Laptop Repair, Volts Current Watts Meter you need these cheap USB-C universal adapters! Here's Why

[@harrymartin1661]

I have problems to accept that the voltage is allways correct... What is if not? You will have very high costs for a new computer, etc... And what is with fire, overheating? Those very small things give you 5 amps...? 100 W, you know which cables you need? Big ones. I am not convinced yet, I have seen so many chinee-things and heard about their problems... no, not for me. Thanks for you videos, as allways. Happy Xmas and a happy new year 2024.

[@bipedalspecies2086]

The problem I have with cheap cables and chargers is fire. I am a noob, but Big Clive and AvE's channel has confirmed a lot of my suspicions. I'm a noob at knowledge of circuits and deep repairs but the experience is there from seeing cheap imports and Amazon fakes. I use a 19/19.5 supply and meter that has laptop adapters. I now own 3, because I keep losing them and finding them :D

[@lonndawg7554]

yeah, I agree that having the new style USB - C style voltage and current reader comes in very handy for guys like us, we seem to want to know what Devices are doing, of course I have the older style USB - A current and voltage reader and have found it extremely useful over the years, and I know it's time to get the new style USB - C and what's interesting is the amount of current and apparently voltage that can be available with that style of connector. I was interested in the large display on the FNB58 and it provides more information, and I'm glad to see you have a style that goes on the end of the USB-C cable, to me I would just use that for general purpose making sure current is going through the cable to whatever device is plugged into, and providing general wattage, which is interesting with the diversity in USB-C wattages available

[@Nebbia_affaraccimiei]

some universal laptop adapters also had adjustable voltages. not all laptops go with 20v.. some even change voltage based on what "adapter" you plug in.

[@garybell3924]

With their internal voltage regulators pretty much all laptops that are made today will work perfectly fine with a 20v supply, if you test 100 supplies that come with laptops all for different ratings say 19v 19.5v 20v the three most common laptop voltages currently in production across the board and then even the odd ones that want say 21.5v they will all give you a measurement in the same region ranging from 18v to about 22v and any of those laptops will work on those voltages because the voltage regulators inside the laptops step the voltages down to the required voltages, in my experience it's the current that's more important, if the adapter can supply enough amperage at 18v to 22v you'd be hard pressed to find a laptop that won't run perfectly fine

[@joeyounan55]

got this about a week or 2 ago. excited that I wasn’t the only one thought it was useful.

[@Smashingpottery]

Funny, I ordered that exact same tester a few days ago and it is out for delivery. Looks like a great tool that I will get a lot of use out of.

[@Seicz]

I was in the neighborhood for buying another regular ac-dc adapter, and I really love this idea. I just recently bought a 100W PD adapter, and I never would have thought to go USB-C with it for my other projects. It might cost a slight bit more for the cable, but in the end, I think it would simplify the setup I've got going on. Swiss army knife of adapters kind of way. Thank you!

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Yeah I agree. And add the little USB monitor as well for Volts/Amps/Watts and you have something really useful. And small.🙂You can also buy cheap USB-C decoys which let you manually change the output voltage of a PD supply, so 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, 20V Decoys www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005958435989.html?af=ler2022 www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006051376770.html?af=ler2022 You may also find these sockets useful for your various projects 🙂 www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005370810361.html?af=ler2022

[@dang48]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Richard. Looks great and thank you for sharing this video.

[@Foobar_The_Fat_Penguin]

I use these adapters with my bench power supply. That way, I can set the voltage to whatever the laptop requires (e.g. there is AFAIK no USB-PD profile for 16V, which some laptops want). And I can also set a current limit when necessary. And it shows the current draw without additional tools required. But I would personally suggest to get one of the cheaper USB meters (less than 5-10 Euro), not one of the fancier ones. The new USB EPR specification allows up to 48V (at 5A) and requires constant communication between source and sink. Which most PSUs and meters currently on the market can't do. So depending on how much it'll actually be used by the industry, we might need to upgrade in a couple of years anyway.

