USB power information

+1

Thanks for the very informative simple to read article HKJ. :+1:

Kudos to thee HKJ!

Regarding all of this power delivery standardizations, all I have to say is…

What a mess! :FACEPALM:

Cheers ^:)

Barkuti, you’ve been raiding my stash :wink: I’ve got twice that easily since I’m in the habit of grabbing all decent-looking wall-warts and USB cables I come across for free. Most are given away but my stash seems to grow faster anyway.

Good info on this subject as we’ve come to expect from HKJ. While it was touched on, something I’d like to add is that like LiIon cells you want to use only good cables. With better products the supplied cables are usually good, but with budget products the supplied cables are sometimes a target for cost-cutting and they may not last long at all.

Among us dashcam hobbyists it has became well known that cheap USB charging cables are one of the most common trouble spots, leading to many different malfunctions. These devices usually need at least a full amp at the camera to work reliably with some needing more. Cheap cables oxidize quickly, conductors break with movement, and connections get dirty which can lower the current flowing into the cam and cause problems. A cheap cable can work fine when new but fail to deliver the needed current a month later even though it looks good and wasn’t abused. The good cables will long outlast the cheap ones so they are a better deal even with their higher initial cost.

Also mentioned was the possible degradation of batteries due to overheating. While the evidence is only empirical, dashcam users universally have problems with LiPo batteries in the hot environments that many are used in. These batteries can go bad in as little as a few weeks in the hottest climates. Good quality batteries last longer but it’s hard to know the good from the bad as those who sell generic replacements rarely list the battery’s build source and it’s not branded on the shrinkwrap like LiIon cells are. So I’d change HKJ’s “conjecture” to a near-certainty regarding battery damage through overheating.

Phil

Thanks. Very useful. I’ve been picking up bits and pieces as I’ve been going. You’ve filled in a lot of the many gaps I had left.

I need to get a little further along on my understanding of QC2. I’ve been waiting on some QC power sources so I can start experimenting.

I will say, I think ADB deserves a mention in the history of peripheral buses, especially since it was a universal (for Apple) serial bus, and Apple ditched it and went all-in on USB before most PC makers really committed.

WOW - great source of info!

thanks HKJ

You are probably right, it is just that I always have used a PC and not really looked at Apple computers.

Thanks for sharing!

Very nice compilation of info. I like the history refresher having lived through it from the beginning.

What do you use to negotiate quickcharge voltage levels for testing?

My own box, a Arduino nano with a few resistors. I needed something that do not use power from the usb power and allows me to connect my load in a four terminal hookup.

Thanks. That’s what I’m planning on doing since I haven’t found anything that someone else has already designed/tested for incorporation into otherwise dumb electronic devices.

Great job. Thanks for sharing.

That was educational. Thank you for the time to share that.

I’m using Samsung smartphone and the charger came with it is the Adaptive Fast Charging type,

while using Blitzwolf QC2.0 wall adapter or QC2.0 powerbank, it seems unable to do fast charging, what am I missing and what should I do to enable fast charging?

As I wrote above it looks like that protocol uses digital communication on the D- pin, this is not the same as QC, but some Samsung phones also support QC. If your phone will not do any fast charging it looks like it do not support QC.

@HKJ have you ever tested any XIAOMI power adapter? QC2?

The only stuff I have tested from XIAOMI is a AA/AAA charger/power bank and a power strip.

Would be great if you could test this next time: Xiaomi QC 3

Tad off-topic little question for you fellow electronic experts…

I have an ooold (30+ years at this point) electronic parts toolbox, with, among other stuff, a nice bunch of various brands electrolitic capacitors (Anodia, Bianchi, Trobo, …). I was wondering if it is worth giving that stuff a try (LoL!), because there are plenty of 25+V rated units. Oh! Well, I also have an old computer motherboard with a nice pack of 10-16V units which I could settle 2S2P and they're much likely to be in operative condition. O:)

Cheers ^:)