Here are some responses to frequent comments: - Some have tried this already and have had great success. Others have found their chosen adaptor didn't deliver the rated current. I guess these are just like buck converters from Aliexpress. When selecting, read the reviews and check for repeat comments about the product failing. - Some suggestions of buck converters with a USB output. Another great option! We should be happy there is so much choice and everyone is free to select what works best for them. In my case I'm happy with the clean installation and wiring. - Technically the device inside is a buck converter, fair enough. But it's not marketed that way when you buy them so I'm not calling them that. - Some comments suggesting the tablet battery may swell in time from constantly being plugged in. Sounds like a good warning and I'll be periodically checking mine.
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Hi mate, I've been using usb car charger for about a year and it's working very well! Problem here are the 5V regulators in the cheap ones. I don't remember the chip makers and type, but some doesn't supply enough current for long term, just peaks. Cheers and keep up the good work!
Hi there, the official Raspberry Pi power supply actually supplies slightly over 5v because of a limitation on the Raspberry Pi voltage regulation and protection circuits going to the SD Card. While running the Pi in its "underpower" mode isn't going to show immediate issues, in the long term it will result in an SD card that has corrupted data, due to not having the voltage required to operate properly. This can result in reliability issues in the long term. I have had these issues in the past, and its usually fine for a few months, until the Pi starts exhibiting some strange and unstable behaviour, like randomly rebooting, or crashing hard that requires a power cycle. The low power warning is not only a warning either, to reduce the likelihood of data corruption, the Pi also slows its CPU down in order to reduce the chance of a further voltage drop on the supply rails, which can cause stuttering and performance issues.
I have used a car USB charger for a previous project. It broke... so I tore it apart and found it was still usable for something else. It work pretty well.
Thank you, I did this about 2 years ago and shared it online. Most people said bad idea, I still use it. No low power issues. All connections are crimped and secured. One switch shuts down everything after proper shutdown.
Ive found over the years that 99% of people will always put down and knock a good idea as a bad one because they didn't think of it or test it fair play to you mate👍🏻
@@Deses'They were envious.' Less envious, more aware it's a highly YMMV solution. You have no idea what's in this power supply or if the next one you order will be the same short of opening them up. Difficult to beat a $3, 5A buck converter with an unknown supply that's likely to cost the same or more. If you get one, try it, and it works that's great. Hard to suggest it as a 'generally good idea' when there's a roughly same price but much more sure to work correctly alternative that even has a couple more amps to spare to run other things.
I was literally considering yesterday switching from an arduino to a pi on a project I am working on. I want the project to be a closed system where only a 12v power supply plugs in and powers the motors as well as the controller. I had no idea how to do it and you just gave me the answer. Thank you so much, amaizing video
I'm glad someone finally mentioned "safely" turning off the Pi...You will find out, at the worst time possible, just turning off the Pi will cause issues. Can't say exactly when, but I can say, from personal experience, it WILL happen. It's really going to depend the quality of the SD card, the cheaper and more "off-brand' you go, quality you buy, the faster it will happen.
When testing the Phrozen Transform (which runs an Orange Pi from memory), I had this happen on an unintentional power outage and had to reflash the firmware. So I agree it does happen.
Yes, in all intents and purposes, you are running a desktop level operating system on the Pi (in this case Raspberry Pi OS, which is based on Debian Linux). The same warnings for safely shutting down a Pi exists for PC's. Raspberry Pi's do not store their OS in firmware.
This is a great idea, I love these workarounds where you can utilize something from a different field that already exists and save money in the process. In retrospect it makes sense since the car adapter is a small buck converter but somehow we always need somebody to remind us of these things since you rarely get these kind of ideas on your own ... Thanks!
Exquisite! That's what I like about DIY things, especially when there's a bunch of smart people around those - each creation is better than the other one and each tailored to one's specific needs.
I actually did the same thing to my Sidewinder X1 a couple days ago, I'm running klipper but having two phone chargers one for the pi and for the tablet was making me go crazy. Really glad to see you give this tip to everyone watching!!
Well, a pal of mine and I have been using these buck converters , AKA ‘cigarette lighter adapters’ for many years. It was logical. We looked at lighter adapter… “12v in … 5v out… yepper, that’s a buck converter” But then, we don’t put any stock in Madison-Avenue sales pitches or ads… we are nerds of the highest caliber 🤓
I have the Raspi powered separately from a 12V plug pack and 5V power module. I always wire power up to my Pi using the +5V and GND pins on the GPIO ports. This is because they can source more current than the USB input socket. If you are powering the Pi from the USB the smaller current limit of the USB port may be the source of the under voltage error and other problems rather than your converter. I found this limitation when flying the RasPi in my Ardupilot/PixHawk controlled model aircraft. The Pi was doing a lot of processing of images and routing mavlink packets so used a lot of current and could only be reliably powered by the GPIO pins. I have it powered separately as I don’t want it turning off with the printer which I have controlled by using your excellent tutorial on wifi controlled power socket - mine are TP-Link as well. One thing I did find however that when powering these USB devices from 24V they get really hot and I was always fearful of a fire. Some of them may say 24V however I would never do it.
I run a bunch of Pi4s in a vehicle mounted tracking system and the ciggie plug sockets with 2.1A are a constant source of failure of the system. The Pi4 is a power hungry board and although most of the time will idle along happily on under 2A if it can't get 3A when it wants it the board will give under-voltage warnings and eventually crash. I went to a DFRobot 25W power module and for ~$16 you cannot beat it. No more failures from power supply. You need to make up a USB-C lead to connect to the module (or solder power to the Pi, not for the faint of heart) but otherwise a great solution that also provides an on/off switch and a few other bonus features.
Also the power brick for the Pi would be rated to handle the max power the Pi could draw when using all available device. The HDMI port will draw significant power since the GPU will be working hard. Using Octoprint you are not typically using the HDMI so that is another source of power not being used.