[@patrickcallahan2210]

Knowing what is going on inside the PD usb cables is really something I am glad to know. I was able to identify a faulty charger that was putting out 20V on type C with no request for it and I think fried a Raspberry pi. I considered the Finirsi one but decided to go with the Chargerlab PowerZ KM003C. So far I am having good service from it. The chargerlab was about $10 more than the Finirsi one on the 11.11 sale and can handle the newer higher voltages (PD3.1 50V, 6A) and that seemed to be a good fit for my use case.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Wow I didn't know PD3.1 will go to 50V 6A, I did know some PD supplies will support 28V already.

[@patrickcallahan2210]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair I think it is going to go with 20V, 28V, 36V, and 48V. Though I think the higher power ones need an approriate rated cable to do it. I'm pretty sure the one I ended up buying from Chargerlab can test the cables specs as well as the chargers. I bought it mostly because it was newer and looked sexier than the Finiris one, lol. It seems really well made so far!

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@patrickcallahan2210 Thanks for the info 🙂

[@tonysheerness2427]

You are creating wants that I never knew i wanted.

[@typxxilps]

i got those tocki usb type c cables with pd and display too from ali express during the sales in november and so far they are great. I also got a nother usb power consumption meter device which shows how much Wh are going into a device during charge which means we can measure capacity in 2 ways like charging and discharging. I got the cables for 2 € and 3€ for the meter which was great. I can not judge how accurate this will be. But my Xiaomi Phone has a 5500 mAh battery and it took 5680 mAh to charge from 2% to 100% while being turned off. Can not be so far off and is a good indicator for a battery health in my opinion cause usually you know the size of the battery.

[@andrew_koala2974]

Your writing skills are abysmal and below the standard of the youngest students I ever taught age 8. Undertake an extensive reading program to educate yourself. And if English is not your ' Lingua Franca ' which I suspect is the case use an online translator - which will assist you in learning. Good luck and adios And ADIOS is not a German operating System

[@gorgonbert]

Laptops usually take 19v... 20v shouldn't be too problematic i guess... thanks for the tip 🙏

[@callumcurtis15]

I'm sure if you account for voltage drop under load through that very thin USB cable, it would be around 19 volts anyway .

[@shiftctrlhack]

Ya I use 19-20v for years and I’ve never had a problem with 20 being too high when checking voltage lines. I’m in the repair field for about 15 years now.

[@greengrayradio1394]

Happy holidays to you and family, Richard! nI tried to look at eBay for these, but not much there

[@arthurfricchione8119]

Richard happy new year. Thanks for sharing this video. Looking forward to your next video on electronics for beginners. I’m not an absolute beginner but it’s nice to relearn the basic principles again. They are interesting videos. I always learn something from every one of them. Stay safe. Artie 😊

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

There will be more electronics for beginners videos next year 🙂

[@bienhelado204]

I had never heard of a 100W PD power supply. Europe is ahead of the US there. I'll look into it.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

They are commonly available 100W and more. Try AliExpress, Banggood or Amazon

[@Lyndalewinder]

Presumably if you forget its set to 20 volts and plug it into something rated at 5 volts - maybe an old phone or radio, that 5 volt device gets cooked?

[@BobGreenOnline]

I know the Lenovo chargers use a resistor to identify the wattage to the laptop and that seemed to work OK with the one you had. Can you check with HP and Dell? They have the three pin adapters with 'smart' features and are not just straight voltage inputs.

[@billhancox253]

Hi and great video thank you. I use something similar linked to a bench power supply for fault finding on the charging circuits of laptops. Is the 100w usb c charger you have one that is meant for drones by any chance? Many thanks. Bill (Cheshire. UK)

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

It's a DJI one yes, but any PD PSU will work as long is it supports 20V and enough current

[@GregM]

Sorin already has a bench power supply so he just cut the USB C end off the cable and connected the two wires up to the bench power supply. That allows one to dial in the voltage should you need to supply a lower voltage for some non standard device. You have to rely on the bench PS to give you the amperage and watts readings. I have apower brick that I can adjust the voltage up to 24v 3A with a 2.5mm barrel connector and use those same time of adapters. That though does not allow me to see the amperage being drawn.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

I agree Greg but I also know there are a lot of viewers who neither have nor can afford a bench PSU. These little USB-C meters plus the decoy/adapter are a very useful alternative at low price

[@carlospenalver8721]

