The good news is that Google researcher Benson Leung has some help in his quest to rid the world of bad USB Type-C cords, the bad news is that he still needs it. Another intrepid investigator who goes by the moniker Nathan K discovered that the Anker PowerLine USB-C cable model A8185011 is a danger to your electronics. The labelling states 5A, 100W and yet testing shows 3A, 60W which would not be so bad except that the wire allows Rp pulldown to be doubled. This leads to a very hot charger as 5V Vconn voltages end up where they really should not be. Anker has recalled these cords so you should not see them for sale anymore but you might want to double check any you currently own.
Drop by The Register for info and a link to Nathan's Google+ post, which includes the testing data.
"Peripherals builder Anker has issued a recall after researchers found that one of its USB-C cables could potentially cause serious damage to connected hardware."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Acer Swift 7 arrives as first Kaby Lake notebook @ The Inquirer
- Holy friggin' Dell! $67bn EMC mega-gobble to complete on Sept 7 @ The Register
- Microsoft releases firmware fix for faulty Surface Pro 3 batteries @ The Register
- OneLogin breached, hacker finds cleartext credential notepads @ The Register
- Fedora 25 Alpha Linux Distro Now Available @ Slashdot
- Forcing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update @ Hardware Secrets
- NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV @ Missing Remote
Is this just an issue with
Is this just an issue with incorrect gauge wires being used?
No, it’s with the cable
No, it’s with the cable trying to ‘cheat’ devices in order to enable faster charging improperly (spoofing handshaking).
Ugg, more thought needed to
Ugg, more thought needed to be put into this whole standard. Consumers and the industry used to being able to use and or abuse any $4 Chinese gas station cord with no danger to their gear. Now you have them trying to carry 100+ watts to $1000+ devices.
I imagine the device manufacturers must love it though. Being able to shift tons of warranty blame to third parties and deny claims must have them doing their best Mr Burns impressions.