A little disappointing.
I had been pretty well consolidated to just lightning cables for everything. It did what I needed, the connector is small, reversible, easy to use, and it fit most electronics for my family of four. I had built up a nice stable of accessories like power banks and charging blocks that fit everything and hadn’t needed to buy anything new in years.
The switch to USB-C came with great fanfare and seemed like a good idea. However it really doesn’t give me any direct benefits and I have to buy all new accessories. Now I’m in a transition mode for a few years where I need usb-c, usb-a, and lightning cables and chargers. Worst of all the market that I kept being told was leaving behind still has more support for usb-a - my laptop has mostly usb-a, even new model motherboards for building my kids gaming computers are mostly usb-a, I don’t see a good selection of usb-c chargers, power banks are still mostly usb-a, keyboards and mice are usb-a, kvms are usb-a, etc
Trying to switch to usb-c has meant more cable types rather than fewer. It has meant buying duplicate chargers and it has meant less convenience where usb-c is not really mainstream yet. Hopefully the market will more fully adopt usb-c quickly but I meant to be a late adopter to this transition and feel almost like an early adopter
It was great!
I could get rid of a lot of “extra” cords. I can just keep one usb c and charge my phone, my mouse, and headphones with one cord. Shoot, I can even charge my controllers now too. I like that they’re becoming like outlets. Like, this is just how you get power to the device(S). Without searching for the “right” cord all the time.
Works great, rarely have issues with the port breaking unlike prior small usb standards, it’s nice how ubiquitous it is so I have way less random cable connectors around.
I was pretty fucking disappointed how flimsy the jacks are.
I’ve had 3 phones and a laptop I had to replace because the USB-C jack started to wiggle and wouldn’t connect anymore.Is it the jack itself that’s wiggling, or the plug won’t stay in the socket and wiggles too much?
If it’s the latter, take a staple and bend it straight, and VERY GENTLY drag it round inside the port, avoiding contacts, scraping out the lint and dust that has almost certainly become impacted at the base of it over time. I do this whenever cables don’t want to stay in anymore and it’s amazing how much of a difference it makes.
I have had one example of the port itself becoming loose, but mostly I’ve run into the lint/dust problem.
Probably better to use a toothpick in that case.
Toothpicks aren’t usually thin enough in my experience, and I’m more worried about the tongue getting bent by the toothpick than I am about the bottom of the port getting scratched by a staple. But I agree a staple isn’t ideal, it’s just the common item I’ve found that works best. I’m sure there are better tools.
I find the plastic floss picks work really well because they are flatter than regular tooth picks. It has to be the type where the back part is a pick as that’s the part that I use.
Not a game changer at all. In fact most of my peripherals still use the older style usb connectors. I’m not planning to run out and buy new everything.
I would like to see appliance chargers switch to USB-C. All these stupid wall warts for electric toothbrushes and shavers are ridiculous.
Personally, I like the iPhone charging port better as there’s less that can go wrong with it, but USB-C is pretty good too.
I like that I don’t have to orient the cable plug-ins just right. I can flip it over and still plug it in just fine. That’s why I don’t like mini USB, micro USB, or USB-A
Yeah Lightning was really nice. I was surprised how much I liked it after switching from Android to iOS. If only it weren’t proprietary and had too few pins to be very useful outside of charging.
I still hated that my phone didn’t use USB-C though, since everything else I own does. Glad the new iPhones do.
Like others, USB-PD is amazing. My monitor has 90W which is plenty for my laptops. Gaming laptop, not so much. The only device I have that isn’t USBC/Thunderbolt is the damn mouse. I rarely ever need a USB A port for anything other than charging. Even my flash drives are all USBC.
I have been able to use 1 charger for almost everything for several years now. Sometimes I have a finicky device that doesn’t like the high wattage PD chargers and will only trickle charge, but work fine with my other smaller charger. The GaN chargers are nice and compact. I break USBC cables a lot less often, but that is because I am a walking disaster most of the time. I would break micro USB cables constantly, or rip the ports to pieces.
One note though on USBC ports on a monitor. Beware using the really really stiff cables on ports that are positioned where the cable would be parallel to the table instead of the port pointing down. That port will definitely wear out or break entirely from the constant downward force and lack of support of the cable in the port. This is especially true if you use a monitor arm and the cable gets moved. Seen this on both Samsung and LG. My Dell points downward. I really like the pro PS5 controllers as it comes with a little cage that holds the USBC cable in place and protects the port from exactly that scenario. These monitors absolutely need something like that, especially with how expensive they are.
So much harder to solder, making repairing my stuff more difficult :(
Also, a USB cable is no longer a USB cable. Now I have to guess what the rated wattage was, if it’s power only/data only/mixed.
