this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Yup. Usually the device being charged can scale down the power throughput so it's not getting 60W+ if it's not able to handle it.

[–] ladicius 31 points 1 year ago

That's the core of charging management: The charged device controls the process, not the charger.

Anything else won't work if you think about it.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

In this thread: people who don't understand what power is.

Power isn't something that is "pushed" into a device by a charger. Power is the rate at which a device uses energy. Power is "consumed" by the device, and the wattage rating on the charger is a simply how much it can supply, which is determined by how much current it can handle at its output voltage. A device only draws the power it needs to operate, and this may go up or down depending on what it's doing, e.g. whether your screen is on or off.

As long as the voltage is correct, you could hook your phone up to a 1000W power supply and it will be absolutely fine. This is why everything's OK when you plug devices into your gaming PC with a 1000W power supply, or why you can swap out a power-hungry video card for a low-power one, and the power supply won't fry your PC. All that extra power capability simply goes unused if it isn't called for.

The "pushing force" that is scaled up or down is voltage. USB chargers advertise their capabilities, or a power delivery protocol is used to negotiate voltages, so the device can choose to draw more current and thus power from the charger, as its sees fit. (If the device tries to draw too much, a poorly-designed charger may fail, and in turn this could expose the device to inappropriate voltages and currents being passed on, damaging both devices. Well designed chargers have protections to prevent this, even in the event of failure. Cheap crappy chargers often don't.)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Great write up! Definitely filled in the info I only know a little about.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Not usually, but all the time. It’s part of the USB standard to negotiate the power that the device and even the cable can handle.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Usually

Is there some exception to USB-C im not aware of? Am i putting myself in danger using high power chargers to charge low power devices?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, they do a handshake through the USB connection and negotiate the best charging wattage.

[–] DacoTaco 16 points 1 year ago

And to add : if the handshake fails, or no common voltage can be decided, it will stay at 5v

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

If you use really cheap 3rd party chargers there is a possibility.

[–] dipshit 19 points 1 year ago

i charge most things with usb-c. for everything else, there’s mastercard.

[–] DacoTaco 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I am a usb-pd believer. My phone, laptop, soldering iron, ... All usb type-c with usb-pd capability, all running from my laptop charger that can do 5,12,19 and 20v

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm waiting for a 138kV three phase USB-C for EV instant charging.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I’m waiting for the MagSafe variant myself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Miniware TS80?

I'm with you, usb c all the things. Can you recommend a good pd powerbank?

[–] akazoo 5 points 1 year ago

I've got one of these and it works pretty well. I'm sure there are better ones out there and a second USB c port would be nice, but it's affordable. https://a.co/d/9JzWOi4

[–] DacoTaco 2 points 1 year ago

Pine64's pinecil v2 actually. But it uses the same tip as miniware's soldering irons.

Cant help with powerbank though haha

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

I have a 65W usb c charger that I use for basically everything

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Im charging everything with my Steam Deck's charger. Having to take care of only one charger makes life a lot easier

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

I charge my headphones with a laptop charger

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Yes, but my phone negotiates a slower speed with the laptop charger than its own.

I’ve charged numerous devices with the Nintendo Switch charger too.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Yep, best thing ever, I bought a GaN charger, 100W 3 USB-C and 1 USB-A. It's small and light. I carry it around everywhere. I even bring it at my client's office instead of the power brick they gave me since it's so small.

Just make sure you have plenty of wattage. For instance, my job laptop uses a 65W adapter. If I want to charge this at the same time as my phone, I would need at least 90W to cover everything (65+25). So I have more power than necessary In order to be able to charge everything at once. Also, make sure to. Heck the adapter on how it distributes power trough the ports. My configuration could not be supported on a 3 port if for example they decided to split the power 55+45. But mine is 65+35 with 2 ports so I'm fine.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Having my mouse (Logitech mx something) currently on my 135W Lenovo usbC laptop charger with no problems. I try to charge everything with type C usb-pd.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

my laptop charger is round and my phone is usb-c

my laptop has usb-c but it doesn't seem to charge it

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I have a dell laptop. Barrel charging port, but the USB-C port will charge it too... Just very slowly with a 33W phone charger instead of the 130W laptop charger.

[–] The_Eminent_Bon 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] The_Eminent_Bon 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah… I thought it was some kind of hamster

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] The_Eminent_Bon 4 points 1 year ago

Do you charge your hamster with a usb c cable?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yes. Also vice-versa.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] AA5B 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would … after I guy this year’s iPhone … and a new laptop.

Seriously, though, why not? I did get my kid one of the Anker gallium arsenide chargers so he could do exactly that

But I’ll also go the other way - who charges their phone on the lowest power charger? I have a dual charger with total 2.1a, and it fully charges both my phone and watch overnight

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean, for overnight charging you could probably go as low as 0.5A. Slow charging is better for your battery in the long run, afaik.

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[–] Anti_Weeb_Penguin 3 points 1 year ago

My laptop doesn't even have an usb type c charger

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I've got wireless charging pads/stations/car holder everywhere. Super convenient to just drop your phone down and keep it charged.

My phone's usb C port got so loose after ~2.5 years that cables would just fall out, so I fully committed to QI charging to preserve whatever is left of that port for things like data transfer.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My laptop charger won't charge the phone at anything other than slow speed. So I tend to still use the phone charger.

But the phone charger is used to charge pretty much everything. I could use it to charge the laptop but the cable's too short to be practical.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes! It's worthwhile to get a gallium arsenic USB c charger, make sure it's compatible with all your devices, IE it can negotiate the highest power delivery for your device.

Any USB charger will power any USB device, the question is just how fast. So it's good to verify your devices are charging at their optimal settings before going on a trip with a single charger.

I've had good luck with the anker chargers to charge both laptops cell phones and other devices at maximum rate. Just be aware with multi-device chargers, they're going to have to renegotiate every time a device gets plugged in, so you might get some weird cycling when you've got a bunch of devices charging it once especially if they're older devices that don't negotiate nicely

If you're lucky enough to have a USB power meter, use that to verify your devices are pulling correctly. They cost like $2 to $5 from Ali, or $30 from Amazon.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

i use my steamdeck charger for the phone and tablet yeah

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yep. I charge pretty much everything with my laptop charger.

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