Technology @lemmy.world firstHexodrome @lemmy.blahaj.zone 1w ago

Surprisingly enough, shady USB-C multiport adapters can be dangerous

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/41325747

geteilt von: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/41324008

I have one of those shown and never knew that they can make my devices go boom...

Any other things that may cause a surprise bonfire in my cable drawer?

USB-C hardware @sh.itjust.works 1friend @lemmy.dbzer0.com 1w ago

Surprisingly enough, shady USB-C multiport adapters can be dangerous

12 comments

I have one of those splitters, and now I'm afraid to use them. Any recommendations for alternatives?
- Just use decent quality USB C to C cables and power adapters. Don't use splitters or weird adapters that go against the USB C spec.
- A regular USB-C hub would be an idea, but may not work with regular chargers..
  
  Thanks!
  
  I don't see why a hub shouldn't be able to supply power... it will disable PD modes and limit everything to 5V though
- Just breathe deeply when the smoke starts.
  
  Thanks, but I would rather get my cancer from a trusted source
- A lot of junk in the Usb-c world.
  
  One of my kids tried to charge their Kindle Fire with a 8-inch cable that came with some cheap AliExpress gizmo. The cable glowed and then melted. Fun times, since they left it on the couch.
- USB hubs.
  
  Plain old splitters will almost certainly damage the port, and if this is with a machine where USB-C is part of the motherboard, it could cause even more damage and be really expensive to repair.
  
  The power-only ones are not too pricey. But if you also need high speed data transfer (like drives) those cost a bit more. Be careful that even the ones that claim data exchange may not support drive speeds. It took me three tries to finally find one that worked.
- Just make sure to use it on 5V-only chargers. You can glue it to one of them.
Tl;dw: if one device uses Power Delivery, the other gets that too.

12 comments