Changing USB Type-C connector

Question

USB Cable

A USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable is a common type of cable used to connect devices such as computers, smartphones, printers, cameras, and other electronics. It is designed to transfer data and power between devices, and is often used for charging devices as well.

16 질문 전체 보기

Robert Williams @omi236

평판: 74

4

2

게시됨: 2023년 1월 13일

옵션

Changing USB Type-C connector

Hi,

My Hp Chromebook Type-C charger stopped working after a hard pull on the cable. I tore apart the connector and found out the cable just beneath the connector is damaged. I got a new connector but am confused which wire to connect where.

Charger cable has 3 wires (White, Blue, Black) and the connector has 4 connection pads (G, D+, D-, V). I checked voltage between all wires and got:

White - Blue = 2.9V
White - Black = 0V
Black - Blue = 2.9V

Make matter even more confusing the original connector has nine pins (yes not eight), five pins on 'top' (A1, A4, A8, A9, A12) and four pins on the 'bottom' side (B1, B4, B9, B12). I believe A8 is extra and does not do anything but who knows...

If you understand this please help me determine which wire should be soldered on which pad.

Here is a related question I found with similar charger with similar configuration.
Repair connector on HP charger

Thanks

Images Attached:

이 질문에 답하기 저도 같은 문제가 있습니다

좋은 질문입니까?

예 아니요

점수 4

댓글 4개

@dadibrokeit take a look at this one. Three wire circuit would lead me to think pos, ground and signal to actually increase to charging voltage. I was thinking something like Qualcomm Quick charge 2.0......

oldturkey03 의 2023년 1월 13일

@omi236 when you measured the voltage you did have your meter on VDC not VAC correct? Just making sure we are all on the same page here ;-)

oldturkey03 의 2023년 1월 15일

@oldturkey03 yes it was on VDC. I posted this same question on stockexchange and somebody told me that the connector has a chip inside and Hp is using a custom power delivery solution, not a standard one.

Robert Williams 의 2023년 1월 16일

@omi236 yes, HP started doing weird things with their power supplies a few years ago. It was to a point that their equipment would not accept third party power supplies due to the ID required by that IC. Now back to figuring out how to solder the connector

oldturkey03 의 2023년 1월 16일

댓글 달기

답변 3개

@dadibrokeit take a look at this one. Three wire circuit would lead me to think pos, ground and signal to actually increase to charging voltage. I was thinking something like Qualcomm Quick charge 2.0...... — oldturkey03
@omi236 when you measured the voltage you did have your meter on VDC not VAC correct? Just making sure we are all on the same page here ;-) — oldturkey03
@oldturkey03 yes it was on VDC. I posted this same question on stockexchange and somebody told me that the connector has a chip inside and Hp is using a custom power delivery solution, not a standard one. — Robert Williams
@omi236 yes, HP started doing weird things with their power supplies a few years ago. It was to a point that their equipment would not accept third party power supplies due to the ID required by that IC. Now back to figuring out how to solder the connector — oldturkey03

Jerry Wheeler @dadibrokeit 평판: 72.1k 131 63 99 · Answer 1 · 2023-01-13T20:34:42-07:00

가장 유용한 답변

Jerry Wheeler @dadibrokeit

평판: 72.1k

131

63

99

게시됨: 2023년 1월 13일

옵션

@oldturkey03 Agree 100%, the charger itself shows four different output voltages so it's pretty definite a control signal is needed.

As far as what goes where - that's a tougher question. I'm guessing blue is the V connection, and black is usually ground or the G pad. That would leave white as the D+, but of course then where is D-? You could check for continuity between D- and G on the Chromebook; if there's no resistance between the two then it's a good bet you don't need D- as long as G is present.

Another way to check would be to go back to the other end of the wires and see what they're connected to. That would mean opening up the power brick and tracing down the three wires to their source. I'm betting two of them will be together on a power board; those will be V & G. The other one should go to some kind of logic circuit that'll be controlling the output voltage.

With all that in mind, it's also possible that if there's a braided sheath over the three wires, it may also be part of the circuit. On Apple MagSafe chargers, that's actually the ground wire and you have to unbraid it then twist it together into a single wire for use as the ground connection. If that's what you find inside the power supply then the sheath should be G instead and the other non-power wire (black, probably) would go to D-.

As you can see, that's a non-standard setup; the wiring colors don't correspond to common USB cable usage, and the three wire configuration is just confusing things.

I'd love for anyone else knowledgeable about this sort of thing to jump in here and add your thought, since I'm mostly guessing at what's what.

이 답변이 도움이 되었나요?

예 아니요

점수 2

댓글 4개:

@Jerry Hi, Thank you so much for writing a detailed answer.

