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Pico PSU Power Adapter
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j

jarina

10/27/2022, 9:07 PM
I've been looking into a Power Adapter to use with the TPi 2 and the Pico PSU addon through the KS. While I know I could easily and directly use a Mean Well GST90A12 and it would directly connect to the Pico PSU, I think my power requirements overall are a little higher. I plan on adding a UHD Blu Ray Drive and probably 2 SATA HDDs to the board, which at max power draw would be significantly ahead of the 80 watts of power provided by that Power Adapter. As such I have been looking into a Mean Well GST220A12 power adapter... but it has a 4 pin DIN that can't directly connect to the Pico PSU without an adapter of it's own. I looked into those, but the max amp draw on those is about 7.5 or 8 amps... negating the benefits of a larger power adapter. That brought me to two final choices. It looks like there is an adapter that I can use from Mini-Box.com (https://www.mini-box.com/4pin-miniDIN-miniFIT-JR-adapter) or I can just get a combined 192w power adapter and the converter as a bundle from Mini-Box.com (https://www.mini-box.com/12v-16A-AC-DC-Power-Adapter). I'd prefer to get the Mean Well supply... but I can't seem to find a way to get a 4 DIN to MiniFit-JR adapter anywhere else so I can use the full potential of the Pico PSU. Does anyone have suggestions on where / what I could get to be able to use the Mean Well without having to pay like $20 with shipping for this DIN -> MiniFit adapter?
d

daboone72

11/11/2022, 11:39 AM
Well I found a Pico PSU adapter for UK. Question is do I need to buy it? Or will appropriate Pico PSU adapters per country be provided in the add-ons sale? . https://www.mini-itx.com/~192W-AC-4PIN
b

booth5381

11/12/2022, 12:06 AM
An option for a UK power supply is on the TPi site now so I guess we will be able to get it as an add on but I also saw that adapter for Pico PSUs and thought it might not be worth importing an adapter from Turing Pi? https://turingpi.com/product/power-supply/
d

daboone72

11/12/2022, 11:00 AM
@booth5381 Thanks a little more digging and the prices of the external brick vary widely depending on how many amps and watts you need. 60Watt is only £22.80 https://www.mini-itx.com/~60w-ac
b

booth5381

11/15/2022, 11:11 PM
Looking at the Turing Pi site it looks like they are thinking of shipping the 160W Pico PSU and a 120W (12V * 10A) power brick. The nearest equivalent on that site would be 150W https://www.mini-itx.com/~150w-ac which is £57.60 but must be overkill for just the TPi and CM4s 🤔
j

jarina

11/16/2022, 12:05 AM
Depends on if you're adding HDDs or optical drives to the mix
Offhand I think regular HDDs (not SSDs) are somewhere in the 5-10 watts per range. And an optical drive is as much as 30+ in usage
r

redsmeg68

12/30/2022, 1:13 PM
Are we going to have to hack the brick power supply, I don't see a barrel adapter on the pico PSU ?
u

_dhanos_

12/30/2022, 1:31 PM
It is there:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/754950670175436848/1057404242463301632/image0.jpg

And even if the photo on the website does not show this, the description does:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1034478297557520435/1058374324047847474/image.png

e

enricko7

12/30/2022, 3:47 PM
Is that the official one or just one you had?
u

_dhanos_

12/30/2022, 3:47 PM
This is the one that Turing Pi sells, the official one
f

fos13

01/24/2023, 10:04 AM
I have a Pico PSU on hand. The plug is too small for the TP2 board. 😦
u

_dhanos_

01/24/2023, 10:05 AM
Which plug is too small for which connector?
f

fos13

01/24/2023, 1:58 PM
The male plug on the Pico PSU is too small for the power socket on the TPi2.
I have used the PicoPSUs on numerous mini-ITX motherboards in the past. I had this one on hand.
u

_dhanos_

01/24/2023, 1:59 PM
Can you take a photo showing the issue? I can't quite imagine what do you mean
f

fos13

01/24/2023, 2:09 PM
TPi2 vs Pico PSU
u

_dhanos_

01/24/2023, 2:10 PM
Oh, TPi2 uses 24-pin ATX connector, whereas your pico PSU is a 20-pin ATX plug
I believe it'll work anyway, the additional lines add mostly more power which this board does not need
There's only one way to insert teh plug anyway
An example:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/vnAED.jpg

There should be only one way to connect this plug to the motherboard, it should not fit in other ways (positions)
f

fos13

01/24/2023, 6:33 PM
Thank you, I will give that a try.
It does fit. This should save the purchase of another PSU. Thanks again!
s

segabor

01/26/2023, 12:19 PM
I gave up on finding a matching power brick for picoPSU. Yesterday I bought a desktop charger but the cylindrical plug is a bit bigger than on picoPSU so I can't connect it. I ended up ordering a Gigabyte ATX PSU.
u

