5v Power supply from GPIO pin 2

[Flancrust]

I have a few bits on order and some of them will work within the 3.3v and 5v range that i am playing around with. I have an anker 8400mah 5v 1/2amp battery pack to power the PI.

Basically the Pi has a 5v pin (pin 2) can I draw power from this? I have an infrared sensor which uses a 5v input. Can i use the 2nd pin and then connect it to pin 6 gnd. With the third connection connected to any of the other input GPIO pins to read the High/LOW signal?

The alternative is just to splice a USB cable and plug that into the breadboard direct to power these components.

[toxibunny]

Yes, you can draw power from the gpiopins. The 5v comes straight from wherever you put the power into, so the only thing you have to worry about is overloading the main polyfuse.

BEWARE though - never plug anything running from the 5v straight into the gpio pins - they run on 3.3v and if you put 5v into them, you'll break something.

Personally, I'd try powering your infrared sensor from the 3v3 pin first. You never know, it just might work...

[Flancrust]

thanks for the advice,, i will give it a go on the 3v3 and if it works happy days if not i will just whack the relevant resistor with the power of ohms law inbetween the input and pi