Possible to have Raspberry Pi powered by A30T power supply?

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MOCCOR
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:31 am

Possible to have Raspberry Pi powered by A30T power supply?

Post by MOCCOR » Thu Mar 04, 2021 3:17 am

Is it possible to add a Raspberry Pi to the A30T printer and have it powered by the printer's power supply? A Pi 3B+ is like 5v1a which is very efficient and small. I see on many Creality printers, people just add a XT60 adapter to power the Raspberry Pi but I can't see that being as easily done on this. Is it possible one of the 2 extra two-pin fan ports can power a Raspberry Pi?

gruenfron
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Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 5:57 pm

Re: Possible to have Raspberry Pi powered by A30T power supply?

Post by gruenfron » Wed Mar 17, 2021 7:47 am

If I would do it I'd use something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NJZL2WV buck converter with USB-A socket to supply the RPi with a usual USB cable. However soldering iron and an old fan cable is required :D.

MOCCOR
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:31 am

Re: Possible to have Raspberry Pi powered by A30T power supply?

Post by MOCCOR » Fri Mar 19, 2021 2:26 am

gruenfron wrote:
Wed Mar 17, 2021 7:47 am
If I would do it I'd use something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NJZL2WV buck converter with USB-A socket to supply the RPi with a usual USB cable. However soldering iron and an old fan cable is required :D.
Thanks for the response. I am not sure what you mean, but I think I just need to open the printer and look at the motherboard to understand. Unfortunately it seems there is multiple motherboards for this printer so I can't just look at a random pic lol

gruenfron
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 5:57 pm

Re: Possible to have Raspberry Pi powered by A30T power supply?

Post by gruenfron » Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:43 am

MOCCOR wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 2:26 am
Thanks for the response. I am not sure what you mean, but I think I just need to open the printer and look at the motherboard to understand. Unfortunately it seems there is multiple motherboards for this printer so I can't just look at a random pic lol
Got it, opening the printer will help to understand :D. My printer has the MB11 (GTM32_103_V1):
M11_GTM32_103_V1.jpg
M11_GTM32_103_V1.jpg (163.15 KiB) Viewed 11195 times
What I mean is to use the buck converter, solder an old fan cable to its input and connect it to a spare fan connector on the printer's mainboard. My board has two of it (on the left), one is occupied by the case fan, one is free. The printer mainboard contains a USB-B port you can use for connection to the RPi after you removed the USB-interconnection cable from the extension port. So can place the RPi inside the casing.

MOCCOR
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:31 am

Re: Possible to have Raspberry Pi powered by A30T power supply?

Post by MOCCOR » Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:01 am

gruenfron wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:43 am
MOCCOR wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 2:26 am
Thanks for the response. I am not sure what you mean, but I think I just need to open the printer and look at the motherboard to understand. Unfortunately it seems there is multiple motherboards for this printer so I can't just look at a random pic lol
Got it, opening the printer will help to understand :D. My printer has the MB11 (GTM32_103_V1):

M11_GTM32_103_V1.jpg

What I mean is to use the buck converter, solder an old fan cable to its input and connect it to a spare fan connector on the printer's mainboard. My board has two of it (on the left), one is occupied by the case fan, one is free. The printer mainboard contains a USB-B port you can use for connection to the RPi after you removed the USB-interconnection cable from the extension port. So can place the RPi inside the casing.
Ohhh that's what I was hoping but I am curious of the specs of those 2pin fan headers. I feel like Geeetech should have that info but I feel like it would be hard to get the answer. Cuz a 40mm fan might be something like 0.06amps, but the Pi might be about 1amp, so idk if that would be a good idea for those fan headers. Unless the buck converter makes that safe? Sorry I am not terrible with electronic stuff, but its been about 12 years since I was in school and had a class on them. I like the idea of the USB port on the inside though, I didn't know it had one of those ports. I really need to open my printer up but I keep putting it off until I measure it for an enclosure since I wanna use ABS

gruenfron
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 5:57 pm

Re: Possible to have Raspberry Pi powered by A30T power supply?

Post by gruenfron » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:16 am

MOCCOR wrote:
Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:01 am
Ohhh that's what I was hoping but I am curious of the specs of those 2pin fan headers. I feel like Geeetech should have that info but I feel like it would be hard to get the answer. Cuz a 40mm fan might be something like 0.06amps, but the Pi might be about 1amp, so idk if that would be a good idea for those fan headers. Unless the buck converter makes that safe?
The JST 2.0 mm connectors for the fans are rated for 2 amps per pin, maybe as a chinese knock-off they will carry one amp to make it safe. Since the connector carries 24V and the PCB trace are beefy enough this means you can draw 24 watts out of the connector. Converted by a buck converter down to 5V this means you'll get 4.8 amps current for the RPi supply. IIRC the Pi draws 3 amps peak (15W) and averaged with octoprint running maybe 1 amp (5W). So this should work.

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