@@TeachingTech I have to point out that the power usage measurements in the video are not reliable. The RPi-s have dedicated video co-processor so they can handle video efficiently without loading the main CPU. I do recommend watching some of the @LoveRPi videos here on youtube, he measures RPi3 usage and heat under maximum CPU load. From what I see, you don't need maximum speed, so it may be reasonable to set the RPi in "powersave" governor/mode and not have it boost clocks. It would keep power and heat down. With buck convertors you want to make sure that under load they do not overheat and that their output doesn't start to pulse. Higher frequency buck converters are usually more efficient, so they are smaller, handle higher currents and pulses are easier to filter out.
Hi Michael, long time viewer, but rarely post anything anywhere. Instead of the car-charger route, I skipped a few links in the chain and used a buck-converter that has variable input between 6 and 32 volts, and outputs a clean usb output voltage through a USB port, but is about the size of a normal buck converter. Searching for usb buck converter on ali-express brings it up as the first hit. No undervolts or anything on the Pi.
Wow, two great tips here. I never even thought about using an old tablet as a screen. And a 24V compatible USB car plug, brilliant, I was going down the buck converter route.
Great video Michael. The auto part without the socket, great solution Better than the socket and then the plug in USB adapter. Great use of cross technology. I do it all the time.
This is a great solution! I have an old tablet & have been wanting to set up a pi4. Those worried about output can easily locate higher output counterparts.
For those concerned about the 2.1A and need this for 2 printers (like me). I found a dual USB port set up that has 5v 18w (which is about 3.6A). It's a 2 pack for 18.50 or $9.25 each. Pretty good deal IMHO. TH-cam wont let me post a link but search this: "DaierTek 2pcs 12V Dual USB Charger Socket for Automotive Car Marine RV RZR Boat ATV Bus Truck, Quick Charge 3.0 Waterproof with Blue LED Voltmeter and Wire Fuse DIY Kit"
Raspberry Pis are very expensive. Even more so if we use one for each printer we have. I have an old PC with 5 instances of Octoprint and all the printers connected to it. Better performance and zero expense.
That's a neat idea, using the car adapter given that this stuff is also used in trucks, boats, mobile homes and lots of other places. If it's easier/less complicated depends very much on the buck converter you use, though. Mine has screw terminals on the input side and USB (with QC support) on the output side. That was as easy to install as the car adapter and works pretty well. It's also powerful enough to easily power my PineCil instead. As for obsolete devices - I never upgrade unless I've killed or lost my old device so no luck on that part, although I like the idea.
Those of us w/ a smart switch on the mains as an automated backup to the TRP in the firmware would need a dedicated power source like the 5v meanwell you showed. Good video on repurposing those car accessories and old 'smart' devices. I use Droidcam on a spare S4 as a Webcam. Sadly, the battery will swell when it gets some age and the phone won't power on w/o it installed. Looks like my old Kindle or Samsung tablet is about to get a new purpose as well.
My thoughts exactly! However now that he brings it to light if you can get these pretty much any where locally and not have to wait for shipping. For my project though I'd rather rip out the guts and solder leads right from the power supply
It's still a cheaper and simpler solution for this use because the buck converter is fixed at 5v output instead of including the potentiometer for voltage adjustment.
Thanks for this video! I printed your adapter and couldn't figure out how to mount it. This showed me how. To start with I'm going to use the Pi power adapter, then when everything works will look at other options. My 400 Rat Rig is using a Fystec Spider, so now just trying to get it running
Nice job Michael. Caravan and truck electric suppliers are a great source of 12v/24v equipment. I used caravan 12v SMC LED's to replace my halogen lighting in my display cabinets for 25% the price of lighting supplier replacements. The good thing there are plenty of suppliers down here in Aus. so delivery is quick.
cool! I might use this idea of the marine USB socket for my CNC where I have the power and other electronic mounted inside an old computer case to help revive some of the saw dust coating.
Good thinking 99! I have often pondered if i could hack a mains to usb supply to work with a lower input voltage like 24v , probably depends on whether the internal oscillator will run at that voltage - only one way to find out !
Nice finding. I bought a buck converter, fully sealed for the use in a motorcycle, only yesterday. I prefer the solution without the 12/24V socket, as people that might be living with you might be tempted to plug in some 12V appliance (coolers in summer) and just kill (other) electronic devices. That being said, I hope to be able to install everything tomorrow...
I'm still using my old Raspberry Pi 3 as an OctoPrint server and it runs fine from a 2 AMP Samsung phone charger with an PS3 cam and an USB 2.0 Flash Drive hooked up. Might give this a shot but where am I gonna mount it on my Ender 3?
About the possible battery swell on old tablets: You might be able to control the maximum charge either with built-in or addon software, and setting it to 50% should help prevent swelling. Or you might be able to replace the battery with an 18650 by wiring a battery holder to the previous battery's charge/protection board.
A basic question: After installing Octodash on the RaspBerry PI that has octoprint, how do you access it from your tablet/smartphone? When you enter the RaspBerry PI IP you get into Octorpint. Is there a specific path or port to get to the octodash interface?
Come on Michael get that next RatRig video out...I am busting to see the prints and see your thoughts. Especially since I have already spent my dollars on it :)
It boggles me that by far most 3d printer psu's have spare 5v circuitry in them, connecting this to a port or cable yourself is kind of dangerous but it would be very little effort for the manufacturer, so it's weird that no one is doing it
I have all sort of old android tablets. One question I didn’t see answered. How are you getting your sliced gcode into the tablet? Or uploading to Octopront from your slicer PC then managing via tablet to load? Thanks
I think I have some 12v chargers sitting around that I bought for my RV. I have an older Anycubic Mega Pro that runs on 12v so that would be perfect. I love the idea of using an old phone or tablet as a screen. I have a bunch of those lying around. I assume device memory isn’t an issue since we basically want everything removed from it. I’m still new to this. Bought the printer a few years ago but honestly haven’t really used it until last December lol. The screen on it sucks and the menu is seriously lacking. I also hate having my computer on while I’m printing but I hate using the SD card so this is awesome. I really don’t want to put a lot of money into this thing. Also, an older Apple iPad charger is the correct voltage/amperage for a pi I believe if you have any lying around.
