Raspberry Pi 3 Power Supply

[MarximusPrime]

Hello,

I have a Raspberry Pi 3 and it was working great for a few months now. I have been using the 2.5A Power Supply cable that is needed to run the system. All of sudden my Pi stopped working and the lights would not turn on at all when plugged in. At first I thought my system was fried. I then started trouble shooting it and the only other power cord I had was a traditional/normal USB to Micro USB with out the power unit on the cord. When I plugged that in, the Pi powered up the but I then started to see the lightning port icon when I booted the system up. From what I read, the lightning port tells me I need a 2.5A cord. Thinking my 2.5A cord was bad, I bought a brand new one and when I plugged that in, the Pi again would not power on.

Any suggestions why the proper power would not turn the board on but a weaker cable would? Do I need to buy a new unit or are these under any type of warranty? I am newer to this but love this system. If I have to buy a new one I will.

Thank you all.

[Burngate]

I'm somewhat confused.

I have been using the 2.5A Power Supply cable

Do you mean a power supply with attached cable?

a traditional/normal USB to Micro USB with out the power unit on the cord. When I plugged that in, the Pi powered up

Just a cable? - with the Pi on one end, what did you plug the other end into?

From what I read, the lightning port tells me I need a 2.5A cord

What it means is you need a power supply and a cable that allows that much current through without loosing to much voltage.

Thinking my 2.5A cord was bad, I bought a brand new one

Again, just a cable? or a supply with a cable?

Your Pi is probably fine.
Your cables may or may not be ok. But thicker ones are better.
It appears that whatever you're using to supply the power isn't man enough for the job.

[MarximusPrime]

Hi Burngate,

Thank you for the reply and sorry for any confusion. Let me try and clear it up with some pics I found on the internet.

2.5 Amp Power Cable - This is the cable I was using when I originally bought my Pi. This is the cable that from I read is required to power the machine properly. This is the cable that stopped working on me.

Unknown-1.jpeg (5.22 KiB) Viewed 1190 times

USB to Micro USB - This is the cable I had laying around that I plugged in and my machine powered up. However I now have the lighting bolt on my monitor. I read that the lighting port indicates not enough power for the Pi

Unknown.jpeg (3.86 KiB) Viewed 1190 times

So I bought a new 2.5 Amp cable thinking that the original was bad and the brand new one did nothing.

[Burngate]

2.5 Amp Power Cable - This is the cable I was using when I originally bought my Pi. This is the cable that from I read is required to power the machine properly. This is the cable that stopped working on me.
Unknown-1.jpeg

That's what I would call a power supply - the small brick, with pins on the underside that go in your wall socket - with attached cable - the squiggly bit with a plug on the end.

USB to Micro USB - This is the cable I had laying around that I plugged in and my machine powered up. However I now have the lighting bolt on my monitor. I read that the lighting port indicates not enough power for the Pi
Unknown.jpeg

That's just a cable.
You must have plugged it into something - maybe your laptop? A phone charger?
Whatever you plugged it into hasn't got the oomph to properly power your Pi - that's why you get the lightning bolt.

So I bought a new 2.5 Amp cable thinking that the original was bad and the brand new one did nothing.

Now I'm thinking your wall socket is faulty - have you tried plugging a desk lamp into it?

[MarximusPrime]

Hi again,

Yea I understand why the lightning bolt shows up. Not enough oomph. As far as the possible power socket, I have tried plugging the Pi into a few sockets around my place and all of them do nothing. I am starting to think my unit is faulty.

[artistan]

I had this experience just based on the cable. the power was not enough due to the cable. Try buying a higher quality cable, I was able to use multiple power supplies with a decent cable.