Robust Power Supply for Pioreactor Clusters

Hardware, PWM, and Optics
1

Hello everyone!

My lab has recently gotten a hold of about 7 reactors, with plans to expand to more in the near future. While reading through the startup documents, it was recommended that users get the power supply bank below.

Pioreactor Recommendation:

Unfortunately, it seems that SIIG doesn’t offer this model anymore. While researching for other power supplies, I could not find any decent units from other brands that support a large amount of ports, with wattage above 15W, and with support for both 5V and 12V output. SIIG does have what seems to be an updated model ID-US0C11-S1, which is available as of Jun 24, 2025.

Updated (in stock) Recommendation:

While this thing is wildly overkill in terms of the wattage, it is the only power supply that I could find on the market that has support for both 5V and 12V. To my knowledge, this is because the modern USB PD 2.0 standards have 5,9,15, and 20V support. So, most modern manufacturers do not bother to add in the 12V support anymore.

The 12V support is really only necessary if you plan on using a lot of power to the periphery.
(See the Pioreactor user guide>external-power for more info)

To use the ports on my updated recommendation, I have also sourced 3 types of cables from DigiKey

12V C to barrel
adafruit
model 5450
Unfortunately the C to barrel is not shielded.

C to C
digikey
sparkfun-electronics
16905

C to Micro
digikey
globtek-inc
USB5MIC27251M0USBCB-R

I also found a slightly cheaper power supply on DigiKey that has 5v/2.4A (15W per port) support.

digikey
coolgear
U2CHGRHUB10

If you want to use this one, I think most USBA to MicroB cables should work as long as they are USB PD 2.0 Compliant.

Adafruit product 592

Word of Caution

Yes, $700 is a lot of money, but if your lab is going to be running a large amount of Pioreactors, I think it would be better to buy something from a reputable brand. You get what you pay for. Definitely stay away from the cheap ~$50 amazon power supply units. it is very common that they do not support the wattage when all of the ports are used.

I am by no means an electrical engineer, but I hope this helps y’all get started!

2 Likes
2

Hi there, update on this!

I’m bringing back the topic of powering a Pioreactor cluster (especially from Europe, where some SIIG products are harder to source).

I came across this charging station from Port Designs (https://portdesigns.com/en/charging-tower/12773-charging-station-10-usb-c-devices-pd-30w-3567049030018.html) and wanted to hear your thoughts on whether it would be a good fit for powering a cluster of Pioreactors.

I don’t have much expertise when it comes to power supplies, so I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences you can share.

Thanks a lot :raised_hands:

3

This looks appropriate, @curro99. 30W > required 15W, has protections and cooling, and CE compliance. It also has USB PD, which will be useful for future versions of Pioreactor that will use USB PD.

1 Like
4

Oooo - so the HAT can take 12V over USB PD and then power the Pi so we only need one cable?

5

Yea, that’s the idea!

2 Likes
6

Hey Y’all, so I just wanted to update again on another great power supply I have found, and that our lab is currently using.

Sabrent Power supply for 4 pioreactors

This power supply unit is pretty much perfect for building clusters that I could find. Both USB A and C ports support 12V, and there is plenty of wattage to go around.

The specs are below for y’alls convenience.

Screenshot 2026-02-06 at 4.11.14 PM
Screenshot 2026-02-06 at 4.11.14 PM1380×540 60.9 KB

4 Likes