Looking for advice on power supply for a rack of 4+ Rock64's

[fwo19]

Was planning on using this USB charger with these USB => Barrel cables.

However I see in the PicoCluster assembly of Rock64 boards that there is some sort of power supply board riding on top. Anyone know what this is?

Anyone have any firsthand experience powering a rack of these babies?

Thanks!

[dkryder]

probably power suppy for rpi in picture. as far as power to the boards that charger states 3A per slot /5 slots = 15A x 5V = 75watt but it is listed at 63watt, so that rating of 3A per slot can not be right some of those slots get less.

[a1w.ca]

In addition to what dkryder wrote, you need to ensure you're using thicker USB cables in order to pass more current. 24AWG cables are not rated for passing 3A. For comparison, the 5V/3A power adapters have 20AWG cables.

[mjsmall]

The unit in the picocluster looks like a 12V to USB converter. I use the same one in my truck, but I can't find a link to one right now.

You can probably use something like this. Currently, I am repurposing an old ATX power supply into a GND/+3.3V/+5V/+12V bench supply to run a bunch of ROCK64 and a switch. I'll probably add a couple of cheap ammeter/voltmeters from the RC world to monitor usage.

[Gary_Cole]

Thanks for sharing the guidance its really helpful thread.