- Power your Raspberry Pi from your printer PSU
- No soldering needed
- NO USB CABLE INCLUDED
- Works with MOST Raspberrry Pi Models
- Tested in house with the 3B and 3B+
- Does not work with the Pi 4 Boards
- Supports from 6V-36V Power Input
- Also can power your EZABL EZ-Connect Model in addition to the Pi when using our EZABL USB adapter
- Puts out 5V up to 3 Amps
- Output is 4.9-5.1V depending on load.
- The voltage requirement for all model Pi’s is 5V +/- 5% (min 4.75V, max 5.25V) which is the USB standard.
- With a Pi 3B+ Connected pulls up to 0.3A @ 24V input and up to 0.6A @ 12V input.
- Dual USB Connections
- Optional Printed Case – Printed cases after 7/2018 do NOT have the honeycomb on the top, it was too easy to break so we made it a solid top. There is still the opening for the screw terminals.
- Printed in Black PLA
- Board is pre-installed in case when this option is selected
- Includes wire for power
Compatible Printed Case that ours is based on:
Wiring the Module
- Included is a length of 2 conductor wire.There is a red and black wire inside the single wire.
- Carefully strip the outer wire covering to expose the 2 wires inside
- If you do not have wire strippers you can use a razor or a sharp knife. Don’t press too hard, just enough to cut the outer wire cover.
- Strip the Red and black wires at each end
- Cut to the length you need before stripping if the included wire is longer than you need.
- Insert the red wire into the blue terminal on the side labeled “IN+”, tighten the screw terminal screw for that side down.
- Do NOT over tighten. Just snug it so that the wire does not come out of the terminal
- Insert the black wire into the blue terminal on the side labeled “IN-“, tighten the screw terminal screw for that side down.
- Do NOT over tighten. Just snug it so that the wire does not come out of the terminal
- Connect the other end to your printer power supply. Make sure to connect to the DC side (Usually marked with V+ and V-). Do NOT connect to terminals labeled L, N, and G (this may have an icon instead of G with lines)
- The red wire connects to V+ on your power supply.
- The black wire connectes to V- on your power supply.
- Verify that your red wire is going to IN+ on the Pi Direct Wire Power Board and the other end goes to V+ on your power supply
- Verify that your black wire is going to IN- on the Pi Direct Wire Power Board and the other end goes to V- on your power supply
- Connect a MicroUSB cable from the Pi Direct Wire Power Board USB port to your Pi MicroUSB Port
- Power on your printer. The Pi will then power up from the direct wire board.
- Tidy up your wires so that it all looks nice and nothing is getting pulled on
- You’re done! Happy Printing!
Powering your Pi from the Module
If you get the Pi Direct Wire Power adapter as part of the kit you will need to supply a MicroUSB cable. When selecting a USB cable use the shortest one possible and not a cheap one. Cheap MicroUSB cables cannot handle the current that the Pi needs to run and if your cable is too low quality the red LED on the Pi (look inside the case near the MicroUSB plug) is off then the USB cable cannot handle the 2.5A minimum that the Pi needs to run. That being said if the Pi is working and printer is not stalling/disconnecting you can safely ignore the undervolt warning as the Pi will adjust it’s clockspeed to compensate for the voltage drop. We do still recommend using one of the many recommended, new cables below. Do not use a random USB cable you have had laying around for a while.
Recommended Cables:
- TH3D MicroUSB Cable: 3 Foot MicroUSB Cable – 100% Copper
- Other cable links have been removed due to questionable quality with later batches from these 3rd party brands.
Setup Video:
Warranty & Support Information
Technical Support: TH3D Community Support
Technical support with for product it is handled through our TH3D Communities. You can get access to them on our Community Page. If you require consulting time direct from the TH3D team to use/install the part it is available for an additional, hourly consulting charge.
Warranty Length: 3 Months
Our warranty covers any and all defects with the product. If your product fails or has problems within the warranty period you can contact our support team by using the Contact Us link. This is for warranty related issues only, not technical support. Damage/Failure due to improper installation, usage, failure resulting from an issue with the machine the product is installed on, and/or modification or the product is not covered under warranty
Question
P F (verified owner) –
I’m getting under voltage when using this along with the usb cord from your store, and it’s bad enough that the printer cannot work properly when printing from the pi… I tested the voltage being output from the adapter and it’s exactly 4.9v, and my pi works fine when plugged into the wall… can I safely assume the issue is the cable?
