the saga of USB type C cables continues - Anker takes the stage, issues recall

[zMeul]

source: http://www.androidauthority.com/anker-issues-recall-perilous-cable-713222/

 

what a great little concept, a USB cable that's reversible and can sustain enough juice to be used from charging your smartphone to your laptop ..

wrong!

 

cue Anker’s USB-C cable model A8185011

 

Quote

USB-C cable model A8185011 can “remember” the voltage of the device it was just plugged into. This is dangerous because if you unplug it from a laptop’s USB-C port and then plug it into your phone, it could push a 15V-20V power draw into a port that shouldn’t see more than 5V. In short, that could fry your phone and/or cause an explosion or fire.

 

Anker sent a mail to Benson Leung (Google Engineer) regarding this issue:

Quote

We've heard that some units of our Anker PowerLine USB-C A8185011 may present slight technical issues, which could prevent the cable from performing at its full capacity or even cause damage to devices when used. Therefore, to ensure that all of our customers are getting only the best quality products from Anker, we have decided to recall all units of our Anker PowerLine USB-C A8185011 immediately.

 

We are offering all of our PowerLine USB-C A8185011 users a full refund. In addition, we would like to offer a free Anker PowerLine USB-C cable to affected customers once we have improved Anker PowerLine USB-C A8185011.

 

Please reply to this email with your choice and we'll process it as soon as possible. We will contact you regarding a free unit once the model has been released.

 

As we do not need to get the cable returned, please dispose of it accordingly and do not continue using it.

 

[GoodBytes]

I think the problem is that for many years, cables were just wires that connects one end to another without anything fancy. But now time has changed, so cable manufcatures need to get the tool and knowledge to know how to properly make a cable. That is my guess.

[vanished]

Quote

slight technical issues

lol wow way to own up to the problem...   If you're cooking phones with your cable, I'd call that more than "slight technical issues"

[zMeul]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

lol wow way to own up to the problem...   If you're cooking phones with your cable, I'd call that more than "slight technical issues"

reminds me of this:

[patrickjp93]

26 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

I think the problem is that for many years, cables were just wires that connects one end to another without anything fancy. But now time has changed, so cable manufcatures need to get the tool and knowledge to know how to properly make a cable. That is my guess.

Yes. I've experienced this in Australia actually. You really don't need voltage converters because cables just don't request that much voltage from the wall. It's true with USB cables especially, but my MacBook Pro's power brick doesn't need a converter, just a plug adaptor. Heck my electric toothbrush charger doesn't either.

[dyent10]

he needs to do more testing instead of piece meal each things. he didnt change the charger to see if the problem is at the charger holding the voltage and not the cable.

[vanished]

Just now, dyent10 said:

he needs to do more testing instead of piece meal each things. he didnt change the charger to see if the problem is at the charger holding the voltage and not the cable.

I assume Anker wouldn't have issued this message without confirming for themselves that there is an issue, so while that makes sense to do, I think - despite the fact it wasn't shown - we can safely assume it has been.

[zMeul]

4 minutes ago, dyent10 said:

he needs to do more testing instead of piece meal each things. he didnt change the charger to see if the problem is at the charger holding the voltage and not the cable.

he tested with other cables and he used the Nexus 6P OEM charger with the cable in question

 

[rhyseyness]

I feel like they have dealt with the problem appropriately and it appears they're going to do it in a timely manner too.

Taking time to make sure they understand the issue and fully resolve it.

If I'd bought one, I'd be a happy customer at this point...

If it bricked my phone and they didn't offer to reimburse me for it, things might be different, but I feel like they're dealing with this in the right way.

Good work Anker.

[Prysin]

5 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

I think the problem is that for many years, cables were just wires that connects one end to another without anything fancy. But now time has changed, so cable manufcatures need to get the tool and knowledge to know how to properly make a cable. That is my guess.

they have known how to make this shit for decades. Its not witchcraft for the cable manufacturers, nor the people making products using these cables.

The whole issue is that the people who make products and the people who makes cables, seldom, if ever, bother to talk to eachother. So when one of these tries to add fancy shit, there is no guarantee it will behave as it should because of outright terrible QC.

 

Ive seen similar stupidity like this from cable manufacturers who make 240-500v power cables too. Cables with steel wires, that are supposed to he able to withstand overhead "air" installation, but the connectors and junction boxes arent made to handle the force that wire and cable exerts on the inlet, and just ends up snapping the cable and shorting it.

If they struggle to make big, coarse cables fit together with products, how do you expect them to make it work with tiny sensitive products?

[Doobeedoo]

Ugh, why couldn't problems like these be avoided. I know new connector is more complex, but really some issues should never happen.

[Squirrel724]

It really sounds like the USB C standard is poorly defined resulting in devices which use visually identical cables but expect different things from them.

[Misanthrope]

Is almost like trusting an industry of fucking cheapskates that had been creating cables for years and allowing them to do a new standard that carries 10x more power was not the most thought through idea ever.

[Deletist_Jerk]

Too many bad products out there with no way of knowing if it's following a standard.  USB really needs a certification process like HDMI and DisplayPort. 

 

 

Buying a non standard Type C accessory is potentially dangerous and a complete waste of money. 

 

[zMeul]

4 hours ago, Deletist_Jerk said:

Too many bad products out there with no way of knowing if it's following a standard.  USB really needs a certification process like HDMI and DisplayPort. 

USB-IF actually has a certification process and what do you know, the cable in question was certified: https://plus.google.com/102612254593917101378/posts/VdKCcY5h13w

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2OJRSgNnm4GS05DQ3o1Y2hTNTA/view

 

 

but, if they don't give a flying fuck about standards and certifications like PCI-SIG does ..... (RX480 draws more power from the PCIe slot than it should)

this whole fucking industry .. jeez!

[dalekphalm]

While obviously Anker should never have put out a product with these kinds of defects, Anker 100% did the right thing here. They acted as best a company can act in such a situation - immediately recalls all products, offers a free replacement of the revision once the defect has been removed.

 

Now on the small chance that one of these Anker cables actually wastes a device, I expect Anker to reimburse the user the cost of replacing said device, but we've heard no indications that any devices were ever damaged by an Anker cable specifically.

 

A timely response w/ a clear plan of action. Good on ya, Anker.