Research: 5V USB UPS (Power Backup Systems)

[rootzoll]

I node running in production should be protected from (short) power outages. Like blackouts in cities, downtimes of re-newable powersources or you just unplugging the wrong cable at home. So this is a research topic to look into for the future - input and prototypes welcome.

This wiki shows some inspiration on how to get a UPS for a RaspberryPi going:
https://www.enigma14.eu/wiki/5V_UPS_for_Raspberry_Pi

First step would be to check at least if simple USB Powerbanks can be a first quick and cheap option.

[rootzoll]

Check this Video: "5v USB UPS Module - 12v Solar Shed"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jecgoBqOrhk

[born2los3built2win]

Pijuice hat
Output voltage - 3.3V and 5V
https://uk.pi-supply.com/products/pijuice-standard

[rootzoll]

@PapaCoderNit nice :D will see when back in stock to try out.

[rootzoll]

Also the Pi-Juice seems to have good software support:
https://github.com/PiSupply/PiJuice

But around 60 EUR - thats half the RaspiBlitz ;)

[fluidvoice]

Also the Pi-Juice seems to have good software support:
https://github.com/PiSupply/PiJuice

But around 60 EUR - thats half the RaspiBlitz ;)

Great if you need all that functionality but seems overkill for 99% of people that just need battery backup for power failure. Better to be an outboard solution that any SBC can use with any case. HAT's are too restrictive depending on which case and other HAT's you have.

[rootzoll]

Just investing a bit more (around 80 EUR) and you get a standalone UPS at amazon:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00T7BYRCK

With such a device you can power backup the Router AND the RaspiBlitz - and procides the chance to even keep your internet up. Router+Blitz should be around 20 Watt - so it should give you around 1,5h power backup. Also it has USB port to connect to the Raspberry and someone could write a small script/service to shutdown the Blitz once the UPS signals low power over USB.

But also still interested if someone can recommend a cheap power bank that is able to load and procide at the same time - that would be the most low cost solution to protect the blitz against small power outages.

[rootzoll]

The cheapest solution to protect your RaspiBlitz against Power Outages seems still to go with a simple Powerbank that supports "Charge Through" / "Durchgangsladung" .. being able to load and provide at the same time without breakup of power (no switching time) when the main power goes off.

This site shows a great test setup:
https://raspi-ups.appspot.com/en/index.jsp
And there is the interesting idea, that the RaspiPi can detect a power outage by the Network Connection going down for a certain time.

HELP WANTED: We have to find a cheapest brand name Powerbank to order from Amazon, that supports 'Charge Through'. Everything under 20 USD with Prime delivery should be valid. Please post your test-results and Amazon links here or on twitter with @rootzoll - much thanks.

[rootzoll]

An idea to keep in mind: If the RaspiBlitz has a Powerbank UPS and detects a Network Outage it could at least shutdown the LND/Bitcoin services so that the state of the Lightning Node is stored secure to the HDD, reduces Power Consumption and keeps monitoring if the Network is coming back to restart the LND/Bitcoin services.

[unic0der]

HELP WANTED: We have to find a cheapest brand name Powerbank to order from Amazon, that supports 'Charge Through'. Everything under 20 USD with Prime delivery should be valid. Please post your test-results and Amazon links here or on twitter with @rootzoll - much thanks.

Most powerbanks with "charge-through" that I have seen actually break up the power (for a few milliseconds or even a full second) while switching from mains to battery. Not even sure if ones that don't do that exist. In any case, it's never advertised or part of a spec sheet. So we might have to do trial-and-error buying until we find a suitable powerbank.

With a bit tinkering/modding though, even a powerbank with a short switching-time might be feasible. Depending on the power requirements of the storage connected to the Pi an additional larger cap as part of the Pis power supply might help. Idea here: http://www.johnes.eu/rpi/pages/power/kondensator.php

[rootzoll]

@unic0der because of this little details I was asking for help to find and test the working ones on Amazon :) I like the hack with the kondensator, but first lets see if someone can find a working powerbank - this testsetup seemed to had one without switching-gap: https://raspi-ups.appspot.com/en/index.jsp (but the referenced model is not available on amazon anymore)

If we cannot find any power banks that work fine, we can also look into some cheaper alternatives to the PiJiuce like this one: https://m.reichelt.de/raspberry-pi-usv-rpi-usv-p169883.html or https://alexnld.com/product/geekworm-ups-hat-expansion-board-2500mah-lithium-battery-for-raspberry-pi-3-model-b-2b-b-a/ and see if 2A output is enough.

