Question powering a Raspberry Pi 5 with a regular USB-C power supply

[Peter Patel-Schneider]

Can any regular USB-C power supply power a Raspberry Pi 5 at 5V 5A? I have a USB-C power supply that can provide 20V 5A, with the correct cable of course. Should it be able to do 5V 5A? Will the Pi 5 correctly negotiate with it?

 

[OldSurferDude]

I am unfamiliar with the RPi 5. In general, NO! I make the assumption that RPi 5 is like its predecessors and does not "negotiate" the power form the power source. Devices that "negotiate" will specifically indicate a voltage range. Check the RPi specifications, It will probably say 5V +/- 0.25V. This is not negotiation, it is tolerance.

In almost all cases, the voltage of the power source and the device to be powered MUST be the same. the current from the power souce must be the same or more than the device.

You could look for a DC-DC device that has an input of some range ( eg. 9-48VDC, 5A) with an output of 5V 5A, but it would probably cost as much as a 5VDC 5A power supply.

Good thing you asked before trying it.

OSD

 

[Peter Patel-Schneider]

https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-5/ says that the Pi 5 has

• 5V/5A DC power via USB-C, with Power Delivery support

So it appears that the Pi 5 does do power negotiation. The question is whether any/some/all USB-C power supplies that can provide 5A will provide 5V 5A and will the Pi 5 correctly negotiate with them.

 

[OldSurferDude]

Power Delivery Specification. It would appear that the power supply must also support Power Delivery or be 5VDC 5A

OSD

 

[Peter Patel-Schneider]

Thanks for the pointer. From the slide deck it appears that USB-C power at 5V only goes up to 3A.

But does anyone have a Pi 5 running at 5V 5A from a regular USB-C charger?