50V at 5A through a tiny USB-C connector. That's pushing a lot of power through dinky wires.
Next, people will want to be able to jump-start a car via USB-C.
USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
321–330 of 498 posts
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#3225A, 50V Good luck. USB port just isn't physically ready for this. This is going to end with some spectacular fireworks once you factor in cheap Chinese engineering for cables, ports and chargers.
You know, as I think about this, maybe it's ok to have the standard overreach the physically feasible. There's a spec if you want to use a fat cable...most products will never reach that spec. Is that so bad?
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if the the committee have looked at integrating colour or some other indicator into the standard so that cable/port capabilities are clear visually. Though ofc the design challenge is for users to feel comfortable that putting red into blue won't break anything, it just might not give the expected features.
Or! We could go one step further, and change the connector to make sure that people use them correctly. Wouldn't that be clever!?
Better: add a color band to the connector. One line for low power, two for medium, three for high.
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#324The main issue i have is manufactures of equipment to be charged, relying on the charger to limit the current being delivered.
This is appalling design, and is a receipe for disaster.
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the actual spec[1]: > All EPR cables shall be Electronically Marked and include EPR-specific information in the eMarker as defined by the USB PD specification. As defined in the USB PD specification, EPR cables are marked as 50 V and 5 A capable. All EPR cables shall be visibly identified with EPR cable identification icons as defined by the USB-IF. This is required so that end users will be able to confirm visu…
Can confirm, sucks if you're blind.
Some kind of Braille markings, or similar, really should be a standard part of the spec.
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not using the proper cable could lead also to fires, for example. We are talking about a significant amount of current. If you don't use a cable rated for that current, the cable or the connector will overheat, and possibly start a fire. And it's not a remote possibility. It happened to me with a fast charging phone power supply and the phone, and the cable was the one provided by the manufacturer! The type-C connect…
It should be impossible for any set of non-damaged, non-defective, spec-compliant set of USB-C cables and peripherals to cause fires. The specifications are very carefully designed to prevent any combination of cables and devices from causing damage.
It should be impossible for any set of non-damaged, non-defective, spec-compliant set of USB-C cables and peripherals to cause fires.
Then there's the crap offered for sale on Alibaba which somebody will resell on Amazon and which will show up on a checkout rack at the gas station. USB-C has very tight tolerances and unusual material requirements. Dirt or water can create a conductive path all too easily with USB-C pin spacing.
"Decreasing the risk of fire in USB-C connectors" is worth watching.[1] It's an ad for a plastic material, but covers the problems.
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
It actually is sort of nice, because "works" isn't binary. It's nice to be able to charge a laptop with what you have, even if it doesn't charge quite as fast. You can transfer data over a cable at lower speeds even if it doesn't run at top speed. Using the "right" cable is performance optimization. This isn't like the old days when plugging things in the wrong way might damage your machine.
Explaining to my aunt or uncle or grandparents that, no, the cable and charger they bought isn't the right one for their phone/laptop/whatever even though it fits isn't ideal. Sure, it might just charge slowly (cue family tech support call), but it could also just show "not charging" on OS X for example, which is just confusing for most people. It's a real problem, even if tech savvy people are fine with lower charge…
I spend years explaining to my family that its not a catastrophe if they can't find their phone charger, it's micro USB, see, just take this one from the drawer, it doesn't matter if it says Samsung or Sony, if it fits it will work.
They were right being mistrusting apparently.
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#328Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Voltage can't go up arbitrarily, but voltage can safely be increased to ~48V or so in most applications. After 48V, humans start to get shocked / hurt, so that's probably the reasonable limit. Car batteries in ICE cars are nominally 12v. Grab both terminals and tell me it doesn't hurt.
It just tingles a bit if anything.
It doesn’t tingle.
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#329I genuinely don’t understand how I’ve managed to be so lucky. That is, I absolutely do not disbelieve the many tales of woe I hear on HN (like the many in this thread) - but I’ve literally never put any thought into what cable I plug in to what device, and had no trouble that I can recall. It really had lived up to its hype for me so far. My USB-C devices are: a wireless charger, two MacBooks (one intel, one m1), a P…
"What am I doing right?"
Maybe not buying the cheapest cables available on the bottom of the Amazon barrel.
But I can't know that. Maybe you are and your place will burn down next week. Who knows?
Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops
#330Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah the problem is that there's nothing to stop product designers from specifying the connectors even though the device doesn't logically support the implied standards. Some people here talked about the Switch; but it's a general problem. For example: I have an external USB drive that has a Type A USB 3 host socket on the back of it (???). It came with a cable with a Type A USB 3 plug on one end and a USB C plug on…
But what does universal shape of connector has to do with? Power negotiation applies to USB-A just as it does with USB-C... (I think)
> Power negotiation applies to USB-A
Nope it doesn't.