<![CDATA[External Power - What is possible?]]>Hi @all,
we have now 2 projects which need external power supply for the M5. So maybe someone here can explain what kind of possibilities we have. I can think about the following:

  1. Connect an external 1S LiPo/LiIon battery to the Battery / VBat connector pin (2x15 header).
  2. Connect regulated ~4 Volts to the VBat Connector pin. Could be used when there is no 3,3V or 5V available.
  3. Connect 5V to the 5V Connector pin.
  4. Connect 3,3V to the 3,3V Connector pin.

Can anybody here give some comments about the ideas? I don't think all will properly work!?
And maybe there are other solutions I missed?

And btw. what are the HPWR pins for? It sounds like high power external source. But I can't find any information.

Update
I forget to the point with USB power ... How will the above ideas behave if you insert the USB connector?

regards
Dominik

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/topic/377/external-power-what-is-possibleRSS for NodeMon, 09 Mar 2026 00:37:53 GMTTue, 23 Oct 2018 05:49:05 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Sun, 24 Mar 2019 15:19:50 GMT]]>@b1063n said in External Power - What is possible?:

So, did anyone find a solution. I was about to buy it, but then when I look at the documentation for the power supply voltage I cannot find it! Documentation is quite poor I must add.

I do not need battery operated solution, and the USB power is super ugly and inconvenient!

I need to use external 5V power supply connected to pins inside the board in a professional manner (no pcb hacking). Is this not possible? I cannot believe it!!

Yes it is possible as the Stackable modules provide internal power to M5Stack cores. (Sorry been working on my books and documenting units with demos this weekend.)

The documents I have, show that each stackable module has its own voltage regulator that delivers 5 volts to pin 28 of the internal bus (+5V).
If you look at the Proto module you will see that these pins are marked ready for you.
https://docs.m5stack.com/#/en/module/proto

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/3411https://community.m5stack.com/post/3411Sun, 24 Mar 2019 15:19:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Sun, 24 Mar 2019 14:05:38 GMT]]>So, did anyone find a solution. I was about to buy it, but then when I look at the documentation for the power supply voltage I cannot find it! Documentation is quite poor I must add.

I do not need battery operated solution, and the USB power is super ugly and inconvenient!

I need to use external 5V power supply connected to pins inside the board in a professional manner (no pcb hacking). Is this not possible? I cannot believe it!!

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/3410https://community.m5stack.com/post/3410Sun, 24 Mar 2019 14:05:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Thu, 25 Oct 2018 09:33:46 GMT]]>@moelski 在 External Power - What is possible? 中说：

I would assume that the IP5306 has an internal protection for reverse current.

It is not specified in the IP5306 datasheet.
You can test it and report the results.

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1837https://community.m5stack.com/post/1837Thu, 25 Oct 2018 09:33:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Thu, 25 Oct 2018 07:25:15 GMT]]>@ajb2k3 在 External Power - What is possible? 中说：

You are aware that there are 2 battery connection on the M5?
1 is in the 2x15 connection, one is on the actual main pcb.

Yes I saw that. I think that both directly connected to the VBat connection, correct?!
0_1540452267316_VBAt Connect.png

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1835https://community.m5stack.com/post/1835Thu, 25 Oct 2018 07:25:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Thu, 25 Oct 2018 06:14:33 GMT]]>You are aware that there are 2 battery connection on the M5?
1 is in the 2x15 connection, one is on the actual main pcb.

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1834https://community.m5stack.com/post/1834Thu, 25 Oct 2018 06:14:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Thu, 25 Oct 2018 03:41:45 GMT]]>@loboris 在 External Power - What is possible? 中说：

5V connection on the 2x15 connector is the output from IP5306 VOUT pin

Well if there is no battery connected and no USB cable attached ... Why should this be a problem?
I would assume that the IP5306 has an internal protection for reverse current.

