some less knowledgeable retailer is likely to be trouble.

[benzeman]

I'm using the masterplug duel-plug that somebody said was on offer at sainsburys. Don't know if the offer is still on.

[Alun]

I am using a spare Amazon Kindle charger and the supplied Kindle USB lead (I have 2 Kindles and they each came with a charger).

No issues yet. The charger is rated at 5V 0.85A.

[paulie]

Like benzeman, have tried masterplug dual usb from Sainsburys.
First psu tried was samsung etaou10ube travel adaptor 5v 0.7a, multiple keypresses on microsoft wireless keyboard 800 .
Also tried micro_usb cable supplied with galaxy ace, powered from usb port on server, then same cable in masterplug -same results. Not currently (sorry!) Useable

No multi-keypresses using AMD64/debian.

Good news though: "hyundai" branded hdmi to dvi cable (licenced by hyundai corp.) PLU253969 "crown crest LE1 2LB" (importers?) Works with sony monitor, £3.99

[paulie]

Like benzeman, have tried masterplug dual usb from Sainsburys.
First psu tried was samsung etaou10ube travel adaptor 5v 0.7a, multiple keypresses on microsoft wireless keyboard 800 .
Also tried micro_usb cable supplied with galaxy ace, powered from usb port on server, then same cable in masterplug -same results. Not currently (sorry!) Useable

No multi-keypresses using AMD64/debian.

Good news though: "hyundai" branded hdmi to dvi cable (licenced by hyundai corp.) PLU253969 "crown crest LE1 2LB" (importers?) Works with sony monitor, £3.99

[Tass]

mahjongg said:


Before blaming the power supply, when your keyboard or mouse doesn't work properly, make sure you are using a "lightweight" keyboard/mouse, there are some (especially keyboards) that use so much current that the R-PIs USB ports polyfuse nearly trips, and this means that the keyboard doesn't get enough voltage (below 4.75 Volt).


I'd agree.  I've used a 1A & 0.7A charger (Samsung & HTC mobile chargers), as well as running it directly off my laptop's USB - in all scenarios my Pi's worked fine with USB keyboard & mouse, including the network.  I'm using a bog-standard Dell brand for both.

[Robert_M]

Alun said:


I am using a spare Amazon Kindle charger and the supplied Kindle USB lead (I have 2 Kindles and they each came with a charger).

No issues yet. The charger is rated at 5V 0.85A.



Thank you - this is helpful info. I was considering buying a spare Kindle charger and using that for my Pi.

[hzrnbgy]

If you fancy reading datasheets from the manufacturers regarding their PSUs ripple, efficiency levels, etc, nothing beats good 'ol mouser.com

http://www.mouser.com/Power/Pl.....fmZ1z0wda9

[The_Saint]

This on Amazon looked reasonable for a tenner


PortaPow Dual USB Wall / Mains AC Charger (10W 2.1A UK Plug) for iPhone 4S / iPad 2 / Samsung / HTC / Blackberry Smartphones

[nugget]

Alun said:


I am using a spare Amazon Kindle charger and the supplied Kindle USB lead (I have 2 Kindles and they each came with a charger).

No issues yet. The charger is rated at 5V 0.85A.



Have you tried it using 3D acceleration yet?

My Pi works fine in Debian but freezes up quickly in OpenElec with it's 3D accelerated menus. I'm using a Kindle USB charger cable connected to a third party mains adapter (5V, 1A) and am trying to figure out which is to blame!

[summers]

hzrnbgy said:


If you fancy reading datasheets from the manufacturers regarding their PSUs ripple, efficiency levels, etc, nothing beats good 'ol mouser.com

http://www.mouser.com/Power/Pl.....fmZ1z0wda9



Yes, I got a Phihong switched mode PSU from Mouser for my pandaboard - and its worked well.  So I'd expect the microUSB 1.8A PSU to be a good purchase.

[The_Saint]

The Portapow I mentioned in Post 18 above just arrived, looks and feels like a solid bit of kit and is now £9 I just noticed.

[RaTTuS]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pro.....B005NETBQM

works fine

[adlambert]

I will give another vote for the Masterplug, bought for £5 in Sainsburys weeks ago when the offer was mentioned on here. I used it last night with the Pi for the first time and it was perfect.

[The_Saint]

Sorry for resurrecting a dead thread but earlier in this thread I recommended this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007 ... 04_s00_i00
I just posted the following review which hasn't yet been approved. I suppose I wrote the review with other people looking for Pi power supplies in mind. "Hilariously" my Samsung charger which I had thought marginal based on rated power output was by far the best and most stable as I plugged more things into the Pi.

I bought this to power my Raspberry Pi computer impressed by its claimed max output of 2.1 Amps, it looks the business as well and I happily charged my Galaxy S2 using it until my Pi arrived. Imagine my discomfort then when the Pi showed all the signs of an inadequate power supply. Testing as described here http://elinux.org/Rpi_Hardware#How_Can_ ... dequate.3F(trying both outputs in case of mis-labelling) confirmed that it wasn't delivering anything like the power claimed. This was compounded by the fact that an el-cheapo charger of the kind given away free with batteries only rated at 800mA for USB outperformed it as did the Samsung Galaxy S2 charger only rated at 700 mA. Interestingly my Garmin Forerunner USB charger rated at 1 amp performed pretty much the same as the Portapow.
Sorry for the over-technical post but I see so many one-star reviews by people with an obvious agenda or who are talking nonsense, this device will be fine for charging phone/tablet batteries but doesn't appear to deliver the output quoted in real-world situations. Maybe there is a subtle difference between "chargers" and "power supplies" and this is the issue here.

[PortaPow]

Hi,

I noticed you were having problems using our PortaPow mains charger and I just wanted to give an explanation. Standard micro USB cables designed for data transfer are generally not compatible with high speed USB chargers such as the PortaPow 2A or an iPad 2A charger. You will need to use a cable designed for high speed charging. Some high speed USB chargers include a micro usb cable, for ours you will need to buy one separately, such as this one: http://www.portablepowersupplies.co.uk/ ... ing-cable/

We'll make this clearer on our Amazon listing shortly.

As a gesture of good will I can offer £1 off our cable if you send us an email when making your purchase, this offer applies to anyone reading this message until the end of June.

Let me know if you have any questions.

regards

Bharath Pillai
PortaPow Customer Services