reduce power

[kel_sg]

Hi,

I am doing a project that needs the Raspberry Pi to run for 24 hours feeding it with only 16000mAh power bank. May I know if there are any ways to reduce the power consumption?

Thank you.

[RaTTuS]

use an A+

how much power do you need
how long does it last so far

[kel_sg]

Thank you @ RaTTuS. Currently I am using raspberry pi 2 B. It can only last for about 18 hours. I know that raspberry 2 has a switchable USB power selector to switch 600mA or 1.2A , may I know how to do u select 600mA?

[ghans]

1200 mA are only consumed when the connected device(s) use(s) it. Furthermore 600 mA are the default.

Add

Code: Select all

max_usb_current=1

to the config.txt in the first partition of your SD card and reboot to enable the 1200mA mode.

ghans

[W. H. Heydt]

The critical difference between the A/A+ and the B/B+/Pi2B is that the later has a LAN chip that acts as a USB plus Ethernet connector. That chip uses pretty much the same power at the SoC and it doesn't drop to low power when there is no demand. Therefore, the A+ uses a *lot* (relatively speaking) less power than the Pi2B. If you're getting 18 hrs on a Pi2B, you should easily get 24 hrs with an A+.

[Holmes]

Based on what the needs of your application are, you may consider shutting off the LAN/USB power via a software command. This can cut down power usage considerably.

The issues are: 1) you will disable USB devices as well, 2) you will disable LAN ability.

Here's a link to a topic where they discuss this in some detail:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=93463

Hope this helps.