PiPower 5 w/ Pi4

Accessories for Raspberry Pi and Arduino
1

Hi,

I’m having an odd charging/power-input issue with my SunFounder PiPower 5 and I’m trying to determine whether this is expected behavior, a firmware issue, or possibly a defective board.

My setup is:

  • Raspberry Pi 4

  • SunFounder PiPower 5

  • PiPower firmware: 2.0.9

  • Battery installed and detected normally

  • pipower5 software installed and working

The PiPower works correctly with my CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 USB-C power supply. After a complete power-down and reconnecting that supply, I see approximately:

Input:
    voltage: 4895 mV
    current: 2930 mA
    power: 14.342 W
    plugged in: True

Output:
    voltage: 5278 mV
    current: 888 mA
    power: 4.687 W

Battery:
    voltage: 8140 mV
    current: 1012 mA
    power: 8.238 W
    percentage: 88 %
    source: 0 - External
    charging: True

Internal:
    max charging current: 6000 mA

So the PiPower is clearly capable of powering the Pi 4 and charging the battery simultaneously.

However, if I unplug and reconnect external power while the Pi is running, battery charging does not resume correctly. After reconnecting the same power supply, I see something like:

Input:
    voltage: 5142 mV
    current: 1080 mA
    power: 5.553 W
    plugged in: True

Output:
    voltage: 5280 mV
    current: 768 mA
    power: 4.055 W

Battery:
    voltage: 8040 mV
    current: 64 mA
    power: 0.515 W
    percentage: 87 %
    source: 0 - External
    charging: False

Internal:
    max charging current: 600 mA

The interesting part is that max charging current changes from 6000 mA to 600 mA, and the battery stops charging.

Simply shutting down the Raspberry Pi while leaving external power connected does not fix it.

To restore normal charging, I have to:

  1. Shut down the Raspberry Pi.

  2. Disconnect external power completely.

  3. Wait briefly.

  4. Reconnect the power supply.

  5. Turn the Pi back on.

After doing that, charging works again and input consumption returns to roughly 14–15W.

I have also tested other USB-C power supplies.

A 65W USB-C laptop PD charger connected directly to the PiPower does not appear to establish usable power. A separate 5.1V/5A USB-C charger behaves similarly; the PiPower battery LEDs just flicker and charging does not begin.

Both chargers are known to work with other devices.

Interestingly, the standard Raspberry Pi 4/CanaKit fixed 5V USB-C supply works reliably after a complete power reset.

I have also observed that inserting a CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 inline USB-C power-switch adapter between some USB-C chargers and the PiPower changes the behavior and can cause the PiPower to receive power, which makes me wonder whether there may be an issue involving USB-C CC/PD negotiation.

So I appear to have two potentially related symptoms:

  • USB-C PD supplies often fail to establish power/charging when connected directly to the PiPower 5.

  • After external power is interrupted while the Pi is running, charging can become stuck with max charging current: 600 mA until the PiPower is completely power-cycled.

Is this expected behavior with firmware 2.0.9?

Is there a newer firmware I should install, or does this behavior suggest a problem with the USB-C PD/charging circuitry on my PiPower 5?

Thanks!

2

Please contact service@sunfounder.com to provide your detailed address and phone number to get a replacement.

4

I have emailed the support team.

Thank you,