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1833https://community.m5stack.com/post/1833Thu, 25 Oct 2018 03:41:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Wed, 24 Oct 2018 22:44:14 GMT]]>@moelski 在 External Power - What is possible? 中说：

But connecting a 5V source to the 5V connection on the 2x15 connector should be ok, or not? If there is no battery connected we don need the IP5306?

5V connection on the 2x15 connector is the output from IP5306 VOUT pin (5V Boost output pin), so I don't think it is wise to connect external 5V to it.

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1831https://community.m5stack.com/post/1831Wed, 24 Oct 2018 22:44:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Wed, 24 Oct 2018 12:53:07 GMT]]>Hi,
cutting traces on the PCB is always a bad idea I think ...

But connecting a 5V source to the 5V connection on the 2x15 connector should be ok, or not? If there is no battery connected we don need the IP5306?

you should not connect USB cable at the same time the external 5V is connected

That's correct but this is a compromise I can live with.

regards Dominik

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1823https://community.m5stack.com/post/1823Wed, 24 Oct 2018 12:53:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Wed, 24 Oct 2018 11:46:23 GMT]]>@moelski 在 External Power - What is possible? 中说：

It looks very ugly to use a USB Connector

If you use external power, some kind of connector must be used.
You could use USB cable with right angle connector, like this one, I don't think it looks ugly.
You can remove the USB-A connector on the other side, and attach whatever power source you have.

cable

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1820https://community.m5stack.com/post/1820Wed, 24 Oct 2018 11:46:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Wed, 24 Oct 2018 11:26:26 GMT]]>M5Stack power circuit is designed in a way that you can use only a Li-Po battery (other than USB power) as external power source.
For all other solutions you have to modify the PCB.
If you look at the schematic you can see that the external 5V source could be added at several places, but in all cases you have to cut some PCB traces.
The simplest method should be to attach the external 5V to VIN_USB, no trace cutting is needed, but you should not connect USB cable at the same time the external 5V is connected.

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1819https://community.m5stack.com/post/1819Wed, 24 Oct 2018 11:26:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Wed, 24 Oct 2018 04:03:58 GMT]]>@world101 在 External Power - What is possible? 中说：

m5stack battery module. 850mAh of internal power. If you need more than that, it will have to be custom.

Hi !
I know there is a battery pack and I got two of them. But this is not always a solution. There are projects where you can't stack a lot of moduls on top of each other. And as said ... Using USB as power is very ugly and space consuming.

If you need more than that, it will have to be custom.

Correct. And what I want to know is which custom solutions are available.
Or to be more precise ... Which kind of power solutions are available without using the Battery module or an USB connection and which kind of drawbacks have those solutions?

I can't beleave that I'm the only guy how has those "problems".

regards
Dominik

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1814https://community.m5stack.com/post/1814Wed, 24 Oct 2018 04:03:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Wed, 24 Oct 2018 01:05:16 GMT]]>@moelski 在 External Power - What is possible? 中说：

So there must be any suiteable solution to power the M5 from the 2x15 connector. Or somewhere else inside the M5 Stack.

There is. It’s called the
m5stack battery module. 850mAh of internal power. If you need more than that, it will have to be custom.

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1813https://community.m5stack.com/post/1813Wed, 24 Oct 2018 01:05:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Tue, 23 Oct 2018 16:55:57 GMT]]>Hi Holger,
I´m sorry but that is not really an option. It looks very ugly to use a USB Connector. And I don´t wanna use a power bank ...
So there must be any suiteable solution to power the M5 from the 2x15 connector. Or somewhere else inside the M5 Stack.

regards
Dominik

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1807https://community.m5stack.com/post/1807Tue, 23 Oct 2018 16:55:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to External Power - What is possible? on Tue, 23 Oct 2018 16:33:20 GMT]]>Hello Dominik,
you can use a powerbank with 5VDC USB-Port and connect it to the USB-Port of the M5Stack.
You don't need 3,3VDC because the M5Stack makes it own 3,3V from the 5V Power.
regards Holger

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/1805https://community.m5stack.com/post/1805Tue, 23 Oct 2018 16:33:20 GMT