3A Hats (StromPi2 & StromPi3 by JoyIt): https://www.voelkner.de/products/1182442/Raspberry-Pi-USV-Raspberry-Pi-Arduino-Banana-Pi-Cubieboard-Raspberry-Pi-3-B-Raspberry-Pi-3-B-Raspberry-Pi-2.html http://downloads.cdn.re-in.de/1200000-1299999/001244339-da-01-de-STROMPI_FUER_RASPBERRY_PI_A_B_B_.pdf

[jochemin]

And an UPS like this: https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Back-UPS-Connect-70-120V-Network-Backup/P-BGE70?switchCountry=true

[unic0der]

A product with Supercaps: https://juice4halt.com/products

[ElCapitano11]

This new addition to the PROLiNK power bank series also feature the pass-through charging technology, letting users to simultaneously charge the power bank and a connected device:

https://www.lazada.sg/products/buy-2-promo-latest-technology-2019-with-leather-finishing-prolink-ppb1002-energiepak-fusion-power-bank-10000mah-dual-usb-output-type-c-4x-quick-charge-sleek-n-lightweight-compatible-with-google-pixel-2-xl-iphone-andriod-etc-i259600017-s403722781.html?spm=a2o42.searchlist.list.1.6acc40a0ksvLOM&search=1

[rootzoll]

@ElCapitano11 that PROLiNK power bank looks promising - had you a change to try it. When the input power cuts out, does it provide still constant output power without switching?

[ElCapitano11]

@rootzoll The PROLiNK is on order. Should arrive in a few days. Will let you know.

[odudex]

@xorbit
Congratulations on your project and work, nice to know it has an stackable header version.
I did my own simple 2S lithium-ions UPS, its running for a few months, but I got worried about what you said about batteries dying, do you know the reason?
Your project seems really good, full featured and reliable. Any suggestion on how someone like me, in Brazil, could get it?
About Andreas Spiess, maybe he don't know your work, you could show him, he seems accessible. And I still think his video and idea are noteworthy because it still would have one new, and super cool feature: to be opensource hardware.

[xorbit]

@odudex
Lithium-ion batteries degrade when held fully charged at a high "full" voltage. Not sure about the exact chemical mechanism, there are papers and studies about it. Since the full voltage of LiFePO4 is lower (3.6V vs 4.2V), they don't suffer (or suffer significantly less) from this effect. Plus you get 2000+ cycles (100% DoD) from most LiFePO4 where you'd only get a couple hundred from other Li-ion. An even more dependable chemistry is Lithium titanate (LTO), but they tend to be more expensive.

Can you order from Mouser in Brazil? If so, that would be the easiest I think (lowest hassle with customs etc). Unfortunately they ran out of stock on the stackable 18650 version, working on restocking them right now, so check in a week or so. Otherwise you can order from Tindie as well.

[rootzoll]

@xorbit your solution looks promissing. For the RaspiBlitz we are searching for something that could work with the following LCD Hat on top ... not adding too much of height: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B06X191RX7

Also we need to combine this with a passive heat sink case - at the moment we use this one: https://www.amazon.de/Sertronics-Armor-Gehäuse-Raspberry-schwarz/dp/B07VP6GB4G
(we tried a mechanical fan in the past, but turned out not to be reliebable enough).

If you see anyway how to use your solution within the RaspiBlitz setup (maybe with alternative heatsink case?) let us know.

[xorbit]

@rootzoll Not adding height will be the hardest thing. I tried to keep the profile low by having most of the circuitry over the Pi facing down, which worked great for older Pi's. Then the Pi 4 comes along and it can't work at its advertised performance without bulky cooling. :-/

Adding a stacking header like this: https://www.amazon.com/Female-Pitch-Header-Raspberry-Model/dp/B01ITMN6K6/ or this: https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Female-Stacking-Header-Raspberry/dp/B01IRRCEBK/ (you my need the longer one) is probably the easiest option to clear the large heat sink. But it will add height of course. Fitting the LCD on top shouldn't be a problem, other than height.

Since I'm always interested at what customers want and need, and like it to inform my future designs: what would the ideal device for you look like?

[normandmickey]

@CryptoCloaks

[CryptoCloaks]

What'd we miss?! ;)

[normandmickey]

My 18650 sized LiFePO4 batteries finally showed up today so I was finally able to test the LiFePO4wered/Pi+ board.  I only tested the the AUTO_SHDN_TIME and AUTO_BOOT features (not runtime). Setting shutdown to 1 minute after power loss and auto boot to 2 minutes after power restoration worked flawlessly.

