Mains power board with USB-C/PD

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Mains power board with USB-C/PD

sudo

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#303968 24-Mar-2023 12:30

Looking for a 240V power board (3 sockets is enough) with a USB-C + Power Delivery/PD (and typical USB-A ports) for travelling.

Can anyone recommend a particular model?

It's so a legacy laptop (and other appliances) charge at 240V and tablet can charge with the USB-C. I have an international transformer style travel adapter, so NZ 3-pin plug is all I need.

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#3054147 24-Mar-2023 14:14

Never seen one with USB PD. Not saying they don't exist, but might be tricky to track down. A standard power board with a standard USB AC adapter might be the bst option, if not quite as compact.

richms

28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3054170 24-Mar-2023 15:29

I got one with PD but it is useless PD, so low power that its not worth being called PD, and if I plug in my USB C charged clippers or bag sealer or blender with a USB C cable, it doesn't turn on because they left out the resistors from the device.

USB C PD doesnt mean that it has enough power to be worth putting a USB C outlet on something.

Edit:

also, if you're going on a cruise, dont take a powerstrip as your charger because they take them off you.

Richard rich.ms

sudo

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3054229 24-Mar-2023 18:31

wratterus:

Never seen one with USB PD. Not saying they don't exist, but might be tricky to track down. A standard power board with a standard USB AC adapter might be the bst option, if not quite as compact.

Got a Xiaomi one ... it's really handy to take on holidays as it has 3 power ports and 3 USB ports (mostly enough for the family)

was at a conference last month and talked to a guy who had one with USB-C. Didn't write down the model number, but it charged his surface type thing fine (I do remember it was PD 3.0)

Found one online locally, but it is a bit bulky

sudo

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3054230 24-Mar-2023 18:32

richms:

I got one with PD but it is useless PD, so low power that its not worth being called PD, and if I plug in my USB C charged clippers or bag sealer or blender with a USB C cable, it doesn't turn on because they left out the resistors from the device.

USB C PD doesnt mean that it has enough power to be worth putting a USB C outlet on something.

Edit:

also, if you're going on a cruise, dont take a powerstrip as your charger because they take them off you.

What model you got? (so I can discount it)

richms

28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3054236 24-Mar-2023 19:17

sudo:

What model you got? (so I can discount it)

Jackson thing from bunnings. Has one mains socket and 4 USBs - 2 type A and 2 type C ones. I assumed it was just going to be permanent 5v on the USB C but no, it has to negotiate to flea-power

Edit:

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/jackson-usb-c-portable-powerboard-single-outlet_p0259670

Just dropped a 1 star on it since its pointless and I dont see that the 4 mains outlet one would have any different USB portion inside it.

Richard rich.ms

SomeoneSomewhere

1802 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3054293 24-Mar-2023 20:36

I don't see any suggestion that that supports USB PD. Seems to state 3.4A shared across all ports, which very strongly indicates 5V-only.

Do your devices that didn't work require >5V to charge/operate?

richms

28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3054303 24-Mar-2023 22:01

No they are dumb things which only need 5v plugged into it. They work on a USB a to c cable but I'm not buying those anymore. Packaging listed no 9v or higher but it still has the chip according to my USB c plug in testy thing

Richard rich.ms

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

allio

885 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3054377 25-Mar-2023 09:44

This Xiaomi one only does 20W, so won't be charging your laptop or anything, but otherwise seems high quality in my experience.

tchart

2379 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#3054392 25-Mar-2023 10:42

Spotted this last night

https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/cordtech-4-outlet-surge-protected-slimline-power-board-4-5a-usb/p/380607

Also only 20ish watts. I don’t think you’re gonna find anything with real PD as generally a normal charger with good PD are over $100 for decent wattage.

Not sure what the use case is for the power board but when I travel I take a usb charger with a figure 8 / clover leaf plug. It was off Amazon and does 110-250v so is great for travelling. It came with a collection of figure 8 cords with other plugs etc which means I don’t need any adaptors. I’ve even used some of this usb-c to laptop adaptor cables with it.

hbngan

89 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#3054606 25-Mar-2023 19:49

For travelling we used to carry a power board + the o/seas transformer plugs we needed + usb adapters etc, so quite a bit of gear to keep track off/pack unpack

but we just bought this from aliexpress a while back and we can get by with this now as most of our devices just use USB-C/ USB for charging, this one has PD

SomeoneSomewhere

1802 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3054614 25-Mar-2023 20:35

Oh, jesus. Never buy stuff like that from Ali*. BigClive has a whole bunch of teardowns and it tends to be a deathtrap. Chances are the earth pin is disconnected, polarity is reversed in certain situations, the metal parts barely make contact and are good for perhaps an amp, and the isolation in the power supply is barely there; you're one droplet of water or speck of conductive dust away from your phone being live at 230V.

SomeoneSomewhere

1802 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3054616 25-Mar-2023 20:49

E.g. this, or this, or this.

Plastic is almost certainly not propertly flame-resistant either. I also forgot that they often allow you to expose live parts by e.g. extending two plugs at once, or incorrectly aligning a plug resulting in other live parts sticking out, possibly their most egregious fault.

SomeoneSomewhere

1802 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3054618 25-Mar-2023 20:59

Same video, later on: https://youtu.be/rwEh4jsVew0?t=592

How much safety stuff can one omit before it won't work even the first time you use it? Add one back in and ship it.