Powering multiple devices from one adapter.

dunginhawk

Good evening folks... So I am finally (took a couple months off with new puppy etc) back to working on my latest custom cabinet. Im guessing very few know, but I do all my cabinets out of clear acrylic, with NO screws at all holding the case together. The latest cabinet is a light up trackball mini cabinet.
Anyway... I am running a pi 3 and a 10.1 " lcd with driver board.
I am trying to figure out how to power both of those from one single power adapter, and how that might look.
I assume I need to just get a big powerful laptop style adapter and splice off that, and put a step down to 5v or whatever the pi uses.
Is this the best way to do it? Just curious.
thank you much folks

rbaker

@dunginhawk said in Powering multiple devices from one adapter.:

Is this the best way to do it?

What matters in the current rating of the power supply. If you are planning a build with multiple parts needing power, I would consider a dedicated supply.

dunginhawk

rbaker, thanks for chiming in... I am a complete novice when it comes to power, so would i still need step downs or anything like that here? just curious.

rbaker

@dunginhawk No, as long as you get a 5V one.

dunginhawk

@rbaker so I assume that since i only see 1 connection that I would have to just put both power leads in to the same terminals? one for the LCD, one for the Pi?
thanks again sir

rbaker

@dunginhawk Yes, you have to imagine the terminal connection as 5V DC with the ability to supply upto the rated current. So Pi, Controllers, Screen, Speakers, LED stips etc will all work well. With a basic 2.5A one, as soon as you load it up and it approaches 2.5A, bad things will happen. I think those power supplies that I linked are variable actually. An alternative is to buy a USB adaptor and use one for each device.

rbaker

@dunginhawk If you look at mine, you will see that I used an extension cord and plugged in a variety of stand-alone units. If I were starting again, I would use one high quality supply.

dunginhawk

The usb idea is interesting, although id have to make custom usb cables to power all the devices, which isnt ideal, but i like the cleanness of it.
Right now I just have a small one here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003625068/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
i then wire that in to the back end here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N2T2N1W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which does work well, just not as cool

rbaker

@dunginhawk Well thats exactly what I have to the mains. I then plug in the different usbs and plugs. So Pi in one, LED strip in another, Monitor in the 3rd and Audio in the 4th.

dunginhawk

ok.. i was mainly curious if this was a standard, or decent way of doing things or not... seems a little wonky, but also works. since I do clear cabinets, it can all be seen :)