[nyxnor]

@normandmickey How is the LiFePO4wered/Pi+ board hanging, still good on power failure? Just to know if its realiable past some months.

[vv01f]

@rootzoll any solutions in the meantime for the recommended parts yet?
@normandmickey still up and running with that crowdsupply thing?
for now I recommended StromPi for someone asking – it's rather expensive, but keeps everything portable and should provide some uptime (I didn't test it)

[rootzoll]

@vv01f after a lot trying of special extension boards or battery packs I setteled for a more conservative UPS solution for now - a classic APC Back-UPS BX - BX700U-GR

It has a USB port that can be connected to the RaspiBlitz to trigger clean shutdown on power outage /home/admin/config.scripts/blitz.ups.sh on apcusb.

All other solutions dont seem to give you a much better price tag, you can even run your internet-router with it and you can also use it universal in the future for other projects/setups.

[lestephane]

@rootzoll Can I get more information about this /home/admin/config.scripts/blitz.ups.sh on apcusb script of yours? I'm looking for the UPC to signal imminent shutdown so that a clean shutdown of my Umbrel node can be initiated on time. Not much different from the Raspiblitz scenario.

[lestephane]

@rootzoll ignore my last message, found it https://github.com/rootzoll/raspiblitz/search?q=blitz.ups.sh

[xanoni]

@rootzoll @lestephane @vv01f lots of info here ... great stuff. I was investigating compact UPS boards like what's shown in these links here: https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/UPS_HAT / https://www.waveshare.com/ups-hat.htm / https://www.pishop.us/product/raspberry-pi-ups-hat/

However, I understand that the 3 high-level categories of solutions are the below .. and I added my understanding of how suitable they are for our BTC use case .. does that match your experiences and research?

1) Traditional UPS (e.g., APC)
(+) Can also power all the other stuff needed to keep the network / Internet online
(+) Proven dinosaur technology, probably most reliable
(+) Probably keeps the Pi alive for many many many hours (how many? easy calculation based on the V*A info but haven't done it, yet)
(–) Most expensive, but not stupid expensive (USD 70-100)?
(–) Takes up physical space

2) UPS boards (shown above in my intro)
(+) Compact / conserve space (can be hidden in case)
(+) Price OK (probably USD 25-35?)
(?) Potentially less reliable than APC-style devices (difficult to find reliable reviews)
(–) Need one per Pi

3) Power banks with "charge through"
(+) Seemingly the easiest (plug and play) and inexpensive
(–) Not spec'd for this purpose / use case (e.g., not supposed to be always charged ... safety concern?)
(–) Doesn't seem to work reliably in practice (based on this thread)

[donovan-ringley]

I have followed @rootzoll aproach and I have bought the APC Back-UPS BX - BX700U-GR and used the cable from my printer to connect it to Raspiblitz.

I have just run the script and everything looks working:

admin@raspberrypi:~ $ /home/admin/config.scripts/blitz.ups.sh status apcusb
upsStatus='ONLINE'
upsBattery=100
admin@raspberrypi:~ $ apcaccess
APC      :  *****************
DATE     : 2021-09-26 12:28:40 +0100  
HOSTNAME : raspberrypi
VERSION  : 3.14.14 (31 May 2016) debian
UPSNAME  : raspberrypi
CABLE    : USB Cable
DRIVER   : USB UPS Driver
UPSMODE  : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2021-09-26 12:18:49 +0100  
MODEL    : Back-UPS XS 700U   
STATUS   : ONLINE 
LINEV    : 236.0 Volts
LOADPCT  : 3.0 Percent
BCHARGE  : 100.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 123.3 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 95 Percent
MINTIMEL : 15 Minutes
MAXTIME  : 0 Seconds
SENSE    : Medium
LOTRANS  : 140.0 Volts
HITRANS  : 300.0 Volts
ALARMDEL : 30 Seconds
BATTV    : 13.6 Volts
LASTXFER : Automatic or explicit self test
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT  : 0 Seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 Seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
SELFTEST : NO
STATFLAG :  *****************
SERIALNO : *****************  
BATTDATE : 2021-04-29
NOMINV   : 230 Volts
NOMBATTV : 12.0 Volts
NOMPOWER : 390 Watts
FIRMWARE :  *****************
END APC  : 2021-09-26 12:28:55 +0100

Now I am thinking about to test it by disconnected it from the socket. But I do not feel that ⚡ reckless :D Any idea how to test it. (Without closing all channels upfront.) I have USB with static backup. Should I do it? 😁

[xanoni]

DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!

(or maybe connect something else to it first)