LasseBob wrote

Can I run tapo C200 on 5 volt, in other words can I use a powerbank as power source?

@LasseBob - I believe the C200 runs on a 9V power supply so if your power bank only has 5V USB outputs then I expect it will probably not be possible.

Some power banks do have 9V outputs and in that case if you had the correct polarity cable and connector then it may work.

Otherwise you would need something like a USB to barrel connector voltage step up converter device.

But I expect that tp-link will not guarantee correct or safe operation with anything other than the manufacturer-supplied power supply.

@SMARTER Thanks Smarter! I now that the spec. says 9 volt. I was keen to hear if someone have check the "inside" to see if the actual range is something like 5-12? I have tried to run it on a Iphone charger that gives 5 volt and the unit is starting up fine, but I may limit the lifetime.

LasseBob wrote

@SMARTER Thanks Smarter! I now that the spec. says 9 volt. I was keen to hear if someone have check the "inside" to see if the actual range is something like 5-12? I have tried to run it on a Iphone charger that gives 5 volt and the unit is starting up fine, but I may limit the lifetime.

@LasseBob - interesting! I would not have expected it to work on 5V as that is such a difference from the PSU 9V output, but evidently it does. As to whether it stresses the internals, hard to be sure without a schematic for the input power conversion stage but you may be getting close to the limit of operation...

I am speculating here but also seems possible that instead of hard failure you could  start to experience other issues such as WiFi or memory card read/write errors when the power is reduced below supply voltage deisgn limits (whatever they may be). Also device performance at the lower voltage limits may be affected by the quality of the power supply output - some switch mode supplies are very noisy, electrically speaking.

But they may well have designed the camera to run with a wide range of voltages in case anyone wants to run a long power extender cable - voltage drop on a long cable means 9V at the power supply connector will become less volts at the camera power input - ohms law means voltage drop is proportional to the cable ohms and the current drawn by the camera. But your effective simulation of a 4V of cable drop is a lot and I am surprised/impressed it works at all at 5V!

@SMARTER 

I was also surprised it booted up on 5 volt, was running fine for at least 1 hour then I unplugged it.

Maybe everything runs on 5 and 3.3 inside and the voltage regulator is happy with 5 volt!?

Or the iPhone charger which I haven’t measure is not 5 volt even though the spec. says so!?

I will plug in a powerbank and try, worst case I will kill the camera and I need to buy a new one.

Trial and error, they best way to learn things!

LasseBob wrote

@SMARTER 

I was also surprised it booted up on 5 volt, was running fine for at least 1 hour then I unplugged it.

Maybe everything runs on 5 and 3.3 inside and the voltage regulator is happy with 5 volt!?

Or the iPhone charger which I haven’t measure is not 5 volt even though the spec. says so!?

I will plug in a powerbank and try, worst case I will kill the camera and I need to buy a new one.

Trial and error, they best way to learn things!

@LasseBob - I would be tempted to do the same. You are probably correct that there will likely be a 3.3v rail inside the camera... some types of voltage regulator would be perfectly happy regulating 5v down to 3.3v and may actually be working less hard than if doing 9V regulation.

Please do report back when you have run it for a while, be interesting to hear how you get on. I don't have the same model camera but had been contemplating trying a TC60 on a power bank to check for WiFi range before I realised the PSU was not 5V and didn't think to try it on a 5V supply before now.

@LasseBob If you find a suitable voltage and amperage, then you can use this equipment.