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I have both the Pi 2 and (as of recently) Pi 3. I have a power supply unit (PSU) for both:

  • One no-name PSU for the Pi 2 that came as a part of a starter kit
  • One official PSU for the Pi 3 that came as a part of another starter kit

I have noticed that if I connect the official 7 inch display to the Pi 2 with the no-name PSU I often get the little rainbow square indicating that power is not enough. If I add LAN connection and my camera board (the official one, v2), the touch on the display stops working or acts all weird (probably due to lack of power). This makes me think that the no-name PSU is either faulty or just of very poor quality.

With my Pi 3 and the official PSU I have no such problem. As I see from the official docs the recommended PSU current capacity for the Pi 2 is 1.8A while for the Pi 3 it's 2.5A. So basically both have the same requirements when it comes to the voltage but different ones when it comes to the current.

Will it be okay to use the PSU for the Pi 3 with a Pi 2? I can't actually find any information on an official Pi 2 PSU.

rbaleksandar
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2 Answers2

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Will it be okay to use the PSU for the Pi 3 with a Pi 2?

Simply answer: yes.

Huczu
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There seems to be developing a kind of religion around power supplies.

See Raspberry Pi Power Limitations for some facts.

My tests indicate that the majority of power supplies, including the "official" ones fail to meet their published specs.

If whatever power supply you use works, and delivers the rated voltage it doesn't matter what the label says. NOTE that even if the undervoltage indicator does not activate the voltage can still be below the standard 5±0.25V.

Community
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Milliways
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  • "If whatever power supply you use works, and delivers the rated voltage it doesn't matter what the label says" Sure, but this would mean that I have to check and double check every power supply I buy (even official ones). :-/ – rbaleksandar Jan 31 '17 at 10:50