_dhanos_

01/26/2023, 12:19 PM
What's the desktop charger? Any specific model?
s

segabor

01/26/2023, 12:20 PM
AKASA AK-PD120-03MEU 120W
It's for mini ITX cases and charges with 120 W
u

_dhanos_

01/26/2023, 12:21 PM
Sadly it's a wrong one for 2 reasons
1. The barrel plug, what you know already, it's 7.4/5.0 while it should be 5.5/2.5
And this saved you and your TPi2 because
2. It's a 19V power brick when PicoPSU REQUIRES 12V
w

wilsonrighetti

01/26/2023, 9:18 PM
hahaha, I got that one when my board arrived. I can confirm it connects to the Pico PSU adapter
n

nsky.

01/27/2023, 10:22 AM
I used 20 pins pico in the past. Worked well for me.
y

yanfali

01/29/2023, 8:49 PM
Meanwell sells an adapter for the r7bf connector to mini barrel
Copy code
DC PLUG-R7BF-P1M
1866-DCPLUG-R7BF-P1M-ND
BARREL ADAPTER KPJX-CM-4S TO 2.5
I got one from digikey. I'm using the meanwell 138w 12v psu with a pico.
u

uppe

02/07/2023, 10:46 AM
If you received your shipments, check your Picos. Some of us received them with loose capacitors:
t

teaskittles

04/09/2023, 10:45 PM
I assume the 12V 6A 72W version would work too?
u

_dhanos_

04/10/2023, 7:47 AM
Most likely - yes. You need to check on your own how much power do you need. 4 CM4 modules loaded and the TPi2 board need about 20W. Add SSDs/HDDs and other peripherals and you'll know. I'm currently using 60W with Orin NX, 3 CM4s and 5x 2.5" HDDs 🙂
t

teaskittles

04/10/2023, 12:19 PM
Is there any harm in going over (in terms of watts)? I'm going to have 4 CM4 modules and an SSD (which shouldn't put me anywhere close to 72W).
u

_dhanos_

04/10/2023, 12:21 PM
There's no harm at all. It's totally fine to use even much bigger power supply. The only downside is worker efficiency at low loads
t

teaskittles

04/10/2023, 12:23 PM
Thanks for the replies. I appreciate it.
u

uncle_phuzzy

04/11/2023, 3:25 AM
Hi, any chance for a model number or datasheet on the PicoPSU please? I cant seem to find one anywhere
w

wilsonrighetti

04/11/2023, 3:27 AM
@uncle_phuzzy someone (not Turing Pi team) long time ago posted this, in January... i think this is the same model pico-psu, https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Box-picoPSU-160-XT-Power-Mini-ITX-Supply/dp/B005TWE6B8/ and also the oem page, https://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-160-XT
u

uncle_phuzzy

04/11/2023, 3:31 AM
Thanks, yea I have seen those. I am looking at the one linked above as the official model, the links point at the Minibox mode which is not the same as what was shipped
u

_dhanos_

04/11/2023, 5:52 AM
You can use any Pico PSU as long as it has enough power. The one that TPi sells is 160W, but 4 CM4 modules and TPi2 board need about 20W. You can calculate additional power is you add NVMe drives, SATA drives or other modules. On top of this, you need 12V a power brick that matches the output power (with 5.2/2.5 barrel plug)
The one that TPi sells is made for them specifically. If you want this exact one, you can buy it from the TPi website: https://turingpi.com/product/pico-psu/
It is not a Minibox version, someone only thought it it
w

wilsonrighetti

04/11/2023, 7:49 PM
oh, sorry, just noticed the vendor does not have the one I bought anymore. Better to remove the link from here @_dhanos_
I got the 144W before, but it does not appear anymore on the vendor page on amazon with the link above
t

teaskittles

04/11/2023, 7:50 PM
The Amazon link was very helpful. You're not talking about removing that one, right?
w

wilsonrighetti

04/11/2023, 7:50 PM
It looks like the 144W option is not there in this link anymore
u

_dhanos_

04/11/2023, 7:51 PM
But the 72W is still ok for most of the people
But indeed the 144W one is missing
a

Atheer

04/14/2023, 9:32 PM
and you already have a picoPSU in hand right?
u

unamanic

04/16/2023, 3:00 AM
I ended up going with https://a.co/d/6vYAnbL The barrel plug fits out of the box. It's not quite the 144 watt adapter som are looking for, but it should work for my loads.
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