The car adapter is still a buck converter. And I always just used MeanWell PSUs that had separate 5V and 12V/24V rails. For the connection to the PI, use a DC jack to USB adapter.
The Fysetc Spider Controller Board comes with a 5V supply for the Pi directly on board. Some other boards may also have 5V available (check the current rating first)
I see you have the ADXL346 Accelerometer installed. Will you be showing how to use it for Input Shaping? I bought one, but am not 100% sure how to connect it to the pi?
There's a wiring diagram in the klipper docs for connecting it to the Raspberry Pi. Google "Klipper Measuring Resonances". Be aware that there's a good deal of extra setup if you connect it to the Raspberry Pi. You can also connect it to a spare SPI port on your mainboard if it's fast enough, such as we've done in V-CoreOS for the V-Core 3.
@@miklschmidt That is very interesting. Just SPI, I mainly asked because he does the clearest tutorials. I watched a couple other videos on input shaping, and they skip a lot of the software details. It does seem like an excellent process.
@@FilmFactry Yeah this is one of the reasons i wanted to use the mainboard's SPI in V-CoreOS, there's no setup requiired, just wire it up and you're ready to roll, everything you need is preinstalled. Unfortunately i'm not aware of any other printers that ships with a ready to go klipper package, hopefully there'll be more in the future! TBF though the klipper documentation does go through every single step you need to do.
I based on your ideas i will play around to trigger a relais to power on/off the printer via raspberry pi. I am also curious if can write a script which unmounts the sd card filesystem and then switches of the power to raspberry pi via relais on shutdown. Powering on the raspberry needs pulling a switch for 1 minute until the startup script enables the relais again.
Yeah big problen mist don't even know of. Plug it to your modern smart phone, and it will show how long to fully charge, then try another cable to compare. This way you can rule out the chep trash oned. I did this with many usb cables i had, all giving like 3 different results, with big difference!
I have 3 pis running octoprint and on my 3rd setup, done most recently, I was getting the under voltage warning. Tried lots of stuff and finally found that after changing the USB cable to a "better" cable and setting the buck converter to 5.2v (5.1 still gave error) all is good *rpi 3b+
Yet again, Michael, you've come up with a very smart solution. I now have the missing ingredient for my system,. Thank you. Question. I know that a lot of old tech can be damaged by being on charge all the time. But what if the old tech was charged by being plugged into the Pi? It might be possible to monitor the battery level in the Pi and turn off the charge via its USB port. The battery level could be monitored with Telepathy, or if you insist on it's proper name, WiFi
good video originally was running my pi off my mks gen l 5v which was fine but I ended up double-checking and turns out the output is only 0.6a so running the pi probs isn't a good idea long term. just ordered a USB charger
You should definitely look into using Fully Kiosk Browser instead of your standard browser in the tablet. FKB allows you to switch the screen on automatically when you're near the tablet and off when you move away, automatic start when the tablet is rebooted and a ton of other cool stuff. This is what most serious home automation enthusiasts use for their "control center/dashboard" tablets. There's a free version, but the paid version is really cheap one-time purchase that goes a long way to support the devs.
Thank you thank you thank you, for the shoutout about “supporting the software authors / devs. So MANY people just take and take, without thinking about helping out. Especially bad are the folks who run a business and make $$ on “FREE!! SOFTWARE”, beg for money from viewers and customers, and totally ignore the hardworking devs that allow them to operate their bu$ine$$ … And I don’t give a fig if anyone is offended or triggered by my comments.
I am researching the Voron, and the new controller board looks like it has a 5v header just for powering a PI. I hope stuff like this starts to become more standard. Most people want a Pi now. Even better I wonder if they can make a Pi Computer slot so you can just plug a PI right into the controller board.
@@TeachingTech looks like someone is designing a control board with a Pi Compute slot already. Looks pretty cool having it all in one place. hackaday.io/project/179342-sigmoid-s7p-3d-printer-control-board/details
I might be missing something, but wouldn't you lose smart plug power management doing your Octopi this way? I suppose the Pi could still shut your 3d printer off automagically, but since the Pi would be drawing power from the 3d printer PSU, if you cut power to it to shut the 3d printer off, wouldn't you then be killing power to the Pi, and it wouldn't be able to power your 3d printer back on intelligently?
With my previous (my first) printer I tried powering the Pi from the printer PSU but when I got into Home Assistant and setup automations like powering off the printer with a sonoff when a job completes I realised it would power off the Pi, and my laziness didn't want to look into safe shutdown options when the power is pulled. So now with my Ender 3 V2 I only control the printer's power and leave the pi on. I'm losing a power socket for the convenience. With Jyers firmware, Octoprint and the MQTT plugin, and HA it's a fantastically smooth experience. I'm notified when the print finishes and 5 minutes later (cooldown) the printer is powered off.
The little buck/boost tend to get the brownout warning, you can eliminate that by putting a 1000uF capacitor across the output. To power the Pi I just connect the gnd and 5V to the pins on the IO header of the Pi where you normally plug in a 5v fan.
There is no need to use the USB to power your rPi. If you check the published schematic you will note the 5V from the USB is directly connected to all the 5V GPIO Expansion 40 pin port. While a 40 pin plug is best I'm using a 20 pin plug I got in a set from Microcenter with crimp pins that work with my SN-01BM crimper. I solder this into a buck converter inside my universal rear electronics case remixed from Michael's fine design. One less fiddely bit to fail, and I have extra pins when I start using the GPIO pins for LEDs and such. Not having read thru all the comment so I apologies if this has already been noted.
If I only use Octoprint from my computer and link to the RPI via wifi, how do you configure it so that the RPI is shutdown prior to turning off the power switch?
