Pi Power

Name: Pi Power
SKU: 2841
Price: 18.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.50 (5 reviews)

(5 Reviews)

switching power supply for the Raspberry Pi for 6-14 VDC

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switching power supply for the Raspberry Pi for 6-14 VDC

NEW The Pi Power now comes with a polyfuse on the output. This is intended to work with a TVS diode on the Raspberry Pi to protect it if the switching MOSFET fails. See the documentation for details.…

NEW

The Pi Power now comes with a polyfuse on the output. This is intended to work with a TVS diode on the Raspberry Pi to protect it if the switching MOSFET fails. See the documentation for details.

What is it?

Pi Power is the power supply that the Raspberry Pi should have come with!

Pi Power is a switching power supply for the Raspberry Pi. It plugs into the GPIO header, and has an extra tall stacking header to keep the board out of the way of the display connector and facilitate plugging something else into the GPIO connector as well.

It has a 2.1mm barrel connector that will accept 6-14 VDC. It supplies up to 2 amps of 5 volts. At supply voltages over 9 volts, it has a ripple of 25 mV P-P. At lower supply voltages, the ripple goes up to 45 mV.

At 12 volts, a Raspberry Pi with a WiFi module, camera and a keyboard will consume around 250-300 mA. A 10 watt 9 volt power supply is the ideal power source, but really any 10 watt source will do.

Pi Power comes with a 26 pin stacking header. With it, you can use Pi Power with any Raspberry Pi. B+ owners can use Pi Power as an adapter for 26 pin IDC cables that otherwise won't fit properly on the 40 pin GPIO header. If you are using a B+ and want the full 40 pins, you can add a 14 pin stacking header next to Pi Power.

Why did you make it?

The SMT µUSB power jack is a terribly inconvenient way to power your Pi. It requires a well regulated source of high current, very low voltage (5v) power. The SMT mounted jack is (relatively) delicate, and most USB power supplies are of questionable quality.

The GPIO connector, relative to the size of the board, is a much, much stronger connection. The 2.1mm barrel connector is a much less fiddly connector.

What makes it special?

There are other power supplies out there for the R-Pi. But I think this one is the best. The R-Pi will fit in the bottom half of most cases with it connected. You can mount it externally and connect it with a GPIO cable if you prefer. It supplies more than enough power for both the R-Pi and any reasonable collection of peripherals you might choose to connect. For model B Pis, this includes possibly using high (up to 500 mA) current USB devices without an external powered hub.

It's small, powerful, accepts a wide range of input voltages.

Pi Power comes as a board with all surface mount components installed, and a stacking header for the GPIO connector for you to solder yourself.

Compatibility matrix

If it's not on this list, it's unknown whether Pi Power will work. Ask us and we'll figure it out and add it here.

Model A: Untested, but very likely works
Model B: Tested, works
Model B+: Tested, works
Model A+: Tested, works
Model 2 B: Tested, works
Model 3: Tested, works
Model 4: Tested, works
Pi Zero: Tested, works
Pi Zero W: Tested, works
ODroid W: Tested, INCOMPATIBLE

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Quantity	Price
1-9	$18.00
10-49	$15.00
50+	$12.50

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

Product: (4.60)

Documentation: (3.80)

Shipping: (4.80)

Communication: (4.80)

Bryan | Jan. 24, 2018

Perfect Complement to a Pi 3 Model B

I purchased this to use with my Pi 3 model B that I'm building a pool temperature monitor out of. I have a weatherproof enclosure that prevents me from using the mini USB power plug on the Pi itself.

I stumbled across this item when researching alternate power methods for the Pi. At first I thought I would be able to use the on board barrel plug but again the waterproof case enclosure wall prevented me from using that, even with a 90 degree plug. Thankfully I was able find alternate power points under the board of the Pi Power to solder a wired female barrel plug to so that I can use that instead to go the opposite direction of the on board plug.

The Pi Power board itself is flawless, I've been running tests on my temperature sensors for over 4 weeks, no issues at all with power to the Pi. As soon as the snow melts I'll be installing this under the pool deck and mounting the 3 temperature sensors.

If I had any recommendation at all I would rotate the barrel plug 90 degrees counter clockwise, so that you were guaranteed clearance for the barrel plug because of it being over the rest of the exposed Pi. But that is just how it would work better for me and this application.

Thanks for putting in the time to build and sell the Pi Power.

Robert | June 27, 2017

Great power converter for Amateur Radio use

I purchased this board so that I could power my Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 7” Touchscreen Display using standard car, and Amateur Radio, power (13.8vdc). The Power Pi has powered both devices beautifully for the last two weeks I've used it. I had several great e-mail exchanges with the board's maker, Nick Sayer; he was very knowledgeable, responsive, and helpful.

It's worth noting that the Power Pi GPIO header must be soldered onto the board before use (it ships un-soldered) and that you will need to purchase a 2.1mm barrel connector to feed power into the Power Pi. Make sure you check out the "Documentation" link on the right-hand side of the Power Pi page's description for the board's gritty details.

Robert | June 23, 2017

Use with RasperryPi ham radio repeater controller.

This is my second purchase of the Pi Power. I use the Raspberry Pi as a controller for ham radio repeaters, and this allows the use of the radio 13.8 vdc power source to power the RPi. We have had no reliability issues over the past year or so, using this configuration. Using the radio's 13.8 vdc does require inserting a diode in series to add one diode voltage drop to assure the power source does not over voltage the Pi Power. Not an issue.

Aaron | Sept. 20, 2016

Good product, did the job.

No complaints with the product, did what expected and allowed me to power my Pi from a AC adapter rather than USB. Two suggestions: one include a note in the documentation that states the minimum pins that need to be connected or soldered to connect the Pi Power and Pi (yes it can be worked out from the schematic but for the sake of an extra sentence doubt could be eliminated); the second suggestion would be to provide two pins to allow easy access to the input voltage, in my case I wanted to also power a 12v relay, I soldered two wires to the bottom of the Pi Power but easy access pins would be nicer.

Response from Geppetto Electronics | Sept. 20, 2016

The list of most important pins to solder a good idea. I've added that note to the user guide page.

Roy | Sept. 5, 2015

Works as advertised.

I bought this supply for a Pi2 that runs my DVMega. It allows me to run the Pi from my station power supply, and seems to work very well. The only problems that I see is that the header provided, plus the DVMega board, gives the setup a very high profile. I doubt if it would fit in any case that I have seen. Also, there is no documentation provided by the manufacturer. Even a web link would be better than nothing. The power supply board has to be soldered to the header. That's not a big deal. I doubt if all the pins have to be soldered, but a little information on that subject would have been welcome. All of this information may be available on the web, but I didn't have a burning desire to go looking for it. I don't really tinker with the Pi. I just use it for DSTAR, so I don't have all of the GPIO pinouts, etc. handy. The board seems to be good quality, and works very well. A little documentation would go a long way. Roy KW4G

Response from Geppetto Electronics | Sept. 5, 2015

There is a user's guide at http://www.geppettoelectronics.com/2014/07/pi-power-user-guide.html. There's a documentation link on the product page on the right side under the ordering area. You don't need to solder all of the pins, but the more you solder, the better the mechanical connection. Four are a bare minimum (two +5, two GND): pins 2, 4, 6 and 25. After that, there are 4 more ground pins, and all of the rest of the pins are not connected to anything electrically.