All in all, a step back in my opinion.
Thats interesting - how many wires are in the actual sleeve, compared to an older USB?
Oh wow, yeah that must indeed be a pain to solder. Though I guess there’s some redundancy built-in, such that if one wire goes down the cable can still deliver something?
Though I guess there’s some redundancy built-in, such that if one wire goes down the cable can still deliver something?
You guessed wrong! If one is misconnected the whole thing breaks down :) It’s a nightmare for repairability, as the plug is often the first thing to fail
Power only/power and data already existed with Micro USB, so that part didn’t get too much worse.
I think the real game changer here is the USB-PD. I now only bring a single charger for both my laptop and my phone. Also, a lot of different laptops now charge with USB-C, getting rid of the need of different plugs.
Props to the Thinkpad USB-C retrofit hack. Granted they only work with 65w, but it is still great! My Anker Nano GaN charger is only a little bit larger than an ice cube, definitely smaller than most traditional USB charger, yet it packs 65w.
What does GaN stand for in that context?
Galium Nitride. It makes high current DC stuff more efficient (i.e. generates less heat) and requires less circuitry (i.e. smaller devices).
Thank you
Now I need to deal with USB-C to micro USB and USB-A for my old devices. Things will be better eventually, I guess, but it’s just shifted the annoyance around for now.
My phone is slightly easier to plug in though.
It changed my economy game.
Now I have to buy an USB-C to USB-A adaptor to plug USB-C stuff into my already standing devices. Honestly, no idea why didn’t they make it connector-compatible. Wasn’t that the entire point of the “U” in “USB”?
Because USB-A sucks donkey balls and needed to die in a fire.
Wasn’t that the entire point of the “U” in “USB”?
Nah, the point of the “U” in “USB” is so that devices communicate in a standardized way through a standardized bus. The port itself doesn’t need to be universal—after all, USB-C is I believe the first time that the host port and the device port are the same, previously there was always an A for host and B for device, even with mini-USB and micro-USB.
Pretty much no way to do so without losing most USB-C benefits.
They really wanted to put an end to this meme.
But manufacturers wanted a micro usb replacement and this is what we got.
Usbc-pd is an absolute game changer as an off grid person. The fact a 100w charger can act as a dc to dc converter with up to five output voltages, at up to 100 watts is crazy. And that the protocol automatically detects and communicates the proper voltage is very convinent. The problem is that usbc-pd 100w chargers are expensive and you need to know what you are doing if you want to diy power appliances with it.
Its really nice to have a standardized cable that just works and can be plugged in both ways. We really are approaching a Universaal Cable after a quarter century of RnD.
I’m curious as to what exactly you do with it as an off-grid person, and what you mean by DC-to-DC converter.
Im happy to explain pastermil. So first off let’s talk power.
Electrical Power Systems
Most off-grid electrical systems have a few major components. A device that generates electrical energy, a battery that stores excess electrical energy for later, and a power distribution interface which allows for connecting appliances to the batteries in a safe standardized way.
My particular electric system has a 200w solar panel for power generation, two 20ah lifepo4 batteries for capacitance, and the charge controller acts as a very basic interface with two usba slots and a car cigarette port.
AC vs DC Appliances
Now let’s talk about AC and DC appliances. Theres essentially two kinds of electrical power people deal with. The one most people are familiar with is AC power it comes to your home from power plants through power lines and transformer boxes. Its very easy to transmit long distance however its very high voltage so only very power hungry devices like kitchen appliances and washing machines and AC compressors use it directly. It’s why american homes have a seperate 240v circuit for kitchen and basement.
Offgrid electrical systems with batteries tend are DC powered by nature. The difference is technical but the way the power flows through the system is different. Direct current moves in a straight path while alternating current moves back and forth.
Most consumer devices in your home dont actually use wall outlet AC power directly, it uses converted stepped down DC power. Desktop computer power supplies, Laptops, monitors, vaporizers, led lights, DVD players, audio speakers, your phone. everything that can powered by usb and batteries. Everything that has barrel plug inputs and power bricks plugging into it.
If you look closely on the power bricks plugged into the appliance you’ll see that it has an input and output voltage rating. The input tends to be 120vac here in america 240v over the pond, and the output tends to be either 5v, 9v, 12v, 15v or 20v DC usually up to 5 amps.
Device vs Voltage Examples
Laptops and computer monitors tend to be 20v, fast charging smart phones and the Nintendo switch docked are 15v, very bright home LED lights can be bought that are powered at 12v directly, the ps2 could be powered with 9v, and most usb devices charge at standard 5v. Would you like to guess which voltage profiles the USBC-PD protocol is capable of? Its all of them.