1:34 Michael, Love your videos and think you are doing great things for the community. As a warning though, I recommend you don't publish your IP address with port numbers, and your Octoprint login name (all of which are visible in this video). While it's unlikely that someone can access your octoprint instance, having some of this information starts to allow people to open the doors into your network. Recommend you blur this part out of our videos in post-production. Just a recommendation on securing your set up :)
I would not leave a device plugged 24/7, the battery WILL eventually get swollen. If you could mod it to not reach 100% (there are some custom kernels that allow that) it would prevent that.
Very true, had this happening on my old trusty Nexus 7 tablet. Unfortunately this tablet does not have the right kernel power options to stop charging. I'm now controlling power to its adapter with a wifi wall plug and Home Assistant. HASS only powers the device when below 75%. Works like a charm.
this seems like a bad idea to me. phone chargers have additional circuitry within them that don't supply enough power and can cause undervoltage issues as we've seen so many times on the octoprint forums. Also, pi 4 needs 3.1A to really be able to work.
I respectfully disagree. The pi doesn't need that much. The extra amperage from the official supply i to account for peripherals. But time will tell and I will update if it doesn't work out.
@@TeachingTech Many people do use peripherals with their 3D printer, such as a webcam, LEDs, touchscreens. It's always the people with these homemade converters that come running for help with undervoltage warnings and their Pi crashing. I think you got lucky, many many phone chargers are not up to the task they are rated for.
@@TeachingTech I look forward to your follow-up, as you've seen on your previous CR-10 you were getting undervoltage issues with your previous solution, specifically with a camera connected. Would be interested what the octoprint.log shows, as you may still be getting undervoltage on startup, that's where you would typically see the error messages.
@@TeachingTech Just to add my 2ct as the creator and maintainer of OctoPrint -- things marketed as phone chargers are the BIGGEST cause of undervoltage issues reported over the years. Their continued use costs me and the whole community an epic ton of support overhead. Yes, there might be situations or models that work just fine, but overall all of this is just so hit and miss (especially with the cheap ones) that recommending them sadly is indeed a bad idea. The last thing you want to cheap out on when it comes to running a Pi -- which is notoriously picky when it comes to what it considers stable input voltage and enough amperage -- is the power supply. I wish it wasn't like that, but the past 8 years of maintaining OctoPrint and having to field support requests left and right have shown me the sad reality of how tricky it is to make the Pi be happy and stay happy about its source of power.
I installed some leds at the top of my printer and used a car charger to power it. $1 at the store and I couldn't justify buying anything else. Been working since 2019 on my ender 3.
Exactly this, i will stick to my dc-dc converter with nice screw terminals rsther than 2 werid spade bits out the back. I have also used a simple wall wart phone charger and a ac to dc power brick. Both of these i like because there external to the wifi switch that cuts power to the 24v PSU and the stepdown buck coverter (the RPI kills its own power source).
Nice design. I run Pis on all my printers primarily to allow the TP Link Smartplug Plugin which shuts of the smartplug and therefore the printer if the temperaturs start misbehaving. Fo that option you need an external adapter though because otherwise the SD card could get corrupted if the smartplug is shut off and the printer is powering the Pi! 🤣
Everyone has their way, I have an old school computer multi switch and run the pis on 1 output, and each printer on its own switch. No need to have all printers powered when not in use.
![Klipper input shaping - A leap forward in high speed AND high quality 3D printing [Rat Rig part 4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/er7q-CJL1lc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Klipper input shaping - A leap forward in high speed AND high quality 3D printing [Rat Rig part 4]](/img/tr.png)
Here are some responses to frequent comments:
- Some have tried this already and have had great success. Others have found their chosen adaptor didn't deliver the rated current. I guess these are just like buck converters from Aliexpress. When selecting, read the reviews and check for repeat comments about the product failing.
- Some suggestions of buck converters with a USB output. Another great option! We should be happy there is so much choice and everyone is free to select what works best for them. In my case I'm happy with the clean installation and wiring.
- Technically the device inside is a buck converter, fair enough. But it's not marketed that way when you buy them so I'm not calling them that.
- Some comments suggesting the tablet battery may swell in time from constantly being plugged in. Sounds like a good warning and I'll be periodically checking mine.
Hi mate, I've been using usb car charger for about a year and it's working very well! Problem here are the 5V regulators in the cheap ones. I don't remember the chip makers and type, but some doesn't supply enough current for long term, just peaks. Cheers and keep up the good work!
Hi there, the official Raspberry Pi power supply actually supplies slightly over 5v because of a limitation on the Raspberry Pi voltage regulation and protection circuits going to the SD Card. While running the Pi in its "underpower" mode isn't going to show immediate issues, in the long term it will result in an SD card that has corrupted data, due to not having the voltage required to operate properly. This can result in reliability issues in the long term. I have had these issues in the past, and its usually fine for a few months, until the Pi starts exhibiting some strange and unstable behaviour, like randomly rebooting, or crashing hard that requires a power cycle.
The low power warning is not only a warning either, to reduce the likelihood of data corruption, the Pi also slows its CPU down in order to reduce the chance of a further voltage drop on the supply rails, which can cause stuttering and performance issues.
I have used a car USB charger for a previous project. It broke... so I tore it apart and found it was still usable for something else. It work pretty well.
Just put a 1000uf capacitor across the output of the 3A buck/boost converter, it will fix the problem.
Thank you, I did this about 2 years ago and shared it online. Most people said bad idea, I still use it. No low power issues. All connections are crimped and secured. One switch shuts down everything after proper shutdown.
Ive found over the years that 99% of people will always put down and knock a good idea as a bad one because they didn't think of it or test it fair play to you mate👍🏻
They were envious.
Hopefully after two years I can say the same. Thanks for sharing.
@@Deses'They were envious.' Less envious, more aware it's a highly YMMV solution. You have no idea what's in this power supply or if the next one you order will be the same short of opening them up.
Difficult to beat a $3, 5A buck converter with an unknown supply that's likely to cost the same or more.
If you get one, try it, and it works that's great. Hard to suggest it as a 'generally good idea' when there's a roughly same price but much more sure to work correctly alternative that even has a couple more amps to spare to run other things.
Sorry for a stupid question, but how do you shut down the klipper properly?
