New microcontroller developer here. I’m unclear on powering my boards safely. Looking at powering something like a Sparkfun Thing Plus or Nano ESP32 with USB-C with a USB-C PoE power injector. The one I was looking at is rated 5volts/4amp. Is this going to be safe for a 3.3v device? Will the board handle the conversion automagically, but safely?
Those both have built-in voltage regulators that step down the 5V input (USB = 5v) to the 3.3V used by the chip & such
The 5V/4A power supply is safe to use with these boards. Boards will only draw the current they need, not the full 4A available…side note, however, is that those boards use very little power and 4A is probably way overkill from an efficiency standpoint, if that matters
“Automagic” Conversion: Yes, the voltage regulation happens automatically on the board. You don’t need to do anything special to convert the 5V input to 3.3V
Enjoy!
Okay!
About the amps provided… My project includes the board and up to 3 other QWIIC devices:
- SparkFun Qwiic Mini dToF Imager - TMF8821
- SparkFun Qwiic LED Stick - APA102C
- SparkFun Qwiic Alphanumeric Display - Red
Supporting these additional devices are where the additional amps will go.
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Thanks for the detailed explanation! That clears things up, especially about the voltage conversion being automatic—I wasn’t sure if I’d need to handle that manually. Good to know the 5V/4A supply won’t cause any issues either. You’re right, 4A might be overkill, but at least there’s no harm in having more current available. Appreciate the insight!