power a pico with microusb phone charger

[espruino-discuss]

Posted at 2021-05-13 by Mrbbp

Hello,

i've got a simple question, but sorry for that i found the power section of the pico board a bit confused.

I would like to power the board with a phone charger, not with a battery.

On wich pin do you recommand to power the pico (i need to access to usb pad for code update purpose)
i connect a led matrix (only one 8x8) and need the 5v for the max7219 driver...

actually, i 've sold a micro usb female deported plug on pin Vout and GND (silkscreened on the back board)
am i doing it wrong? (sorry for grammar, not sure about that)

i've tried on the + - battery pad, but curent is not enough on the output a read only 2.7V on the Vout pin...

regards

é.

[espruino-discuss]

Posted at 2021-05-13 by @gfwilliams

actually, i 've sold a micro usb female deported plug on pin Vout and GND

Do you have a picture? You can actually sand off the solder resist and solder a mini USB to the rear of the board if you want to.

i need to access to usb pad for code update purpose

Do you need this at the same time? Because it would potentially be really bad news to attach power to the USB power input and then plug it into your PC as well.

i've tried on the + - battery pad, but curent is not enough on the output a read only 2.7V on the Vout pin...

I believe the battery pad is the same as Vin, so if you're not able to get enough power through that then I think it might be better to just attach the USB power directly to the VOut pin

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Posted at 2021-05-13 by Mrbbp

Do you need this at the same time? Because it would potentially be really bad news to attach power to the USB power input and then plug it into your PC as well.

Not at the same time of course, but the possibility to scratch the paint and uncover the mini usb pads and sold 2 wires seem to be a bit dangerous if i need to plug the usb in my computer to update code.

there is a samsung travel charger with slim wire in black or white, and is cute and strong enough to power a simple led matrix.

sorry instagram link to see picture
https://www.instagram.com/p/COrzei-h9uH/

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Posted at 2021-05-14 by @gfwilliams

Ok, so I'd say based on https://www.espruino.com/Pico#-a-name-power-a-power-and-the-fet-b0-jumper your best bet is just to connect your external micro USB connector straight to the Vout pin on the Pico (the one highlighted in the picture, just to be sure).

That should be totally fine to use even when the Pico is also connected to your PC via its own USB

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