This guy's a real straight-up nice person, working hard and contributing to the community. Looking forward to years of new videos ahead.
"carefully match up the positive and negative to avoid disappointment" I laughed so much. Love your work Michael
I was literally considering yesterday switching from an arduino to a pi on a project I am working on. I want the project to be a closed system where only a 12v power supply plugs in and powers the motors as well as the controller. I had no idea how to do it and you just gave me the answer. Thank you so much, amaizing video
I'm glad someone finally mentioned "safely" turning off the Pi...You will find out, at the worst time possible, just turning off the Pi will cause issues. Can't say exactly when, but I can say, from personal experience, it WILL happen. It's really going to depend the quality of the SD card, the cheaper and more "off-brand' you go, quality you buy, the faster it will happen.
When testing the Phrozen Transform (which runs an Orange Pi from memory), I had this happen on an unintentional power outage and had to reflash the firmware. So I agree it does happen.
Yes, in all intents and purposes, you are running a desktop level operating system on the Pi (in this case Raspberry Pi OS, which is based on Debian Linux). The same warnings for safely shutting down a Pi exists for PC's.
Raspberry Pi's do not store their OS in firmware.
This is a great idea, I love these workarounds where you can utilize something from a different field that already exists and save money in the process. In retrospect it makes sense since the car adapter is a small buck converter but somehow we always need somebody to remind us of these things since you rarely get these kind of ideas on your own ... Thanks!
Exquisite! That's what I like about DIY things, especially when there's a bunch of smart people around those - each creation is better than the other one and each tailored to one's specific needs.
I actually did the same thing to my Sidewinder X1 a couple days ago, I'm running klipper but having two phone chargers one for the pi and for the tablet was making me go crazy. Really glad to see you give this tip to everyone watching!!
5:50 since it's USB you just needed to flip it over another couple of times and it would have fit ;-)
Brilliant solution!
I don't think anyone has thought of this before.
Well, a pal of mine and I have been using these buck converters , AKA ‘cigarette lighter adapters’ for many years.
It was logical.
We looked at lighter adapter…
“12v in … 5v out… yepper, that’s a buck converter”
But then, we don’t put any stock in Madison-Avenue sales pitches or ads… we are nerds of the highest caliber 🤓
Been using car adapters for a few years now, really good for variable voltages as well to give a stable 5 V output 👍
You make me want to go full send on modifying my printer, which is still in shipping. Thank you sir, for the excitement on this journey.
I have the Raspi powered separately from a 12V plug pack and 5V power module. I always wire power up to my Pi using the +5V and GND pins on the GPIO ports. This is because they can source more current than the USB input socket. If you are powering the Pi from the USB the smaller current limit of the USB port may be the source of the under voltage error and other problems rather than your converter.
I found this limitation when flying the RasPi in my Ardupilot/PixHawk controlled model aircraft. The Pi was doing a lot of processing of images and routing mavlink packets so used a lot of current and could only be reliably powered by the GPIO pins.
I have it powered separately as I don’t want it turning off with the printer which I have controlled by using your excellent tutorial on wifi controlled power socket - mine are TP-Link as well.
One thing I did find however that when powering these USB devices from 24V they get really hot and I was always fearful of a fire. Some of them may say 24V however I would never do it.
Genius lies in simplicity. Great idea. I will be trying that.
don't, it's bullshit. it is better to have a separate source for rpi from 220 so that it can enable/disable other printer nodes.
@@ivandrago4247 what if you don't require it to do that?
@@stambo1983 Then you go to the store, and buy a tiny module for $2 that makes you 5V, and this will be a good stabilizer. Just for an example XL6009.
I run a bunch of Pi4s in a vehicle mounted tracking system and the ciggie plug sockets with 2.1A are a constant source of failure of the system. The Pi4 is a power hungry board and although most of the time will idle along happily on under 2A if it can't get 3A when it wants it the board will give under-voltage warnings and eventually crash. I went to a DFRobot 25W power module and for ~$16 you cannot beat it. No more failures from power supply. You need to make up a USB-C lead to connect to the module (or solder power to the Pi, not for the faint of heart) but otherwise a great solution that also provides an on/off switch and a few other bonus features.
Thanks for the info. Hopefully mine is ok. So far so good.
If I didn’t find a 2$ pi power supply at micro center I would have totally done this! Awesome work and great thinking for people with limited space!
Yeah, the power brick for the Pi is actually calculated for USB being used to power external devices.
This is exactly what I found too.
Also the power brick for the Pi would be rated to handle the max power the Pi could draw when using all available device. The HDMI port will draw significant power since the GPU will be working hard. Using Octoprint you are not typically using the HDMI so that is another source of power not being used.
@@TeachingTech I have to point out that the power usage measurements in the video are not reliable. The RPi-s have dedicated video co-processor so they can handle video efficiently without loading the main CPU.
I do recommend watching some of the @LoveRPi videos here on youtube, he measures RPi3 usage and heat under maximum CPU load.
From what I see, you don't need maximum speed, so it may be reasonable to set the RPi in "powersave" governor/mode and not have it boost clocks. It would keep power and heat down.
With buck convertors you want to make sure that under load they do not overheat and that their output doesn't start to pulse.
Higher frequency buck converters are usually more efficient, so they are smaller, handle higher currents and pulses are easier to filter out.
Hi Michael, long time viewer, but rarely post anything anywhere. Instead of the car-charger route, I skipped a few links in the chain and used a buck-converter that has variable input between 6 and 32 volts, and outputs a clean usb output voltage through a USB port, but is about the size of a normal buck converter. Searching for usb buck converter on ali-express brings it up as the first hit. No undervolts or anything on the Pi.
Great option, thanks for sharing.
Wow, two great tips here. I never even thought about using an old tablet as a screen. And a 24V compatible USB car plug, brilliant, I was going down the buck converter route.
Me to my car port: “I’m sorry little one”
Great video Michael. The auto part without the socket, great solution Better than the socket and then the plug in USB adapter. Great use of cross technology. I do it all the time.