Wonder if after watching your vid from a year ago converting battery chargers to power supplies if it is easier just using a tattoo machine power supply as a power supply with some conversion displaying amps and voltage on a display, i have displays for arduino and rasp pico and thought it would be easier for building on breadboards circuits and eliminates me needing to use my voltmeter all in one box. For an idea of the types of tattoo machines I have here’s a list of 3. 1- TPN-020 18v/1.5 amp . 2nd P-053 18v 2 amp and last my main dog I’m willing to sacrifice if what you makes work like a real good PS model SX75 100/240v input 50/60 Hz .5 amp output 0-15 volt 1 amp which is a cheap Chinese one but works super great. Just asking because real hood power bench power supplies are super expensive and the cheap ones are not worth trying to even use.

[@tenlittleindians]

Your power adapter only gets you so far. I recently have been buying up and repairing electric skateboards 2nd hand and find they rarely still have the power supply with them. It seems they all have a slightly different charger plug and they require different voltages. Needless to say my charger collection is still growing. With electric bikes getting popular and electric one wheels too, I suspect I'm still not finished buying more chargers.

[@PracticalKnow]

Shutting off if it encounters a short is a deal-breaker for electronics repair. It should be connected to a short tolerating bench power supply so that the amperage load can be assessed.

[@andrew_koala2974]

Learn that when referring to switching - the words are ON OFF and NOT on off The words sound the same but they are not the same and these words are used in different contexts. Had you been conscious and paying attention to detail you would have notices what is written on many switches. Unfortunately for you it is clear that you were programmed to be a ZOMBIE and you do not realize it. Worse yet - you failed to educate yourself by reading. So learn to pay attention to detail - Make sure your brain sees exactly what your eyes are looking at. Much the same as Whether and weather sound the same - they are NOT the same. Equally so The United States of America and The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA are mot one and the same entity. Same as when you see a name that sounds like yours but is written in ALL CAPS -- it is not You (The Living Soul ) So do your homework and explain who the entity with the ALL CAPS NAME and explain the history of it. Until you learn these things and can explain them you are NOT sufficiently educated - possessing only a peasant level education.

[@CliveTrezona]

I agree. Using an external current limited power supply is still the best in fault finding shorted components.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@CliveTrezona Yes that is the best. But if you don't have a bench PSU or the funds to acquire one then these little adapters are still very useful diagnostic tools

[@protektwar]

last 2 aliexpress item links not available anymore... and for USB-C Watt meter the price has cvadruplet

[@GlishaSo]

i am using same adapters but on side where is your USB C I connect to power supply + and - and see exactly what is going on with laptop on power supply much much better solution. but if you don't have bench power supply than this is ok.

[@lezbriddon]

I had a kit like that years ago, mains psu and then tips of differing sizes also had a resistor in the tip to signal the psu for the voltage, handy as back then my laptop was 15v, don't think PD does 15?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Yeah PD does 15V. In the latest versions it also does 28V and higher. Seems PD is taking over the world LOL

[@lezbriddon]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair yes it's getting universal, but the connectors...... It just doesn't seem right to me for the wattage and amps they are pushing through them, being an older guy I like thick brass pins on everything!

[@danblankenship5744]

I found the power supply (DJI CDX265-100) will likely set you up back around $95. Have a link for an alternative?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

I only used the DJI fast charger as it is what I had to hand at the workshop as I have a drone. There are lots of cheap PD power supplies around: Here is a 100W for €32 with free postage. I've not tried this one but it has sold 500+ and has 90 reviews. 4.5 stars es.aliexpress.com/item/1005005121619732.html?af=ler2022

[@rul3272]

Hi everyone! Sorry for my English!) I have couple question on video subject, will be grateful for clarification: 1) Laptop require 18v. But by design or by data pin damage, all this typ-c staff will supply 5v. What will hepend with this laptop? 2) Manufecturer supply laptop with 250wat power supply. If i tacke type-c cable and power supply wich support correct voltage, but can supply, for example 45 wats. In result I will get slow charge, or demage laptop/ type-c cable/type-c power supply?

