Comment on USB-PD is a de-facto low-power DC voltage standard, with USB-C being the universal plug. Hurray!

• aard@kyu.de ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Older notebooks, battery chargers, PMR radios, pretty much everything taking less than 100W DC current.

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  • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I converted my small guitar pedalboard to USB-C. I have a multi port charger and a handful of USB-C to barrel plug adapters. Super simple.

    My worry was that it wouldn’t be isolated like some of the nicer power delivery systems, but since it was my small one I didn’t really care. They’re actually getting less interference than they were with my cheap pedalboard power supply.

    In addition, I have one pedal that gives me more headroom at 18v than it does at the 9v it’s specced for. I haven’t taken out a multimeter but it’s definitely got more headroom now than it did under the old power supply.

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  • M500@lemmy.ml ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Oh yeah! I’m dumb! I totally get it. Anytime I buy tech I make sure it’s usb-c if it’s not, then I’m not buying it.

    The only non-usbc device left is my wife’s iPhone 13 and a Bluetooth speaker we hardly use.

    Have you ever used one of those 9-in-1 usb-c hubs? They blow my mind, how can so much io be handled by that one connection?

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    • frezik@midwest.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I use one of those hubs and it’s enough to charge my laptop.

      Simple answer is that higher voltage is easier to deal with than higher current. USB originally ran it 5V, which would take 12A of current to provide 60W. The wire would be 14AWG, which is 1.63mm thick. Conversely, if you increase the voltage to 20V, you now only need 3A, and the wire can be much thinner/cheaper.

      The wire doesn’t care about voltage for the most part. The insulation around it needs to be thick enough to keep it from shorting to other wires and stuff around it, but it doesn’t take much insulation to be rated for 300V.

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