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Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – 180W Power Adapter

frame.work

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Re: Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – 180W Power Adapter

#11

Virtually all of the electrical energy put into a computer is turned into heat, right? Some of it comes out as visible light from the screen and some tiny portion of it is.. converted into information I guess? But generally a 180W computer is putting out very nearly 180W of thermal energy, as I understand it. My point is that laptops with 90W adapters can get too hot to comfortably touch, I think at 180W you're well…

You can equip this thing with 4 Thunderbolt ports. Each such port is required to provide 15W to connected accessories, and they have to plan for the worst-case current, which inclusive of the greediest CPU and GPU you can configure this diving board with adds up to a huge (worst-case) power draw.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – 180W Power Adapter

#12
> Beyond reducing environmental impact through efficiency and recycled materials, we’ve enabled longevity by making both the 2m USB-C and 1m AC cables removable, letting you swap a cable if your cat chews through it.

It baffled me when I first actually examined a laptop that used USB-C natively to discover that its power adapter didn’t use a removable USB-C cable. I’d just assumed implicitly that they would, because obviously you would do it that way since the cables are so frail and always fail long before the brick, and lots of people would like to be able to use a different-length cable.

So far I haven’t had an A–C or C–C cable last for even six months, with not particularly stressful usage. Nor have I had an A–Micro-B cable last much beyond a year in the longest case (normally much less). In all cases, they become unreliable. I’ve tried quite a few different brands by this point, mostly on the cheaper side of things but not all, and have observed no significant difference between cheap and expensive. They all fail.

Does anyone make cables that don’t fall apart ridiculously quickly, failing at the cable/plug junction or within the Micro-B plug?

DC barrel jacks, they fail eventually too, but they’ve at least tended to last two to four years, which is slightly less absurd. My current ASUS laptop’s barrel jack became unreliable after a year and a half in a way novel to me: the metal of the jack has been etched by the latching mechanism in the laptop, to the point that it no longer works if sitting forwards or backwards, only up or down (the less common, and thus less etched, orientations for me), or if you unseat its latching by pull it out a fraction of a millimetre.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – 180W Power Adapter

#14

> Beyond reducing environmental impact through efficiency and recycled materials, we’ve enabled longevity by making both the 2m USB-C and 1m AC cables removable, letting you swap a cable if your cat chews through it. It baffled me when I first actually examined a laptop that used USB-C natively to discover that its power adapter didn’t use a removable USB-C cable. I’d just assumed implicitly that they would, because…

> Does anyone make cables that don’t fall apart ridiculously quickly, failing at the cable/plug junction?

I always hear that Apple cables are prone to falling apart but I’ve had USB-C chargers for my laptop since 2017, carried them around everywhere, didn’t baby them, and they’re mostly fine. They’re kinda yellow and brown now instead of white but that’s the worst of it. Genuinely not sure if I’m doing something different or if I’ve been lucky or what.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – 180W Power Adapter

#15

> Beyond reducing environmental impact through efficiency and recycled materials, we’ve enabled longevity by making both the 2m USB-C and 1m AC cables removable, letting you swap a cable if your cat chews through it. It baffled me when I first actually examined a laptop that used USB-C natively to discover that its power adapter didn’t use a removable USB-C cable. I’d just assumed implicitly that they would, because…

I have several Anker 100 watt USB C cables scattered throughout my house and they've all lasted a over a year now with no signs of any issues.

Apple's cables work fine too but they of course eventually get worn down at the ends and eventually need to be replaced. I also tried Aukey, but their cables stopped working for me after a month or two. I had them replaced under warranty twice and all three times it stopped working within a month or two.

So at least for cables I use with higher wattage adapters I exclusively use Anker & Apple USB-C cables now.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – 180W Power Adapter

#17

> Beyond reducing environmental impact through efficiency and recycled materials, we’ve enabled longevity by making both the 2m USB-C and 1m AC cables removable, letting you swap a cable if your cat chews through it. It baffled me when I first actually examined a laptop that used USB-C natively to discover that its power adapter didn’t use a removable USB-C cable. I’d just assumed implicitly that they would, because…

I rarely have cables fail, and don't really understand how others have this problem, beyond the kneejerk thought of user error.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – 180W Power Adapter

#19

> Beyond reducing environmental impact through efficiency and recycled materials, we’ve enabled longevity by making both the 2m USB-C and 1m AC cables removable, letting you swap a cable if your cat chews through it. It baffled me when I first actually examined a laptop that used USB-C natively to discover that its power adapter didn’t use a removable USB-C cable. I’d just assumed implicitly that they would, because…

> with not particularly stressful usage

You are doing something to your cables. Even my cheapest of cheap micro b cables have lasted 6ish years. I don't think I've ever had a premium cable fail on me.

Are you overly bending them or coiling them too tightly?

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – 180W Power Adapter

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My point is that laptops with 90W adapters can get too hot to comfortably touch, I think at 180W you're well past the point where actually using it on your lap is advisable. You're mixing up thermal energy and temperature. Consider that you can easily burn yourself on a 60W soldering iron, but it'd be quite hard to do so on a 1500W oil-filled space heater.

You could keep temperature down with fans, but my 90W thinkpad has fans so strong it sounds (and feels) like a hair drier and still runs very hot. I'm having a hard time imagining a 180W laptop that isn't hotter than hell.

You’re missing another variable here. In your case it may just be the thermal interface material (TIM) isn’t doing a good job of transferring the heat from the processor onto the heat sinks that the fan blows over.

I’ve had temperature drops of over 15 degrees c by opting for Liquid Metal, everything else being same.

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