Energy Conversion Efficency Losses
Now let’s discuss energy efficiency. Converting from AC to DC eats up some of your power. So does converting from DC to AC. And its not small losses either, each time you convert its about a 15% loss in efficency.
This loss through conversion doesn’t matter when you pay cents on a kilowatt and have unlimited power at the tap. It adds up very quickly when you have a limited power supply.
Let’s say I want to power a laptop on my offgrid DC system, and I only know how to power it with the AC cable that it came with. I would need to
- Convert the DC power of the batteries to AC through an inverter. 15% efficency loss.
- Then convert that power right back down into DC with the power brick plugged in. 15% efficency loss.
- The inverter and power brick are both parasitic draws. They eat a bit of power just sitting there even if nothing is being powered. Lets add 5% total system efficency loss each.
Add these up and you get 30-40% of your power eaten up needlessly double converting the power. Wouldnt it be really nice if we could convert the battery DC voltage directly to the appliance DC voltage without those power hungry inverters and transformers?
What DC-to-DC Converters Are
Thats where dc to dc converters come in. They still introduce efficency loss but way way less only 10% total.
Traditionally you would hope your device had a 3rd party travel adapter for car batteries and use car plugs. If you were SOL you has to wire up boost converters to raise up voltage and add resistors in series to lower it. You ever try to wire and solder your own circuts before? Its a tedious experience. Imagine doing that for each device voltage.
A USBC-pd 100w charger that plugs into a cigarette port or is built into a power bank can convert a batteries 12vDC into 5v, 9v, 12v 15v, and 20v dynamically depending on the device.
Do you know how magical that is? How much trouble that saves when it comes to mcguyvering a DC appliance that only came with AC cable to supply proper power directly? All I need is a 10$ cable to manually select the voltage needed and some barrel plug adapter bits to fit into the appliance.
Hi! You seem knowledgeable about this stuff, so if you can answer a question. I have an older Jackery power station that has a single USB-C PD port. I need more when camping and I have been plugging a AC USB-C charger into one of the AC ports on the power station. From what you wrote that make me think that is not an efficient way due to the conversion from DC to AC to DC. Would I be better off using the DC “Car Charger” port or maybe a USB-C hub of some sort?
Hey there panicnow! I would be happy to help give some input. It is better to avoid firing up the AC inverter whenever possible. If you have a car travel adapter for your devices that plug into the jackeries cigarette plug port that would be better. If you absolutely need more usbc-pd ports for your devices, there is a way to do that given your jackary has one or two of those circular barrel plug outputs that output 12v. Most powersttions should have one or two of them.
If you have one of those barrel plug inputs youre in luck. Go on amazon and buy one of these to turn those jacks into car cigarette plug inputs.
Then get a really nice usbc-pd car charger. I don’t actually have one but I like anker and trust their 100w pd charger would be high quality. You can go cheaper if you only need 65w or lower.
Thanks so much! I was kind of on that line after I read your earlier comment, but thought I would just ask. My jackery doesn’t have barrel plug outputs—just inputs. But it does have a 12V, 10A cigarette plug port. I’ll get an anker car charger like you suggested and use that.
I appreciate that you’re really thorough, both with that explaination as well as the implementation in the first place.
I guess I’ve never give it much thought. I mean, I’m familiar with electricity, but I’m paying dirt cheap for it.
One more question: How do you do your lighting? Most light fixtures I know are using e27 bulbs, which are AC powered. I know the LED panels requires driver circuits between them and the main, theoretically they probably could live off your DC straight-up, but they’re generally a pain to work with.
Thanks. Lighting has been an ongoing puzzle I’m figuring out. I originally went with rechargeable Luci light it was really nice warm bright lighting but expensive and failed within a season. Currently I’m using a cheap 5v plastic led light bulb that plugs into regular usba slot. Its enough to see what you are doing comfortably. But really the average person whos used to house bulbs including me wants the luxury of bright lighting. For now I’ve been firing up the AC inverter to run a nice lamp. However I have been considering making my own 12v light fixture with 12v e26 bulbs that plugs into either car cig plug or usbc-pd.
In this picture is marked all the parts of an LED circuit that convert AC Into DC. It takes up about 40% of the board. Its much easier to power LEDs directly.
Is DC why my 12V water pump doesn’t run but the LED bulbs on the same circuit are fine? The pump is by the creek and I’m thinking it can’t pull enough amps over the length of the run. Working on that today.
One of DCs main issues is transmission distance. Its hard to say for your case without details but its a good possibility. If you have a volt meter and know how to use it check the voltage at the start of the run and compare it to the end of the run and see how much the voltage has dropped. If your trying to push 12v over 20-30ft I would say theres a good chance of it being too little voltage over too far a length. Wire diameter is also a factor if its very small gauge wiring.
