How to Put USB-C Power on ANYTHING (almost)

[LapsedMemory]

On 11/27/2022 at 12:50 PM, jymotion said:

I was really excited by this at first as I have a clear use case. I have several retro consoles all hooked up and have had to find ways to make the wall warts fit. The idea of plugging one or two multi-port USB-C chargers into the wall and connecting all the consoles to those sounds great.

 

But the cost really seems to add up. For four consoles (AV Famicom, SNES, Genesis, PC Engine), I see the following:

• 4 cables from Adafruit ($6.75 each on sale + $6 shipping): $33
• SNES barrel jack re-sizer ($4 + $6 shipping): $10
• 3 or 4 polarity switching adapters ($5.50 for 2) $11
• 4-port charger (ugreen has one for $55 on sale, but one port is USB-A which may require an $8 adapter): $63

That adds up to $117 + tax for four consoles. And none of those are consoles that require replacement PSUs that run $30-45 each. I could see it being an attractive alternative to buying 4 new power supplies and a new power strip that can fit them, or an alternative to re-capping your dead saturn/ps1 power supply, but it seems difficult to justify if I already have a working setup.

 

edit: Newegg's got 1-port chargers on sale right now - $6 for a two-pack. Could do 4 chargers for $50 less than the 4-port ugreen solution. Takes up the same number of outlets as the wall warts, but much smaller blueprint and should have a longer lifespan.

12eward posted this link in the Floatplane post that is a bit more DIY, but may be a bit nicer packaging and potentially save a few $$.  

 

Amazon.com: (5 Pack) JacobsParts USB-C PD 9V DC Fixed Voltage Power Trigger Module 5A Type-C Female Input : Electronics

 

This moves the circuitry from the cable to the device (replacing the barrel plugs), which means you can use a standard USB-C cables.  

Assuming you have the tools already to make the conversions, you can get:

1 9v kit: $12

1 12v kit: $12

1 4-port charger $63

 

for a total of $87.  + cost of any standard USB-C cables you need.

[Video Beagle]

4 hours ago, LapsedMemory said:

 

Amazon.com: (5 Pack) JacobsParts USB-C PD 9V DC Fixed Voltage Power Trigger Module 5A Type-C Female Input : Electronics

 

This moves the circuitry from the cable to the device (replacing the barrel plugs), which means you can use a standard USB-C cables.  

Assuming you have the tools already to make the conversions, you can get:

and wire to barrel connectors.

[LapsedMemory]

10 hours ago, Video Beagle said:

and wire to barrel connectors.

The point would be to change out the barrel plug on the unit with the USB-C plug, forgoing barrel connectors altogether.  

[Video Beagle]

15 hours ago, LapsedMemory said:

The point would be to change out the barrel plug on the unit with the USB-C plug, forgoing barrel connectors altogether.  

oh, planting them inside completely? (sorry, my mind is on replacing bricks for a bunch of external harddrives with a smaller footprint thing)

[Torokun]

So question let’s say that I had a monitor that took 20v at 2.25 (45w) so if I was get the adafruit 20v at up to 5.0 amps. Would it be safe to switch from the power brick to a usbc pd brick? (That can output 20v at up to 5.0 amp with the proper wattage)

 

some more information both about my question 

 

1 monitor is 65w - 20v at 3.25, would it safe to get just a 65w PD charger or would it be a better idea to get something with 10%+ more wattage to be safe

 

1 monitor is 45w -20v at 2.2

 

what are some power bricks that you would recommend?

Edited December 2, 2022 by Torokun
Add more information

[Guest]

On 11/29/2022 at 2:04 AM, Video Beagle said:

do you have a link?

sorry for not getting back to you! new here and wasn't sure about posting links originally. for posterity: this was what I ordered, but unfortunately it was a black friday deal and is currently out of stock.

 

just tested with my PC Engine and it booted up fine. unfortunately, I had less luck with my Genesis. turns out my model 2 genesis uses a 4.75mm center-positive plug - not a 5.5mm center-negative one. i'm sure i knew this at some point, but forgot and didn't think to double-check. so, it doesn't need the polarity converter, but does require a plug size adapter like the SNES.

[cloneman]

WHat if someone plugs in a low-quality USB-C charger to your newly converted device?

[Bramimond]

Okay, but why would you want to? As long as the connector on the device stays the same you still need a specific cable. And replacing the connector is a soldering project at best.

[Sheikahchu]

Hey guys, I'm just wondering, I'm gonna try the reN64 Power Supply with the barrel jack, but that power supply is 12v, the only cable that adafruit has (At the moment at least) is 15v, I'm also gonna use a ugreen charger with PD, is there any issue if I use the 15v cable instead of the 12v? Or should I be fine?

[CerealExperimentsLain]

Bit of a necro, sorry, but this video was inspiring.  Now I can run my non-Power Delivery laptop for extended times using a Power Delivery capable battery bank in the event of blackouts or painfully long times spent traveling.

[RyanWyl]

Sorry for thread necro...

 

But could you replace the stepup/down chip with a simple capacitor? And wouldn't that fix the reboot whenever you connect another device?

[Victor Wads]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:11 PM, Nystemy said:

There is no USB-C to C13 cables on the market.

 

Mainly since the C13 is for mains voltage. The screen has its own PSU inside of it already.

I Really want to change my two dell monitors to USB-c (only energy source, no video), they both uses C13 cables.

The idea is do remove de PSU inside and change to something. But i Have NO idea how. I'm a big noob on DIY with eletronics.

somo can help? i heard linux saying about making his monitor type c pd. There is some video?

[Nystemy]

On 1/31/2024 at 8:36 PM, Victor Wads said:

I Really want to change my two dell monitors to USB-c (only energy source, no video), they both uses C13 cables.

The idea is do remove de PSU inside and change to something. But i Have NO idea how. I'm a big noob on DIY with eletronics.

somo can help? i heard linux saying about making his monitor type c pd. There is some video?

Removing the PSU from a screen can at times be somewhat "simple", and other times be down right maddening even for an experienced electronics tinkerer.
I wouldn't recommend attempting such a project if one considers oneself a "big noob on DIY electronics."

But if one is lucky, the PSU in the screen is a "dumb" 12 volt (or other voltage) supply where all the fancier power management handled by DC-DC converts on the main board. Here one could get USB-C to 12 volt (or other applicable voltage) power module, if it can handle the needed power. But this is all based on pure speculation and likely isn't applicable to most screens in practice. _{(in my own experience repairing the occasional screen, things are rarely this simple...)}