Power By USB

Ok, so I have the wyze cam and the wyze cam pan.
I would like to setup the camera on my office desk, but I don’t want more cords hanging off it to the floor. My desk moves, and stuff gets tangled.
I was wondering if I could power the camera through the USB port on my computer. I power and charge everything else this way, so would be nice to do it.

Welcome to the Wyze community!
I wouldn’t recommend doing this but…
Wyze Cam uses 5V 1A DC power and the Wyze Cam Pan uses 5V 2A DC power. As long as your computer puts out this power continuously, you should be able to use the camera.

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The real question is whether that USB port will provide enough power, especially for the Pan. The two cameras come with 1 & 2 amp USB power adapters, respectively, but per spec, USB 2.0 ports are only required to provide 500ma (0.5 amp). USB 3.0 ports are spec’d to provide 900ma, but as I recall, only for USB 3.0 devices.

Unless you computer has provisions to provide higher “charging” power to the USB ports, you probably would not be able to use the Pan, and even the standard Wyze might be problematic.

Do any of your devices display a “Connected to low power charger” or similar message when plugged into your computer?

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Everything I charge works fine and charges pretty quickly, including my iPad Pro; My two systems I use are an iMac 2019 model and an Alienware 51m Laptop.

on the Laptop:

  • One Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C) port
  • One USB 3.1 Gen 1 port with PowerShare
  • Two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports

It’s not going to hurt your camera or computer if the port won’t supply enough amperage. The worse that will happen is you’ll have stability issues with the camera.
The PowerShare ports should be fine. Try it.

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You might also considering taking all that “everything else” your PC is powering and sacrifice the space for one 2 Amp or higher USB desktop hub you can plug everything into. It would make things neater.

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Good idea. These work very well.
https://www.amazon.com/Charger-RAVPower-Charging-Multiple-Compatible/dp/B00OQ19QYA

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As measured, a Wyzecam V2 only draws 340 mA or so (with the IR illuminators off).

The USB power supply shipped with a Wyzecam V2 is rated to deliver up to 1A. That’s enough to power two cams, one daisy chained off the other.

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