One day, children will ask why we don’t make the plugs different shapes so you know if you’re using a 60 watt cable or a 240 watt cable or something in between.
(I do not know anything about electricity so I’m certain there’s a better way to explain this but it’s bananas I have USB cables that look identical but my Steam Deck will die while plugged in if I grab the wrong one)
The 90’s were even more lead-addled than that. You remember these things:
Barrel jacks and plugs. Typically used for DC power, and that’s all I can reliably say. The socket had an inner pin and and outer ring that engaged with the inner and outer surfaces of the plug. Which was positive and which was negative? BOTH! A given power brick or device could be wired either way, which is why most of them had one of these diagrams printed on them somewhere:
There was no attempt at standardizing sizes or lengths for different polarities or voltages. It was entirely possible you could own a 12V center positive power brick that would plug straight into a 6V center negative device. If you were lucky, the device had reverse current protection, maybe a self-resetting fuse. Some didn’t. Or, somehow worse, you’d find a brick with the right voltage and polarity that wouldn’t physically fit.
So the current state of USB-C charging is considerably less lead-brained than what I grew up with.
I’ve got two devices (An auto-darkening welding hood, and a LED desk lamp) with USB-C ports that will simply not charge if you plug them into a USB-C charger. You cannot use a USB-C charger to charge these USB-C devices.
You must use a USB-A charger with a USB-A-to-USB-C cable to charge these devices.
The way USB-C is supposed to work is the charger, device, and the cable itself have smarts in them, and they all negotiate taking into account the kind of power the device accepts, the kind of power the charger can provide, and the kind of power the cable can deliver to properly charge the device.
More than likely those devices you have don’t have any smarts in them and just want 5V with 500mA or perhaps 1A delivered to its USB-C shaped plug. Since it’s dumb port, the USB-C chargers can’t talk to it, and therefore they refuse to provide power. However, most USB-A chargers are just dumb power supplies and will happily provide the 5V 1A (or 500mA) the device wants. Technically a USB-A device shouldn’t draw more than 100mA of power without getting an OK from the port it’s plugged into, but that’s been mostly ignored for years now.
You can charge them with a USB-C charger, but only with a cable that sets the voltage for the device. The fact that the USB-C port is used without selecting the charging voltage is beyond infuriating to me.
The barrel pin system could have been great if it was standardized. Only one valid polarity with barrel size being keyed to voltage while pin size was keyed to amperage, for example. A plug would only fit if it was the correct specs, and would always fit if it was the correct specs. Unfortunately, nobody ever had this idea while they were popular and it’s much too late now.
One day, children will ask why we don’t make the plugs different shapes so you know if you’re using a 60 watt cable or a 240 watt cable or something in between.
(I do not know anything about electricity so I’m certain there’s a better way to explain this but it’s bananas I have USB cables that look identical but my Steam Deck will die while plugged in if I grab the wrong one)
The 90’s were even more lead-addled than that. You remember these things:
Barrel jacks and plugs. Typically used for DC power, and that’s all I can reliably say. The socket had an inner pin and and outer ring that engaged with the inner and outer surfaces of the plug. Which was positive and which was negative? BOTH! A given power brick or device could be wired either way, which is why most of them had one of these diagrams printed on them somewhere:
There was no attempt at standardizing sizes or lengths for different polarities or voltages. It was entirely possible you could own a 12V center positive power brick that would plug straight into a 6V center negative device. If you were lucky, the device had reverse current protection, maybe a self-resetting fuse. Some didn’t. Or, somehow worse, you’d find a brick with the right voltage and polarity that wouldn’t physically fit.
So the current state of USB-C charging is considerably less lead-brained than what I grew up with.
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I’ve got two devices (An auto-darkening welding hood, and a LED desk lamp) with USB-C ports that will simply not charge if you plug them into a USB-C charger. You cannot use a USB-C charger to charge these USB-C devices.
You must use a USB-A charger with a USB-A-to-USB-C cable to charge these devices.
The way USB-C is supposed to work is the charger, device, and the cable itself have smarts in them, and they all negotiate taking into account the kind of power the device accepts, the kind of power the charger can provide, and the kind of power the cable can deliver to properly charge the device.
More than likely those devices you have don’t have any smarts in them and just want 5V with 500mA or perhaps 1A delivered to its USB-C shaped plug. Since it’s dumb port, the USB-C chargers can’t talk to it, and therefore they refuse to provide power. However, most USB-A chargers are just dumb power supplies and will happily provide the 5V 1A (or 500mA) the device wants. Technically a USB-A device shouldn’t draw more than 100mA of power without getting an OK from the port it’s plugged into, but that’s been mostly ignored for years now.
You can charge them with a USB-C charger, but only with a cable that sets the voltage for the device. The fact that the USB-C port is used without selecting the charging voltage is beyond infuriating to me.
Let us join together in irritation.
The barrel pin system could have been great if it was standardized. Only one valid polarity with barrel size being keyed to voltage while pin size was keyed to amperage, for example. A plug would only fit if it was the correct specs, and would always fit if it was the correct specs. Unfortunately, nobody ever had this idea while they were popular and it’s much too late now.
That’s because your supposed to use usb 3.2-1v3.1.2-hyperfast and not USB 3.2-1v3.1.2-superfast.
a. If no speed, assume usb2
b. If no power, assume 10W (5V2A)