Bros, Here is what I have on one harvester. Not just many power heads, but also it needs 2x3 power strips. Any good way to shrink down?
I am thinking this plug splitter. I think one power adapter can do more than just one external hard drive. One power adapter does 12V x 3A = 36W
Or, use the old Molex head from power supply to 5.5 mm plug.
The best solution i found: Building a 160TB Chia Coin Farmer on Raspberry Pi 4 - YouTube
I still didnt even try but someday i will do
Thanks bro. It gives me some good idea. Amazon has some 5.5 x 2.5 plug pre-wired. It could save me some effort.
Those cost usually 150 each:
2 power adapters die 8 drives and active cooling.
I modded the door with a fan though.
Any thing like USB to SATA just data cable no power? I can make my own power.
Fantec is way cheaper and from my personal experience better than icybox (USB 3.x and e-sata)
$120 vs $344
Now the possibility exists also with PCI Power brackets and those cost barely anything especially to well get fans etc in my case added to external stuff
Those cost depending where you buy between $5-$8
So using PC power and pretty easy to determine voltage needed
Anyway, each it’s own thing I guess … but I do attest that I hate a ton of power adapters…
If you have USB 3.x then yes there are sata adapters for it , USB 2.x will not work as there is no power delivered afaik
They look like this, and yes you could plug them in a USB 2.x also but well will be or should be fail…
Those adapatars are pretty cheap between $5-10
Thanks bro. Is one if for 2.5 hard drive only 5V, yes? 3.5 needs 12V. I try to find signal only USB to SATA. Hard drive can be powered by ATX power.
Or, if the adapter has a power hole accepting 12V, I will get it.
I used to do molex 6 pins (gpu) to multiple DC to power the drives, it works fine and you can plug many (if I recall correctly, it’s rated at 150 watts per 6pin, depends on the rails inside your PSU). I recommend using half the PSU for the rated power of the drive, that way you don’t risk anything when all drives power-up at the same time and you also get the benefit of a good PSU efficiency.
Check out this video about 18 USB drives running on RPi:
He did quite a good job with that setup.
Also, @enderTown did an excellent thread about his setup. Not exactly USB, but how he powered those drives may be relevant to you.
====Also, @enderTown did an excellent thread about his setup. Not exactly USB, but how he powered those drives may be relevant to you.====
Thanks bro. Guy uses 1-5 port multiplier. Internal hard drives. Other quite a few miscellaneous parts. External USB hard drive is cheaper per TB. But I will do both internal and external!
Take a look at that video, that is pure USB stuff, but using slightly different parts to get power to those drives. Really a clean solution.
I like that setup but imho costs more $ wise as time to setup, give me simply my fantecs they are cheap kinda to hold 4HDDs , however each is an extra power adaptar also but way less USB/e-sata cables.
Each it’s own thing I guess, besides I’m not a handy man heck I have barely any tools and those I have are all PC related … so not the stuff to get that setup made without buying more tools also 
Now for those using large USB hubs and want also power from it …
You might see a voltage difference when you use a powered USB hub… on available USB ports
The more used the less voltage they provide when checking with USB testers… minimal but yet … could cause issues if you have a large USB hub.
On a 10-12 USB ports hub the voltage drops actually to a 2.5~3.5v if all are in use at the end … USB 8-12…
Edit: Those USB testers don’t cost a fortune actually cheap I paid $3.79 for them through Amazon
Edit 2: just plugged in my iphone to show difference already and note this is an enterprise grade USB hub …
Each instance plugged in that requires power drops the voltage consideratly …
Does that barrel jack splitter have 5.5x2.5mm ends? I haven’t been able to find any. If so, would you be so kind as to share the link? I know a few people have been searching for them.
I just cut the wires and use the original jacks for some external HDD drives, because the splitter jack is to small. I cut the wire and use original power male jack and attach a female power jack from ebay to the wire, the I use the splitter. Powering 8 drives now. You don’t really need the splitter, the PSU has 2x12V outputs so you can just connect the wires directly to the PSU output and use the original jack.
Ah I see. Nevermind then. I was hoping for a way where I don’t have to splice cables together.
If I’m going to have to cut the original cables I would probably just crimp a fork connector to the end and connect it to a bus bar or a similar terminal connector.
Thanks anyway.
search for camera cctv power jack splitter
https://www.amazon.com/Surveillance-Camera-Power-Splitter/s?k=Surveillance+Camera+Power+Splitter
Cool. This one is 5.5*2.5. 12V 5A power supply. How many external HDD can it supply? Say Seagate expansion model line. It comes with 12V 1.5A power supply.