No, There is no braided sheath or anything else conductive. There are only 3 wires and a cotton string for added strength. One thing I forgot to mention, the blue wire is almost half the thickness in comparison to the white and black wires. The charging brick can not be easily opened because it is heat shut and opening it will mean cutting it apart. In original connector, the blue wire is soldered in the middle which makes me think it is the signal wire. The connector has 9 pins inside it (yes not 8) which makes it asymmetric, 5 pins on top and 4 on bottom. I am updating the question with more pictures. Check this another question too which has a similar charger with 3 wires: Repair connector on HP charger

Thanks.

Update: Using an Ohm meter I figured out the black is ground, white is VBUS but I don't know what the blue is for. The orignal connector does not have A6-A7 pins.

Robert Williams 의 2023년 1월 14일

@omi236 the blue will be signal. We really need to see the original connector.

oldturkey03 의 2023년 1월 15일

@omi236 Something just occurred to me; it's possible the power supply does not put out voltage unless it sees an input on the D+/D- signal lines, so the fact that there isn't any power on the white or black wires may not indicate a problem with the charger.

Jerry Wheeler 의 2023년 1월 15일

@dadibrokeit

Usually the default with USB-C is that it outputs 5V unless it detects otherwise i.e. 5V is there even if the signal lead is open circuit or non existent.

Cheers

jayeff 의 2023년 1월 15일

댓글 달기

jayeff @jayeff 평판: 496.8k 11 384 1.5k · Answer 2 · 2023-01-13T20:45:05-07:00

jayeff @jayeff

평판: 496.8k

11

384

1.5k

게시됨: 2023년 1월 13일

옵션

Hi @omi236,

Here's a link that shows the pinout for a USB-C connector.

There's communication between the host and the device when using USB-C so that the host knows how much power it can supply, if the device can accept it that is, otherwise it defaults to the standard USB 5V value.

The 2.9V reading is too low. Is this measured directly between batt and ground output of charger i.e. open circuit voltage? It should be a minimum of 5V.

The D+ and D- are the data lines.

이 답변이 도움이 되었나요?

예 아니요

점수 2

댓글 8개:

@jayeff Hello,

Yes it is open circuit voltage. Now the confusion is between D+ and D- because there are 4 pads and 3 wires to begin with.

Robert Williams 의 2023년 1월 14일

@omi236

Since it is a charging cable only and not data as well, there may be a "sense wire" from the charger that connects to the Chromebook.

This wire may be used to signal the charger to increase its supply output to 9V or even 20V i.e. USB-C PD

For a start the 2.9V is wrong.

The charger specs show 5V as the minimum, so that is one problem.

I suspect that when the cable was damaged it damaged the charger as well.

If possible use an Ohmmeter and find out which USB-C pins connect to the "V" terminal. It should be pins 4 & 9 and 16 & 21 (as the USB-C connector can be inserted either way)

These are the VBUS pins where the +ve voltage is supplied to

The "G" terminal should connect to pins 1 & 12 and 13 & 24 as this is the Gnd connection.

The hard part is knowing where the 3rd wire connects to.

I suggest that you try to identify which USB-C pin connects to the D+ and D- terminals. You may find that one or the other is not even connected to the USB-C connector. Check if either terminal connects to the CC1 or the CC2 USB-C pin

As for the wire colours "usually" black is Ground (GND) and white is Voltage so that leaves the blue as the 3rd wire, but maybe not in this case. You may have to open the charger to find out.

Once you have the charger supplying the correct voltage you can easily check with a voltmeter which is the +ve voltage and ground wire

e.g. voltmeter red lead connects to white wire, black lead to black wire meter reads 5V.

Reverse the meter leads i.e. voltmeter red lead connected to black wire and voltmeter black lead connected to white wire meter reads -5V.

So the white wire is the +ve battery wire

jayeff 의 2023년 1월 14일

Hi @omi236,

The A8 (SBU1) pin is used when alternate mode might be required

It is used as a signalling wire connection when using the USB-C port as a DP port (DisplayPort) for example.

It may be that it is just the way the connector is configured.

P.S.

You are asking for help and I suggested in my comment above how to check and test you haven't replied whether it worked or not

jayeff 의 2023년 1월 14일

@jayeff I found a similar post and they too have a 3 wire type c charger and they getting same reading as me so it can't be a coincidence. Check this: Repair connector on HP charger

The original connector has total of 9 pins (not 8) which makes it even more confusing. On 'top' it has pin 1, 4, 8, 9, 12 and on bottom it has pin 13, 16, 21, 24. I think pin 8 doesn't do anything but there is no way to find out.

Robert Williams 의 2023년 1월 14일

@omi236

You've linked the thread we're on now?

OK so it seems that there is a problem in the charger as you should be getting 5V between the white and black wires.

If you look at the link I posted in my answer above and scroll down to the CC1 and CC2 wiring diagrams you can see that if the meter is connected between the white and the blue you will get a voltage <5V as there is a voltage drop across the resistor in the charger. The charger is the DFP side

You should not be getting the same reading when connected between the black and blue but since you are it indicates that there's a backfeed path from the earth output to the blue wire which is connected to the battery feed.

jayeff 의 2023년 1월 14일

댓글 3개 더보기

댓글 달기