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
Tim Hoogland –
4.9V is within the USB spec for the Pi so it shouldn’t be dropping off. Depending on the machine you have it may be pulling power from the 5V and causing it to sag at the Pi end. The Ender 3/5 and other creality machines are notorious due to poor board design for doing this. You can cover the 5V power contact in the USB cable at the Pi end or we have the power blocker addon that does the same thing: https://www.th3dstudio.com/product/power-blough-r-pi-usb-power-blocker/
(0) (0)
Question
jerome –
Hello, I’d like to know why this board doesn’t work with model 4 Pi’s? According to specs the maximum power draw is the same with the other boards (5V/3A).
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
Tim Hoogland –
We test our products in house and this one with a Pi 4 triggered the under voltage warning when the Pi 4 is under load so we do not recommend using it with a Pi 4. It works great with the 3B and 3B+ boards. The Pi 4 was pulling more than 3A when we put a synthetic load on the CPU.
(1) (0)
Question
Anthony Massie (verified owner) –
Can you run 2 raspberry pi from this unit?
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
Anthony Massie (verified owner) –
Thanks for the quick response.
(0) (0)
Tim Hoogland –
No, it is not recommended since a Pi pulls 2.5-3A. The max output on this module is 3A.
(0) (0)
Jared Ostergaard (verified owner) –
Works perfectly, nice case. I love not having a separate power adapter for my pi.
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
joerg aka a69291954 –
really nice of you to mention the reference to the printed usb power case.
(0) (0)
Andrew Esquivel (verified owner) –
Hooks up nicely to the PSU of my printer. you will need to get your own set of spade terminals, but other than that, it works perfectly.
When I printed the case from the provided thingiverse link, I did need to widen the print a little so the power adapter would fit, but that was simple enough. It powers my Pi 3B+ perfectly.
its nice to have everything nice and cleanly setup.
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
obliquity (verified owner) –
This adapter is great. It’s really easy to install, just make sure to have a wire stripper. The case is straight forward but makes this hassle free and gets you up and running really quick. I did encounter some initial power issues with a Raspberry Pi 3 but found a cable that worked well but still displayed the power icon in Octoprint. I upgraded to a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B and Pi Camera V.2 and used a QVS USB A to USB C cable and I haven’t seen any power indicator since. I figured I would see the power indicator in Octoprint but it probably helps that I purchased a better cable since I need a USB C cable. Overall I am very happy and this makes it incredibly convenient.
My only note for others that are using this with an Ender3 is to either make sure to get the USB power blocker for the Data Cable sold on this site or use the tape trick to tape over the USB power pin.
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
Kerry Murphy (verified owner) –
If you’re using this adaptor, there is not need to block the power on the usb between your Pi and your printer as the Pi will only be powered on when your printer is powered on. That hack is useful if your Pi is powered on its own and is sending power to the printer board when the printer is turned off.
(0) (0)
Tim Hoogland –
There is in the case of if the board pulls power from the 5V like some boards do (creality, Fysetc, bigtreetech). Boards with a VREG/USB jumper for the 5V rail do not have this issue.
(0) (0)
Roger Smith (verified owner) –
Works like a charm. I two sided taped it to my printed case that slides in the rail, and now can turn on and off the hole thing with Alexa (sonoff switch on plug) Now I need a short pigtail USB cable and it’ll all be self contained.
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
spudmlgnjr (verified owner) –
I love these things! I have like 6 of the. A great accessory for powering the raspberry or LED’s I print the case in whatever color I want.
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
Question
jerome –
I was considering buying this item until I realized it pulls its power from the PSU output and not mains power. So if you routinely turn off the printer like I do because of the noisy PSU fan, then you should be aware that doing so will cause the Pi operating system to shutdown uncleanly. You can avoid this problem by attaching a UPS hat which allows the Pi to initiate a clean shutdown upon power loss.
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch
Tim Hoogland –
Yes, this runs off the printer power, not mains. We do have AC Adapters for the Pi 4 here that run off the wall power: https://www.th3dstudio.com/product/raspberry-pi-4-3-amp-power-adapter-with-switch-usb-c/ You can use the linked USB C one with other Pis if you use a USB C to Micro USB adapter with it.
(1) (0)