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The next generation of wall chargers

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Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#31

Post by kens »

Nasrudith wrote: post #8

I know that "silicion" isn't just pure silicon given dopings but I can't help but ponder the environmental and toxicological differences between the two. Gallium nitride seems loke it might be more toxic and gives me a sneaking suspicion they will be a "compact floreacent tube" solution that is a flash in the pan decade standard that gets replaced by something far less toxic anyway (LEDs). However I know that I don't…

There's no need to ponder the toxicity of gallium nitride and worry about your "sneaking suspicion" that it's toxic. It's in the "may cause skin irritation" level of toxicity, so really not worth worrying about. https://www.ltschem.com/msds/GaN.pdf

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#32

Post by driverdan »

stefan_ wrote: post #4

Ironically, the best USB-C charger for something like a phone (laptops come with chargers, anyway) I've found is simply the Raspberry Pi 4 USB-C charger - very cheap ($10), small, plenty power (15W), fixed cable and no fucking blue Anker LED that can illuminate your bedroom.

I bought a roll of cheap 5% window tint and put it over all device LEDs. It makes it dim enough to not impact sleep but still visible.

If you don't want to see the LED you can cover it with electrical tape.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#33

Post by _Microft »

dpeck wrote: post #21
toomuchtodo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have an example you'd hold up as the ideal or best case outlet?

The UK plug design is generally regarded as the best of the standard ones https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best... From my experience with some amount of traveling, I would agree that its very nice to use in practice and definitely got a lot of things right.

Did I understand correctly that outlets contain a switch and are off by default and that the grounding pin switches them on when inserting the plug? That's great.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#34

Post by goosehonk »

SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #29

WOW... This is a horribly misleading article and discussion. The silicon of the switching circuit PALES in comparison to the real magic here. The wattage capability and size of these chargers is only possible because of US “power delivery”. These chargers are NOT hitting 30+ watts at 5V traditional USB voltage. Yes, there is another power and ground wire pair in the cable, but iirc they got smaller in diameter. These…

I believe the point was that GaN semiconductors make these chargers more compact, cooler, and lighter than their silicon competitors.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#35

Post by bound008 »

stefan_ wrote: post #4

Ironically, the best USB-C charger for something like a phone (laptops come with chargers, anyway) I've found is simply the Raspberry Pi 4 USB-C charger - very cheap ($10), small, plenty power (15W), fixed cable and no fucking blue Anker LED that can illuminate your bedroom.

I use a dark, but not black, colored electrical tape to kill the brightness of any leds in my bedroom, or that I take with me when I travel. Black will kill the light entirely, but other colors will permit you to see the state of the led underneath.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#36

Post by ksec »

I asked a year ago When could we expect GaN to be more widely available and it seems the answer is still true as of today.

GaN mosfet costs 10x more [1] than a silicon one of similar power rating. And the multiples gets wider at 15x for 1K units.

I doubt we will see Apple include a GaN charger as default for quite some time.

[1]: IPAW60R380CEXKSA1 (silicon) costs $1.26, IGT60R190D1SATMA1 (GaN) costs $13.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#37

Post by throwaway2048 »

_Microft wrote: post #33
dpeck wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK plug design is generally regarded as the best of the standard ones https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best... From my experience with some amount of traveling, I would agree that its very nice to use in practice and definitely got a lot of things right.

Did I understand correctly that outlets contain a switch and are off by default and that the grounding pin switches them on when inserting the plug? That's great.

The grounding pin also makes electrical contact first, and plugs have a built in fuse as well.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#40

Post by JshWright »

driverdan wrote: post #30
tjoff wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For your bedroom you'd really want an old 5W charger. Why turbo charge and put permanent strain on your battery when anything that takes 6+ hours will do.

If it's a good quality charger it shouldn't be feeding the battery enough power to impact its lifetime.

The "charger" in this case is built into the phone, the thing we call a "charger" is really just a power supply for the actual charge controller.
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