It’s nice that my phone charges quickly, but otherwise I don’t notice. It’s just one more cable type I need to search for.
Charges faster, but also doesn’t break all the time!
I’ve actually had the opposite experience with USB-C. It seems to break all the time. I’ve talked about it online though, and it appears that I’m the only person experiencing that. Perhaps I just had a rush of bad luck with cables and devices.
USB-C ports are especially prone to dust/lint buildup that can prevent the plugs from seating properly in the ports. Worth trying to scrape them out if they stop working right. I like to use a staple that I’ve unbent, but it has been pointed out this probably isn’t the safest tool. Just avoid the contacts and only scrape the bottom and sides of the port. It’s amazing how much crap comes out if you’ve been using the device for a while.
I’ve done that using a floss pick, but nothing ever comes out. I think the cables are just crap, or this Pixel Phone has an issue with the port which shorts out all of the cables eventually. I had to exchange my first Pixel phone because the USB port completely stopped working. This one seems like it might have some other issue.
I buy mine on aliexpress … Whete do you get yours 😅?
Amazon
The jungle?
Jk ;-)
It’s been more of a pain in the arse than initially expected.
Most motherboards (for example) only have 2-4 USB-C ports, meaning that I still need to employ A-C and C-C cables for peripherals etc.
My main gripe is that the standard just tries to do too many things without clear delineation/markings:
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Is it a USB 2.0 (480Mbit), 5Gbit, 10Gbit or 20Gbit cable? Can’t really tell from the plug alone.
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More importantly, for charging devices: How the heck do I determine maximum wattage I can run?
For all its faults, at least the blue colour of a USB-3.0 plug (or additional connectors for B/Micro) made it easy to differentiate !
Now I’m eyeing up a USB Cable tester just to validate and catalogue my growing collection! 🤦🏻♂️
USB Cable tester
Great idea, and then:
It’s even more annoying that there are different possible pinouts in the port itself without clear labling. So always use the one cable that came with the peripheral, or you have a chance to fry it
I wonder about this too. Can I plug my laptop’s USB-C charger into my phone? Or is that a big nono
Yes, you can. The charger and the device communicate between one another what they can support, and pick the highest one they both agree on.
E.G. my laptop charger can charge at full speed (100W) for my MacBook, but only at 20W for my iPhone.
That bit is pretty straightforward and transparent to end users (there are a few rare conditions where devices might not agree on the fastest, and have to fall back to a slower one); the issue is more with cables not having sufficient gauge wire, or missing connections that prevent the charger and device from communicating their full functionality.
Should be okay, that USB-PD would detect the correct voltage and current.
Yes.
I charge by Bluetooth headphones ‘pod’ with my Steam Deck charger and it seems to be ok.
The deck charger uses USB PD. It will charge anything that supports the standard as fast as possible (up to its rated 65W) and use normal 5v USB for everything else.
For the power matter, you don’t. The device being charged, the charger, and cable does.
If you mean what is the maximum wattage that will actually be used, that should be the maximum possible between the charger, cable, and device. So look at their specs. Whichever has the lowest maximum, is what the others will match.
USB PD defines a protocol for the device and charger to determine max safe power. If the cable is replacable (not attached to the charger), it must be rated for PD and be able to tell the charger it can handle more than just the usual 5 volts at 2 amps.
USB PD chargers only output the maximum safe amount of power. That’s why I can use my 65W steamdeck charger to charge my phone if I want to. It just outputs normal USB charger power if the device on the other end can’t verify it can handle more.
It’s also why my SteamDeck charger is what I use to fast charge my phone, because it can actually talk to it using the USB PD protocol to request the voltage and amps it needs to fast charge.
To clarify; I have a 100W Ugreen Nexode 4 Port USB Charger that I use to charge my laptop (~60W), Steam Deck (~40W), iPhone (~20W) and AirPods (~5?W).
The problem is if my original product cable has gone walkabout temporarily and I need to use a random one to stand in - there is no clear way of telling if I’m accidentally using a 5W-max cheap cable to try and keep my laptop charged while working.
Obviously there are some context clues depending on cable thickness etc., but with how common cosmetic braiding is becoming a thing - even that’s getting harder to rely on.
Some kind of cable labeling would be nice.
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Fucking awesome, it is. When I travel, I take 1 laptop power cord. Charges my phone, laptop, Switch, and backup battery. (The backup battery’s output ports are USB-A, but it’s got a lil converter cable that stays in the lil bag that the backup battery is stored in.)
It’s the best. So much so that not having usb c, has become a deciding factor if i buy something or not. It also seems a bit of a quality insurance, even if it’s just a little. But electronics with micro or even mini usb is usually just some cheap shit or that old and they are still selling it.