OMG i never tought about the 24V of a truck! That's awesome 😎
Me neither until recently. That was my light bulb moment.
This is a great solution! I have an old tablet & have been wanting to set up a pi4. Those worried about output can easily locate higher output counterparts.
i just ordered one today for this exact reason to test out lol. glad to know it already will work
I took an old usb cable and soldered it via a buck converter to the main power supply. Works like a charm
For those concerned about the 2.1A and need this for 2 printers (like me). I found a dual USB port set up that has 5v 18w (which is about 3.6A). It's a 2 pack for 18.50 or $9.25 each. Pretty good deal IMHO.
TH-cam wont let me post a link but search this: "DaierTek 2pcs 12V Dual USB Charger Socket for Automotive Car Marine RV RZR Boat ATV Bus Truck, Quick Charge 3.0 Waterproof with Blue LED Voltmeter and Wire Fuse DIY Kit"
seems like the BTT Octopus board solves the voltage issues. jumpers to select 5v,12v or 24v for fans + you can power a Pi straight from it.
Looking for something to do mine and then came across this. Ordering bits now. Thank you
Wow I’m definitely going to be adding an octoprint touch screen to my Ender 3, thanks!
I recommend Octodash, it's really nice.
Raspberry Pis are very expensive. Even more so if we use one for each printer we have. I have an old PC with 5 instances of Octoprint and all the printers connected to it. Better performance and zero expense.
That's a neat idea, using the car adapter given that this stuff is also used in trucks, boats, mobile homes and lots of other places. If it's easier/less complicated depends very much on the buck converter you use, though. Mine has screw terminals on the input side and USB (with QC support) on the output side. That was as easy to install as the car adapter and works pretty well. It's also powerful enough to easily power my PineCil instead.
As for obsolete devices - I never upgrade unless I've killed or lost my old device so no luck on that part, although I like the idea.
That's a really clever solution. Nice one!
Those of us w/ a smart switch on the mains as an automated backup to the TRP in the firmware would need a dedicated power source like the 5v meanwell you showed.
Good video on repurposing those car accessories and old 'smart' devices. I use Droidcam on a spare S4 as a Webcam. Sadly, the battery will swell when it gets some age and the phone won't power on w/o it installed. Looks like my old Kindle or Samsung tablet is about to get a new purpose as well.
says no more buck converter... switchs to buck converter in a car plug :3
My thoughts exactly! However now that he brings it to light if you can get these pretty much any where locally and not have to wait for shipping. For my project though I'd rather rip out the guts and solder leads right from the power supply
It's still a cheaper and simpler solution for this use because the buck converter is fixed at 5v output instead of including the potentiometer for voltage adjustment.
Thanks for this video! I printed your adapter and couldn't figure out how to mount it. This showed me how. To start with I'm going to use the Pi power adapter, then when everything works will look at other options. My 400 Rat Rig is using a Fystec Spider, so now just trying to get it running
I absolutely used a car lighter USB adapter on my Rostock Max V2 when I went from a 12V hotend to a 24v one. Ran fine for years.
Nice job Michael. Caravan and truck electric suppliers are a great source of 12v/24v equipment. I used caravan 12v SMC LED's to replace my halogen lighting in my display cabinets for 25% the price of lighting supplier replacements. The good thing there are plenty of suppliers down here in Aus. so delivery is quick.
cool! I might use this idea of the marine USB socket for my CNC where I have the power and other electronic mounted inside an old computer case to help revive some of the saw dust coating.
Brilliant Michael, some great practical tips as usual!
Good thinking 99!
I have often pondered if i could hack a mains to usb supply to work with a lower input voltage like 24v , probably depends on whether the internal oscillator will run at that voltage - only one way to find out !
Thanks for the idea. An old Apple IPad and an old Raspberry PI 3 are going to be pressed into service. Off to design some mounting parts!
I'm using a car 12v to 5v adapter for four years now (I think) to power my octopie on my anycubic i3 mega. Works like a charm
Nice finding. I bought a buck converter, fully sealed for the use in a motorcycle, only yesterday. I prefer the solution without the 12/24V socket, as people that might be living with you might be tempted to plug in some 12V appliance (coolers in summer) and just kill (other) electronic devices. That being said, I hope to be able to install everything tomorrow...
I'm still using my old Raspberry Pi 3 as an OctoPrint server and it runs fine from a 2 AMP Samsung phone charger with an PS3 cam and an USB 2.0 Flash Drive hooked up. Might give this a shot but where am I gonna mount it on my Ender 3?
Great that that works but 2.1a is not enough for a Pi 3 and certainly not enough for a Pi4
About the possible battery swell on old tablets: You might be able to control the maximum charge either with built-in or addon software, and setting it to 50% should help prevent swelling. Or you might be able to replace the battery with an 18650 by wiring a battery holder to the previous battery's charge/protection board.
the little switch mode converters are much more appropriate than a bodged car plug. normally much more efficient also.
A basic question: After installing Octodash on the RaspBerry PI that has octoprint, how do you access it from your tablet/smartphone? When you enter the RaspBerry PI IP you get into Octorpint. Is there a specific path or port to get to the octodash interface?
Come on Michael get that next RatRig video out...I am busting to see the prints and see your thoughts. Especially since I have already spent my dollars on it :)
Thanks for such a comprehensive guide. This will take my printmill setup in a more efficient direction.
I'd like to see printers come with usb power ports as standard for both pi and usb lights - a 3amp would be great !
It boggles me that by far most 3d printer psu's have spare 5v circuitry in them, connecting this to a port or cable yourself is kind of dangerous but it would be very little effort for the manufacturer, so it's weird that no one is doing it
I think they would need to spend more on the VREGs to be able to supply enough current for a pi. If the demand is there it will happen.
