USB backlit keyboard power consumption

08
2014-07
  • onimoan

    Does someone know the power consumption of an USB backlit keyboard like the SteelSeries Apex? I'd like to connect it to a Keyboard/Mouse USB Switch that goes to PC by one USB 2.0 cable. The mouse I'm going to use is the SteelSeries Rival. Do I risk to "break" the USB port? I tried googling, but I haven't found any power consumption specification.

    Thank you and sorry for bad english.


    Edit 1: Do you think that with the 500 mA of the USB 2.0 I will be able to "feed" the keyboard and the mouse? In case, if I plug the USB 2.0 switch to an USB 3.0 port, is it able to draw 900 mA? (My USB hub is powered by just the PC's USB port)


    Edit 2: The keyboard has a USB Y cable, but the producer doesn't say if it's necessary to the keyboard alimentation, or if it's eventually necessary to the keyboard's USB hub(it has a 2 port USB 2.0 hub)


    Edit 3: I've finally found something about backlit keyboard power consumptions: http://www.ctielectronics.com/pdf/811675-Industrial-Keyboard-Backlight-Instensity-Adjustment.pdf "Power requirements for the backlit keyboard are less than 100mA @ 5VDC (typical), and all power required for backlighting is taken from the keyboard port of the Host PC": even if the one referred by the link is smaller than the one(so less LEDs) I specified I think that I should be able to feed keyboard and mouse with less than 500mA


    Edit 4: I have received the objects, plugged them to the hub and they work correctly.

  • Answers
  • Michael Kjörling

    USB devices start out as "low powered" (drawing a maximum of one unit load of power, which is 100 mA in USB 2.0, see 7.2.1 Classes of Devices, page 171), and can negotiate "high power" mode in which the device can draw up to 500 mA in plain USB 2.0. At USB's 5 V DC, 500 mA provides 2.5 W of power, plus or minus tolerances.

    The operative word here is negotiate. The host is fully within its rights to refuse a USB device switching to high power mode if such amounts of power are not available for any reason, and the device must deal gracefully with failure to switch to high power mode. Likely, it will appear as though it is shut down if the negotiation to high power fails, or in the case of a backlit keyboard the keyboard might work but the backlight might remain turned off if sufficient power for that feature is not available.

    As has been pointed out by arch-abit, the power consumption of the keyboard (or even the keyboard and mouse combined) is likely to be significantly lower than the 2.5 W allowed for by USB. Based on Journeyman Geek's back-of-the-envelope calculations in another answer to this question, depending on the specific LEDs used and their light output, it might quite possibly fit well inside the 0.5 W (100 mA) allowed for by the initial low power mode. LEDs are very power-efficient; a few watts into a LED lightbulb is enough to provide general lighting for a small room, so a keyboard certainly shouldn't need more than a few hundred milliwatts (a few tenths of a watt) for its background illumination, and quite possibly significantly less than that. After all, we are talking about background illumination to help you see the letters printed on the keys in otherwise dark conditions, not general illumination.

    If all devices involved are USB 2.0 certified and can be used without weird constructs like USB Y cables for power, you likely don't need to worry at all. If the switch has an external power supply (functions as a powered USB hub) then you almost certainly don't need to worry. The worst that is likely to happen is that something won't function, or will function only erratically (depending on the instantaneous power-up ordering, for example).

  • SLC

    Why not check yourself? Many computer motherboards are able to tell you the power consumption of a usb port via the control panel.

    Go into the control panel, system > device manager and find the USB port or hub in question in the list. You'll then see power consumption figures like this:

    Power

  • David Yaw

    Measure it yourself! USB ammeters are useful little tools.

    "Charger Doctor" is one brand of USB ammeter, targeted at seeing how much power a USB charger is actually supplying, but it works on any USB device. However, be aware that it's not the most precise ammeter, it will read zero for very low power devices, such as keyboards. (With my plain keyboard, it reads zero, even when actively typing.)

    enter image description here

    https://www.google.com/search?q=Charger+Doctor

    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GC9I61I

  • arch-abit

    The power consumption is negligible, less than the 500 mA which is where USB 2 is rated. As a comparison, your keyboard probably uses some blue LEDs, they are not going to draw more than 80 mA each, and more likely to draw somewhere between 20 and 40.

    If your USB hub is powered, then the keyboard is not going to draw any power from your PC. USB keyboards and mice are made for USB, and they do not usually break anything.

  • cjb110

    I don't have the power consumption figures, but the keyboard is USB certified which means it will only draw what its allowed to draw. So there is no risk of 'breaking' the port.

    You 'could' run into issues with portable/travel switches that don't have external power, but not you wont damage things.

  • Journeyman Geek

    A bit of back of the envelope calculations, and common sense might help here.

    From a little research the LEDs on a keyboard are similar to these flangeless 3mm leds. Based off the specifications there - it would be 3.5V at 20ma, o7 or ~7mW per key. Assuming a 101 key keyboard its 700mW for the leds alone. Considering USB 2.0 does up to 2.5 amps, You should have quite a bit of headroom


  • Related Question

    USB to power other devices
  • Tester101

    I have a small desk fan that is currently powered by 4 AA bateries, I have measured the voltage output and it is 5.5VDC which got me thinking. Is it safe to modify the fan to run off a USB port on my PC?

    I'm not sure if the fan draws more than 100mA, but it is my understanding that USB will only allow me to draw 100mA by default anyway. Is this correct, or could my fan draw too much power?

    I also read this

    A dedicated charger can supply maximum 1.8 A of current. A portable device can draw up to 1.8 A from a dedicated charger. The dedicated charger shorts the D+ and D- pins together disabling data transfer and will not send or receive any information, allowing very simple, high current chargers to be manufactured. The increased current (faster charging) will occur once the host/hub and devices both support the new charging specification.

    Is this supported by USB 2.0, or will this not be supported until 3.0?

    should I short the data wires in my case or just leave them disconnected?


  • Related Answers
  • hanleyp

    The USB 2.0 specification allows up to 0.5A of current draw from the 5V pin from each port. You can leave the D+ and D- wires unconnected, just connect power and ground.

  • 8088

    You can use a USB Y cable to draw more power. They're commonly used for portable hard drives and DVD burners, requiring more power than can be provided by a single USB port.

    alt text