Power BLough-R

Name: Power BLough-R
SKU: 14727
Price: 7.25 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 4.84 (30 reviews)

(30 Reviews)

The simplest way of stripping 5V from a USB cable. Useful for 3D printers used with Octoprint.

Designed by Brian Lough in Ireland

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$7.25

Out of Stock

Sold out since Nov 27, 2021

The simplest way of stripping 5V from a USB cable. Useful for 3D printers used with Octoprint.

NOTE: To save on time and weight I have some Power BLough-R packed into a two pack (two units in one packaging). If you need all Power BLough-R to be individually packed, please just leave me a note …

What is it?

This is a basically a pass through device for USB Type A connectors that doesn't connect the 5V line. it has a Male connector and one end and a Female connector at the other.

How is that useful?

Well basically it is simple, non-intrusive way of solving a problem that 3D-printers connected to Octoprint machines have, their screen stays on, even when their PSU is off because they are still receiving 5V via USB.

The new version of the PCB now breaks out the pins from the female USB connector (can be seen in the third image above), I've found this useful for adding 5V back into a USB device that is power hungry (such as an external hard drive), especially if using an extension cable.

How does it work?

Plug the Power BLough-R directly into a USB port of the computer running Octoprint and plug the printer's USB cable into the Power BLough-R. Your Octoprint machine will be able to communicate with your printer as normal once your printer's PSU is on.

Why did you make it?

This has been a little bug bear of mine for a while and wanted to come up with a simple solution for it. Up to this I was plugging out the USB cable every time I turned off my printer.

I also wanted to make a PCB and this is my first ever one, as you might be able to tell. It's certainly not the most complicated device, but it achieves what I set out to do!

Is this the only way to solve this problem?

There are other solutions to this problem, some people have taken to cutting traces on boards, others have modified the USB cable (either by cutting the 5V line or placing tape over the connector), but I thought this would be a nice, non intrusive way to achieve the goal.

What is in included?

1 assembled Power BLoughR with clear heatshrink

Documentation

Here is some simple documentation.

Enclosure

One of the people who bought a Power BLough-R created a case for it and it's awesome! It's a press fit case and it works perfectly. Please leave a rcolbert a message or a like on thingiverse for doing a fantastic job.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3172743

Printer Compatibility

The Power BLoughR works with most printers, but there are some exceptions. Some printers, such as the Prusa MK3, already separate the printers 5v from the USB 5v. When you use the Power BLoughR with these printers, nothing powers the USB to serial chip, so it will not appear in the port drop down in Octoprint. A good general test to know if you need the Power BLoughR or not is, with the printer off, plug in the USB. If the screen turns on, the Power BLoughR should work for you.

FAQ:

Is there a switch? No, I wanted to make this as simple as possible. Standard cheap switches can probably handle standard USB current, but I was also concerned about people using these with phone chargers.
How do you pronounce the name? Power Blocker, my second name is pronounced "lock" (I don't expect anyone to guess that!)
Isn't this just the same as cutting the 5V line of the USB cable? This is exactly like that, but no cables were harmed in this solution!
Wasn't there an option for a kit before? Yes there was, but in an effort to streamline the product I have decided to only sell the assembled version. It was by far the most popular version anyways.

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Brian Lough Shipping Policy:

We are currently limiting the amount we go out for social distancing reasons, and usually go to the post office once a week. Usually on a Wednesday or Thursday

Brian

Quantity	Price
1	$7.25
2-4	$7.00
5+	$6.50

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

Product: (5.00)

Documentation: (4.73)

Shipping: (4.83)

Communication: (4.80)

Laura | July 1, 2021

Does what it says

Bought this to stop my Pi4 Octoprint from powering the Ender 3 via the USB cable. Does exactly what it claims, and looks good in it's heat shrink wrapping

James | June 15, 2021

Does what it's designed to do

Quick easy simple to install sure beats having to cut up a cable. Now I can leave my pi plugged into my Ender 3v2 without having to worry about back feeding.

Christian | Jan. 25, 2021

Amazing

Got 3 of them and they work like a like it is supposed to.
Makes me connect 3 x3D printers without having fear that something get broken due to power leaks.