I have all sort of old android tablets. One question I didn’t see answered. How are you getting your sliced gcode into the tablet? Or uploading to Octopront from your slicer PC then managing via tablet to load? Thanks
I think I have some 12v chargers sitting around that I bought for my RV. I have an older Anycubic Mega Pro that runs on 12v so that would be perfect. I love the idea of using an old phone or tablet as a screen. I have a bunch of those lying around. I assume device memory isn’t an issue since we basically want everything removed from it. I’m still new to this. Bought the printer a few years ago but honestly haven’t really used it until last December lol. The screen on it sucks and the menu is seriously lacking. I also hate having my computer on while I’m printing but I hate using the SD card so this is awesome. I really don’t want to put a lot of money into this thing.
Also, an older Apple iPad charger is the correct voltage/amperage for a pi I believe if you have any lying around.
Have you thought about connecting RPI to the SKR via UART (using GPIO pins) instead of USB? I think It might provide much clear wiring.
I had a bad experience with Car adapters. They often can't deliver the rated current.
Same with me
Milage may vary *bum-tzzzz
You have to read the ratings on them.
@@BlueCollarBachelor Yeah but they Arena offen not correct
@@allcrafter3747 Neither are chinese buck adapters bought off Aliexpress or ebay.
The car adapter is still a buck converter. And I always just used MeanWell PSUs that had separate 5V and 12V/24V rails. For the connection to the PI, use a DC jack to USB adapter.
The Fysetc Spider Controller Board comes with a 5V supply for the Pi directly on board. Some other boards may also have 5V available (check the current rating first)
8:20 I actually laughed out loud. Very good.
Like my parents, I'm use to disappointments.
I see you have the ADXL346 Accelerometer installed. Will you be showing how to use it for Input Shaping? I bought one, but am not 100% sure how to connect it to the pi?
There's a wiring diagram in the klipper docs for connecting it to the Raspberry Pi. Google "Klipper Measuring Resonances". Be aware that there's a good deal of extra setup if you connect it to the Raspberry Pi. You can also connect it to a spare SPI port on your mainboard if it's fast enough, such as we've done in V-CoreOS for the V-Core 3.
@@miklschmidt That is very interesting. Just SPI, I mainly asked because he does the clearest tutorials. I watched a couple other videos on input shaping, and they skip a lot of the software details. It does seem like an excellent process.
@@FilmFactry Yeah this is one of the reasons i wanted to use the mainboard's SPI in V-CoreOS, there's no setup requiired, just wire it up and you're ready to roll, everything you need is preinstalled. Unfortunately i'm not aware of any other printers that ships with a ready to go klipper package, hopefully there'll be more in the future!
TBF though the klipper documentation does go through every single step you need to do.
I have a video primarily about that coming up :)
@@TeachingTech You are great!!!!
I based on your ideas i will play around to trigger a relais to power on/off the printer via raspberry pi. I am also curious if can write a script which unmounts the sd card filesystem and then switches of the power to raspberry pi via relais on shutdown. Powering on the raspberry needs pulling a switch for 1 minute until the startup script enables the relais again.
Before changing from a buck converter to something else check the USB cable. Some are real trash and can easily drop 0.4 volts.
Yeah big problen mist don't even know of.
Plug it to your modern smart phone, and it will show how long to fully charge, then try another cable to compare. This way you can rule out the chep trash oned. I did this with many usb cables i had, all giving like 3 different results, with big difference!
I have 3 pis running octoprint and on my 3rd setup, done most recently, I was getting the under voltage warning. Tried lots of stuff and finally found that after changing the USB cable to a "better" cable and setting the buck converter to 5.2v (5.1 still gave error) all is good
*rpi 3b+
Yet again, Michael, you've come up with a very smart solution. I now have the missing ingredient for my system,. Thank you.
Question. I know that a lot of old tech can be damaged by being on charge all the time. But what if the old tech was charged by being plugged into the Pi? It might be possible to monitor the battery level in the Pi and turn off the charge via its USB port. The battery level could be monitored with Telepathy, or if you insist on it's proper name, WiFi
Great ideas! Thank you
good video originally was running my pi off my mks gen l 5v which was fine but I ended up double-checking and turns out the output is only 0.6a so running the pi probs isn't a good idea long term. just ordered a USB charger
This is useful, thanks for this.
You should definitely look into using Fully Kiosk Browser instead of your standard browser in the tablet. FKB allows you to switch the screen on automatically when you're near the tablet and off when you move away, automatic start when the tablet is rebooted and a ton of other cool stuff. This is what most serious home automation enthusiasts use for their "control center/dashboard" tablets. There's a free version, but the paid version is really cheap one-time purchase that goes a long way to support the devs.
Thank you thank you thank you, for the shoutout about “supporting the software authors / devs.
So MANY people just take and take, without thinking about helping out.
Especially bad are the folks who run a business and make $$ on “FREE!! SOFTWARE”, beg for money from viewers and customers, and totally ignore the hardworking devs that allow them to operate their bu$ine$$ …
And I don’t give a fig if anyone is offended or triggered by my comments.
I am researching the Voron, and the new controller board looks like it has a 5v header just for powering a PI. I hope stuff like this starts to become more standard. Most people want a Pi now.
Even better I wonder if they can make a Pi Computer slot so you can just plug a PI right into the controller board.
I think it is starting to become more common. That will be the best solution when it is.
@@TeachingTech looks like someone is designing a control board with a Pi Compute slot already. Looks pretty cool having it all in one place. hackaday.io/project/179342-sigmoid-s7p-3d-printer-control-board/details
Was the only barrier between the mains potential and low voltage, tape ?
I might be missing something, but wouldn't you lose smart plug power management doing your Octopi this way? I suppose the Pi could still shut your 3d printer off automagically, but since the Pi would be drawing power from the 3d printer PSU, if you cut power to it to shut the 3d printer off, wouldn't you then be killing power to the Pi, and it wouldn't be able to power your 3d printer back on intelligently?
With my previous (my first) printer I tried powering the Pi from the printer PSU but when I got into Home Assistant and setup automations like powering off the printer with a sonoff when a job completes I realised it would power off the Pi, and my laziness didn't want to look into safe shutdown options when the power is pulled. So now with my Ender 3 V2 I only control the printer's power and leave the pi on. I'm losing a power socket for the convenience. With Jyers firmware, Octoprint and the MQTT plugin, and HA it's a fantastically smooth experience. I'm notified when the print finishes and 5 minutes later (cooldown) the printer is powered off.
