Is there any way to tell USB-C -- USB-C cables apart?

Chrisacos · November 9, 2019

I have a Surface book 2 that I use for work and light gaming since I'm on the road a lot. For home i bought a USB-C dock and a 100W USB power supply, so all i have to do is plug int he USB-C cable and everything is connected: Monitor, mouse+keyboard, 100W PS, ethernet, deadphones, etc.

About a week ago i noticed that the cable going from my dock to the computer (usb-c to usb-c) was failing when i bumped it, this is the cable that came with the dock for precisely this purpose. I imagine something came lose inside because this happens even if the ports aren't moved. just the cable. so i thought "oh well, poop happens" reached into my drawer of "oh god why do i still keep so many cables around" and fund a suitable USB-C to USB-C cable that came with my external SSD (samsung T5). Everything connected and i'm set right? yeah, so i play a while and no big deal, then when it's time for bed i close the game and to my surprise the battery had lost a good 40%. this didn't happen with the old cable in the same conditions (the book 2 will loose battery if maxing out all settings, but going a bit below that will keep the battery unchanged during gaming). Looking at the two cables there's nothing that would indicate this cable wasn't goods enough. How are you supposed to tell these things apart?

Chrisacos · November 10, 2019

2 hours ago, Caroline said:

Current.

A cable rated for 2A (just guessing) isn't the same as one rated for 5A even if they look the same on the outside.

Yes, im aware of that. How do i know which one is rated for what? my multimeter is a bit lacking in microscopic leads

RAS_3885 · November 10, 2019

4 hours ago, Chrisacos said:

I have a Surface book 2 that I use for work and light gaming since I'm on the road a lot. For home i bought a USB-C dock and a 100W USB power supply, so all i have to do is plug int he USB-C cable and everything is connected: Monitor, mouse+keyboard, 100W PS, ethernet, deadphones, etc.

About a week ago i noticed that the cable going from my dock to the computer (usb-c to usb-c) was failing when i bumped it, this is the cable that came with the dock for precisely this purpose. I imagine something came lose inside because this happens even if the ports aren't moved. just the cable. so i thought "oh well, poop happens" reached into my drawer of "oh god why do i still keep so many cables around" and fund a suitable USB-C to USB-C cable that came with my external SSD (samsung T5). Everything connected and i'm set right? yeah, so i play a while and no big deal, then when it's time for bed i close the game and to my surprise the battery had lost a good 40%. this didn't happen with the old cable in the same conditions (the book 2 will loose battery if maxing out all settings, but going a bit below that will keep the battery unchanged during gaming). Looking at the two cables there's nothing that would indicate this cable wasn't goods enough. How are you supposed to tell these things apart?

The cable that came with your dock might have some sort of chip in the end that tells the dock it's the right cable and can support the current a 100 W dock will draw. I think this is similar to what phone companies do with their ultra fast charging (like OnePlus' dash/warp charging) to make sure you're using a supported cable. If that's the case you'll need to source a replacement cable from the dock manufacturer, otherwise you'll be limited to a much slower charge rate.

Or I'm way off base and it's something else, but that's the first thing that came to mind.

Per your question above it's almost impossible to tell the cable's rating unless it's printed on the side of the cable.