[@MrArpSolina]

Hello. What is the price of the FNB58 tester?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

€46 from the official FNIRSI store. Or if you want the version with Bluetooth then €52 - with free shipping www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004665244812.html?af=ler2022 These prices include 21% VAT (if you live in the EU). As I live in the Canary Islands which are in the EU single market but outside the customs union then I don't pay any VAT so I get the price of €38.37 for the non Bluetooth version with free shipping

[@MrArpSolina]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair Thanks for your reply. I just checked Amazon, and there's many many different offers, from various manufacturers, from €50 up to €180, showing the exact same picture and name of this device. It's a mess!

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@MrArpSolina I would recommend you forget what is the cheapest offer for the sake of a few €/$/£ and you buy from FNIRSI official store (link I gave in the above reply) then at least you know what you are buying

[@steve6375]

So if a laptop has a low ohm short, you cant look for hot components because the PSU will switch off?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

That's true of just about any laptop PSU. This is why we have variable current bench supplies 😉

[@shiftctrlhack]

If connected to a bench power supply the voltage will drop and most of the time the current goes up meaning there’s a short and something is indeed getting hot that has failed or is in that failed line.

[@nedbeard]

Not much good if you are diagnosing a gaming laptop or Z-Book type workstation that require 150W+. I've misdiagnosed a few using the bench supply until I plugged in the original charger and discovered the power requirement issue.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Nothing will do everything. Doesn't mean it is any the less useful 🙂

[@drew8135]

When you say decoy, does that mean the adaptor just pretends there is 20V but is actually just 5V or something like that? I dont understand how it would work without a transformer.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

No. The decoy communicates with a PD Power supply via he USB-C connector and sets the output voltage to 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, 20V or even more on the latest incarnations of PD. Normally the device being charged does this automatically, or doesn't support PD so it doesn't do anything, in which case it gets 5V by default. A decoy sends commands to the USB-C PD PSU and overrides this automatic voltage selection which is very useful for testing PD power supplies but you need to understand what you are doing if you have a device attached to the PSU that only supports low voltage charging otherwise you may make toast of it!

[@drew8135]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair thanks for the helpful reply. I have been able to go and Google for more now.

[@gartmorn]

My only concern would be that not all usbc fed devices, eg phones etc, can handle 20v! I thought the standard was to supply 5v and then ramp up as/if the device requests it? Just worried someone may plug in a phone, or other lower voltage device to a cheap generic supply and fry it on 20v!

[@AAaa-wu3el]

PS would negotiate voltage needed for your device.

[@gartmorn]

I understand that it negotiates but it should default to the low voltage and negotiate from there and not start on the high voltage! Ok for laptops but not other devices unless I’m missing something?

[@AAaa-wu3el]

@@gartmorn The cable shown in this video has built in marker for 20v hence PS is complying. Don't know for sure, but it seems logical.

[@gartmorn]

Ok, I see your reasoning, I was just pointing out that you need to be careful when plugging your phone etc into a usbc and not assume it will automatically give you the required voltage!

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@gartmorn Using a regular USB-C cable to connect to your device, or just wires connecting from USB-C to whatever, the voltage defaults to 5V automatically. USB-C connectors also have extra pins and the device can use these to negotiate a higher voltage with a USB-C PD charger, if the device supports PD. Otherwise it just gets 5V. I hope that clarifies this for you 🙂

[@kidkv]

My tablet has pulled 20 watts on a 5 volt supply, at 500ma! Math says it shouldn't

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

And reality says it didn't, therefore another answer is the correct one 🙂

[@AAaa-wu3el]

Lets bin all your "old" chargers, and buy new - all for the sake of the waste prevention.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Hehe yeah 😂

[@schnecks2180]

I have never seen my old laptop charger fail at this end. USB-C breaks easily. Thanks EU!

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

IMHO The best thing with these USB-C universal laptop chargers is the availability of the very cheap little current/watts meters.

[@JohnBailey39]

And I've never seen a shark. But I am aware they exist. Because I can access information on things outside my own direct experience. Thanks books and TV... I volunteer at a charity that reconditions donated computers for people. So I'm guessing I probably see more laptops than you in any given week. Something I learned very early on.. ALL connectors will be abused. ALL cables will break. ALL power supplies cost money to replace. I've also seen desktops come in with the IEC socket ripped out. So skip the dire predictions. Nobody cares. Time passes. Things change. Deal with it, or get left behind.