The little buck/boost tend to get the brownout warning, you can eliminate that by putting a 1000uF capacitor across the output. To power the Pi I just connect the gnd and 5V to the pins on the IO header of the Pi where you normally plug in a 5v fan.
Or, if you're lazy as me, set the buck converter to 5.3V and the pi won't complain even without extra capacitance
@@Max24871 maybe it will work for a pi 3 but unlikely with a pi 4
There is no need to use the USB to power your rPi. If you check the published schematic you will note the 5V from the USB is directly connected to all the 5V GPIO Expansion 40 pin port. While a 40 pin plug is best I'm using a 20 pin plug I got in a set from Microcenter with crimp pins that work with my SN-01BM crimper.
I solder this into a buck converter inside my universal rear electronics case remixed from Michael's fine design. One less fiddely bit to fail, and I have extra pins when I start using the GPIO pins for LEDs and such.
Not having read thru all the comment so I apologies if this has already been noted.
You can get buck converters with screw terminals... No soldering required
Great idea!
great video very helpful and informative Thank you
If I only use Octoprint from my computer and link to the RPI via wifi, how do you configure it so that the RPI is shutdown prior to turning off the power switch?
1:34 Michael, Love your videos and think you are doing great things for the community. As a warning though, I recommend you don't publish your IP address with port numbers, and your Octoprint login name (all of which are visible in this video). While it's unlikely that someone can access your octoprint instance, having some of this information starts to allow people to open the doors into your network. Recommend you blur this part out of our videos in post-production. Just a recommendation on securing your set up :)
The IP address I see is 192.168..... Thats a local network IP not his external IP.
Yo I love your content!
Good idea using an old tablet!! I got one, gonne be sweet!
People are just now figuring this out? I've been doing this for years!
Well, you still probably need buck converter for LED light and fans (depends of your setup).
can i run the power wire to the charger to a wall plug socket?
well well well, time to get me a car and follow this tutorial
😂
you can use android's kios mode to improve the user-friendlyness if your tablet setup there
Will investigate, thank you.
Wow ... what a spectacular job! You're great . :-)
Very Cool!!!!!
You have to flash the firmware on the motherboard though right?
I would not leave a device plugged 24/7, the battery WILL eventually get swollen. If you could mod it to not reach 100% (there are some custom kernels that allow that) it would prevent that.
Thanks, I will look into it.
Very true, had this happening on my old trusty Nexus 7 tablet. Unfortunately this tablet does not have the right kernel power options to stop charging. I'm now controlling power to its adapter with a wifi wall plug and Home Assistant. HASS only powers the device when below 75%. Works like a charm.
this seems like a bad idea to me. phone chargers have additional circuitry within them that don't supply enough power and can cause undervoltage issues as we've seen so many times on the octoprint forums. Also, pi 4 needs 3.1A to really be able to work.
I respectfully disagree. The pi doesn't need that much. The extra amperage from the official supply i to account for peripherals. But time will tell and I will update if it doesn't work out.
@@TeachingTech Many people do use peripherals with their 3D printer, such as a webcam, LEDs, touchscreens. It's always the people with these homemade converters that come running for help with undervoltage warnings and their Pi crashing. I think you got lucky, many many phone chargers are not up to the task they are rated for.
@@TeachingTech I look forward to your follow-up, as you've seen on your previous CR-10 you were getting undervoltage issues with your previous solution, specifically with a camera connected. Would be interested what the octoprint.log shows, as you may still be getting undervoltage on startup, that's where you would typically see the error messages.
@@TeachingTech Just to add my 2ct as the creator and maintainer of OctoPrint -- things marketed as phone chargers are the BIGGEST cause of undervoltage issues reported over the years. Their continued use costs me and the whole community an epic ton of support overhead. Yes, there might be situations or models that work just fine, but overall all of this is just so hit and miss (especially with the cheap ones) that recommending them sadly is indeed a bad idea. The last thing you want to cheap out on when it comes to running a Pi -- which is notoriously picky when it comes to what it considers stable input voltage and enough amperage -- is the power supply. I wish it wasn't like that, but the past 8 years of maintaining OctoPrint and having to field support requests left and right have shown me the sad reality of how tricky it is to make the Pi be happy and stay happy about its source of power.
I use a meanwell mini power supply. 5V works great no cheap parts like these charger ports and more reliable
is your STL File available for these parts for the RAT RIG?
I installed some leds at the top of my printer and used a car charger to power it. $1 at the store and I couldn't justify buying anything else. Been working since 2019 on my ender 3.
I believe the RaspPi official power is 5v 3a so you're actually under powering it, hence the warning. I believe if you had a 15w supply you'd be fine
Its not utilizing the gpu chip so power draw will be much less than 15W
Sooo... Hw are you working everything only three places to hook up to the psu correct?
buck converters are also cheap and they are efficient
Smart!
That's just a buck converter in a different form....
It's an encased, standard crimp connector input, 2 usb output buck converter in one package. No need for soldering either
Exactly this, i will stick to my dc-dc converter with nice screw terminals rsther than 2 werid spade bits out the back.
I have also used a simple wall wart phone charger and a ac to dc power brick. Both of these i like because there external to the wifi switch that cuts power to the 24v PSU and the stepdown buck coverter (the RPI kills its own power source).
Nice design. I run Pis on all my printers primarily to allow the TP Link Smartplug Plugin which shuts of the smartplug and therefore the printer if the temperaturs start misbehaving. Fo that option you need an external adapter though because otherwise the SD card could get corrupted if the smartplug is shut off and the printer is powering the Pi! 🤣
Everyone has their way, I have an old school computer multi switch and run the pis on 1 output, and each printer on its own switch. No need to have all printers powered when not in use.
Grab a spider! Pretty cheap board that supports 5,12 and 24v outputs!