Nick | Jan. 1, 2021

A simple idea to fix a common problem

Sure you could cut up cables, but Brian's board makes for a nice tidy Octoprint installation. A now-standard mod for Creality printer setups.

Joshua | Jan. 1, 2021

great little problem solver

As it says on the tin, saves having to hack up cables etc. product exactly as described, shipped quickly.

Christopher | Dec. 17, 2020

Works like a charm

Fast shipping, so I got it fast and the adapter is well made and works great. Also the maker donated a part of the price for an Open Source project, so I am very happy with the product and everything around it. Kudos for the funny comment printed on the board.

Juan P. | Dec. 17, 2020

Power BLough-R best thing ever!

Hi,
The product: Is perfect and it did what it should do right away when I connected to my 3D-printer.
The shipping: It was fast but no tracking info, just got the info that it was shipped.
The documentation. No need for this. I just plugged it in and it worked. The only thing I was missing is what kind of connections it has.
The communication: Asked about tracking info, I was told to contact the seller but there was no way to do this. By replaying to the mail reg. that it was shipped, got it back telling me that my mail couldn't be delivered :(

But very happy that the shipment was fast and the product worked as I expected :)

/Juan

Response from Brian Lough | Jan. 3, 2021

Hey Juan,

Great that it arrived and worked as expected.

I'm sorry about the communication issue, I'm not sure who you asked about tracking info but in future if you need to contact me you can go to your Tindie order and there is a "contact seller" button. If your query isn't related to a previous order there is a way of contacted me through either product pages or my Tindie store.

Regards,
Brian

Jeffery | Nov. 27, 2020

An amazing product for an annoying problem

This worked just as described, no more USB backpower to my skr e3 mini 2.0 in a neat package. Thank you so much.

Maureen | Nov. 22, 2020

Solves screen staying on from RPi power

I felt like putting a small piece of tape over the power terminal on my cord was adequate...then wanted to use the cord to update the firmware and had to take the tape off. Was disconnecting from my printer then...finally put the tape on again...then needed to take it off. Was not a huge inconvenience, but this little item solves the problem. I enjoyed 3D printing a little case. I love Brian's videos so was happy to support him. Also, loved getting a package from Ireland.

Bruce | Nov. 20, 2020

Great product, Fast shipment

I had a hacked up USB cable where I had cut the +5v line so I could hook up to microcontrollers that are already powered and monitor/reprogram them. This is a much cleaner solution!

Andre | Nov. 20, 2020

Excellet product for my 3d printer

I`m using this between my Raspberry Pi and my 3d printer.
Was really easy to solder and wrap inside the suggested 3d printable case.
Really good value.

Kieran | Nov. 20, 2020

Does exactly as stated

Works perfectly. Use it to isolate my Raspberry Pi from my 3D printer to stop power flowing to or from the printer so the cable is data only. One of the first things I printed was a case from Thingiverse to mount the pcb into.

Sean | Oct. 21, 2020

Excellent product to protect your 3D printer when using a Pi

I saw this recommended on Reddit as a way to prevent a Raspberry Pi from sending USB power to your printer. I was pleased to see it was a fellow Irish person who came up with the idea. On some printers an unshielded connection keeps the screen powered on even when the printer itself is powered off. The Blough-R eliminates that issue and saves people who are all thumbs (like me) from having to try and modify USB cables.

Mike | Sept. 29, 2020

excellent buy - thoroughly recommend

Very easy to assemble and did exactly what I needed! Solves the "pi powering the printer problem" at a stroke

Donald | Sept. 4, 2020

Excellent Product That Does Exactly What It Is Meant To Do!!

I am very happy with this item. I bought it in kit form and it was extremely simple to assemble and it worked exactly as advertised! This little unit solved the problem of the lcd screen staying on with my Creality CR20 printer when plugged in to the usb on my pc while the printer was tuned off. Very simple yet smart design.

