USB-C Fail

It turns out no matter how great you design a standard, there will be people finding ways around it. Flooding the market with crappy useless products which violate the rules while claiming (or implying) to be conformant.

USB-C, which is a loose term for the connector and the numerous standards behind it (USB3.x multi-gigabit per second data transfers, alternate connector modes, and. last but not least, Power Delivery (USB-PD) enabling up to 240W of power (5A at 48V) over a USB cable, is teh prime example here. It is ingeniously designed, being ultra simple for the basic, backwards compatible features, while at the same time enabling a great variety of advanced features.

One of the basic backwards-compatible features of USB-C is the 5V charging function. Something that has been available for previous USB generations since early 2000's. To make it work while at the same time enabling the other new use cases, USB-C makes one assumption: a power source (a charger) does NOT output any power until it is properly "triggered" by the device being charged. This prevents, for example, a damage coming from accidentally connecting simple USB-C audio earbuds to a USB-C charger. Or even shorting the USB power lines.

The "triggering" mechanism is super simple - it requires two 5.1kΩ resistors pulling the CC lines to GND. It couldn't be simpler. And the cost of these resistors is close to zero. Yet there are still tons of products which do not include them. The outcome? These products will only work with legacy USB-A - to - USB-C cables. Because USB-A chargers always output 5V. But at any point when you attempt to power the product with a newer USB-C charger (and a USB-C - to - USB-C cable), it will not charge.

There are of course more advanced USB-PD options enabled by signaling which is a bit more advanced than the two resistors. With a simple "triggering" chip you can request any supported voltage - 9V, 12V, 15V, and so on. A complete set (a USB-C socket combined with the chip and an enclosure) still costs under 50 cents in single quantities.  

Just recently I was trying to retrofit a small travel 12V fridge with a properly configured USB-C socket, so that it could be powered with a standard phone USB-C adapter and cable. And there are hundreds or even thousands ready-made USB-C retrofit sockets with two power wires (positive/negative) coming out (the top item on the image) and NONE has the 5.1kΩ resistors built-in, not to mention a configurable triggering chip (the bottom item). So they are all completely useless, yet are manufactured, advertised, shipped only to disappoint the users and become an instant electronic waste. It is beyond by comprehension why the manufacturers are still making them.

But the problem is broader. Surprisingly there are a number of popular consumer electronic products which also skimp on the zero-cost 5.1kΩ resistors. My own recent example is the Insta 360 Go 2 camera (a very nice, cleverly designed piece of equipment). A $300 device which has a USB-C charging port which does not work with a USB-C charger and cable - requires a legacy USB-A - to - USB-C cable.

Is it just ignorance? Or laziness? Or stupid cost cutting to the bone? Or all the above?