Donald | Aug. 17, 2020

Fantastic product shipped promptly

Like many, I was frustrated at my 3D printers still receiving power from my Raspberry Pi's even when turned off. So when I heard of the Power BLough-R, I ordered 5 of them immediately. (2 for my printers, and 3 for friends and extras in case I screw up in assembling one.) The kits arrived SUPER FAST (Got to me in the States in less than a week, which quite frankly amazed me) and the soldering was pretty easy, even for a greenhorn like me. Works perfectly, and paired with the 3D printed case, they look totally professional, MUCH nicer than the dodgy hand-hacked data-only USB cables I was using, which I can now happily retire.

Gordon | July 18, 2020

Really useful little device, shipped quickly

Great device, " does what it says on the tin". Shipped and delivered quickly. No documentation or communication from Brian was necessary with this order. Will happily buy more products from this seller in the future.

Joel | May 23, 2020

Great product

Works exactly as advertised and perfect for use on my 3D printer with Octoprint to prevent it from staying on. Small gripe is that as an absolute noob at soldering some instructions would have been nice, but otherwise A++ product.

Michael | Feb. 19, 2020

Power BLough-R: Great for OctoPi 3D Printers

I bought a handful of Power BLough-R kits to polish up on soldering and upgrade from using kapton tape on my USB cables for my 3D printers. The packages came relatively quick for international mail. I wish they were more streamlined, but that would make soldering more difficult... I highly recommend these!

Gunther | Jan. 29, 2020

Does exactly what it says on the tin.

As a user of OctoPrint and a Creality printer, I had the (presumably well-known) issue that the Raspberry powers the printer via its USB port - not fully, but enough to keep the LCD on and the fans spinning, which is suboptimal to say the least. I had initially taped over the power pin of the USB cable itself, which took forever to maneuver into place and came off every time I had to do anything with the cable. I'm also a terrible solderer, so this seemed like the best solution. I stuck it in the 3D printable case found on Thingiverse, and it's been doing its thing ever since.

Ben | Dec. 31, 2019

This is what my 3D printer was missing

Works like a charm, and worth every penny. Much better than any hack I would have come up with. A must-have for any 3D printer in my opinion!

Stephen | Aug. 9, 2019

Very Clever Idea

Such a clever idea, I got one for each of my printers, all of which run OctoPrint, The kit is super simple to solder (and assemble with the Thingiverse case).

Patrick | Aug. 1, 2019

Power BLoughR, fabulous little thing

Now the screen is off and OctoPi is switched on which sometimes annoyed me that the screen will be powered from USB even if you unplug the powercord.
I have had a couple of emails with the seller and he is incredibly friendly and helpful so I recommend you get the Power BLough-R if you also want the screen turned off when you turn off the power to your 3D printer

Daniel | May 3, 2019

Awesome!

Great Product, easy to install, well fabricated and it works like a charm! I can highly recommend seller and product.

James | Feb. 8, 2019

Perfect for finishing my printer power automation.

Although there are other ways of achieving what this does - this is a clean, well-designed - and amazingly deeply tested solution (loved the video!) that wrapped up my goal of automating my 3d printer power status.

Ludovic | Feb. 5, 2019

Good quality product that works perfectly

It's a good investment for the low price.
This allows me to leave my printer permanently connected in USB. The USB connection is also more stable.
Now I just have to turn on the printer's power supply when I need it, and with a wifi power outlet I no longer have to move around :-)
It will also be a perfect companion for my future Octoprint installation.

Josh | Dec. 21, 2018

Just what i needed for my K40 laser

After installing a new controller board in my cheap Chinese laser cutter. I was experiencing brownouts when other appliances in the house were switched on.

after receiving my Power BLough-R and assembling it I fitted it to the machine and now I have no issues.

top bit of kit I have recommended it to others in the k40 machine facebook pages.

Bryan | Nov. 2, 2018

Works as advertised

There are a lot of little hacky solutions for achieving what this device does. However, this solution is very low cost and elegant. It works great!

Seon | Oct. 27, 2018

PERFECT!

Simple, easy to assemble, works perfectly!
10/10, would buy another K40 laser just to get another BLough-R !

Sven Are | Oct. 27, 2018

Works as advertised

This product its pretty much plug and play. make the screen on 3d printer turn off when printer is turned off as it wont get any power from the USB contact while same time lets data singal true when its printing. Perfect for folks that runs octoprint.

+ Show 25 more

$7.25