diy solar

diy solar

usb-c Power Delivery Panel Mounting [laptops]: Why is there not much postings?

got the outlets linked above by @Symbioquine. I like that I can replace them with a plain CLA port in the same hole if they die. They are rated 36W on A and 60W on C -- but only if powered from a 24V source. My house battery is 24V so this is ok for me. They do glow blue while connected to power, so I'll be putting them on switches. I get 5.87mA @ 24V and 6.70mA @ 12V for the standby draw.

Bench testing bears out the specs. I powered the adapter from my bench PSU, set at 24.0V and 12.0V to test. Obviously the measurements are from the supply side of the adapter so the actual charge rates were less due to conversion efficiency.

Charging my GF's macbook from 50% battery with 24.0V input to the adapter drew around 2.4A. So that's ~57W, and Apple System Profile reports 65W. A while later when battery was up to 80% the draw was 1.6A (~38W) and System Profile still reported 65W after refreshing. The macbook got up to 100% in under an hour and the adapter was only barely warm.

Powering from 12V instead, the adapter drew 2.9A and System Profile reported 36W. But again, as the charge current tapered down to 1.5A the MacBook still reported 36W. So, I suspect that Apple's System Profile just tells you the negotiated charge rate not actual...The Amazon listing for the USB adapter says the charge rate reduces to 27W on both ports when powered from 12V -- I'm not sure what to make of that
I appreciate the review. I am thinking of using those outlets on a 24 volt run with 12/2 low voltage DC chord.

Manufacture rating of the wire is 20 amps 150 volts. That thicker wire will allow a future upgrade to one a new adapter of the more obscure higher amperage USB-c protocols you mentioned if a plug becomes available.
 
Wow, this thread is a goldmine! Nice to know I'm not the only one pursuing this. Here's what I can add to the pile:

I got the outlets linked above by @Symbioquine. I like that I can replace them with a plain CLA port in the same hole if they die. They are rated 36W on A and 60W on C -- but only if powered from a 24V source. My house battery is 24V so this is ok for me. They do glow blue while connected to power, so I'll be putting them on switches. I get 5.87mA @ 24V and 6.70mA @ 12V for the standby draw.

Bench testing bears out the specs. I powered the adapter from my bench PSU, set at 24.0V and 12.0V to test. Obviously the measurements are from the supply side of the adapter so the actual charge rates were less due to conversion efficiency.

Charging my GF's macbook from 50% battery with 24.0V input to the adapter drew around 2.4A. So that's ~57W, and Apple System Profile reports 65W. A while later when battery was up to 80% the draw was 1.6A (~38W) and System Profile still reported 65W after refreshing. The macbook got up to 100% in under an hour and the adapter was only barely warm.

Powering from 12V instead, the adapter drew 2.9A and System Profile reported 36W. But again, as the charge current tapered down to 1.5A the MacBook still reported 36W. So, I suspect that Apple's System Profile just tells you the negotiated charge rate not actual...The Amazon listing for the USB adapter says the charge rate reduces to 27W on both ports when powered from 12V -- I'm not sure what to make of that.

Now, MY laptop is another question. The Lenovo P17 ships with a 65W brick in the base configuration, 170W for the midlevel graphics card, and 230W with the largest graphics card option. Lenovo doesn't put a USB-C charge port on it, I assume because USB-PD is still too rare and confusing for broad consumer use. It uses their "slim tip" power plug. When my build is finished I plan to hack a slimtip plug onto a plain CLA with a voltage regulator in between and try running off my house battery. This will only work in my rig (24V CLA), but that's all I need. For now, I'm using an off-the-shelf 12V "travel adapter" rated to 90W. My machine won't charge or even boot with that plugged in, since it has a resistor to define the power rating -- but I can at least recharge the laptop while it's shut down, which is great for topping up overnight without idling the inverter.

BTW if you're on windows The utliity HWiNFO is awesome for looking at power usage (as well as pretty much anything else you could imagine).


I agree that 65W feels like the current ceiling but I'm thinking the rest of the world will -- gradually -- grasp what a great idea USB-C is and we'll figure out how to clarify all the different "flavors" of cable/protocol to a lay audience. Slim, compact "executive" type laptops often ship with 65W power supplies to start with and already have off-the-shelf solutions, I dunno how long it will take for the minority with workstations to get our answer.

Sill, I wouldn't characterize even workstation laptops as "power hungry" -- feels to me like getting a pretty good deal if I can run engineering-grade parametric modeling software wide open and only consume 230W. And when I'm NOT spinning the fans, the machine consumes far, far less -- as low as 20W while emailing. Maybe I'm just easily impressed : )
Thanks for reporting on it!
 
Manufacture rating of the wire is 20 amps 150 volts. That thicker wire will allow a future upgrade to one a new adapter of the more obscure higher amperage USB-c protocols you mentioned if a plug becomes available.
I'm pulling oversized wire to my CLAs and a few other few key places as well, similar reasons. I love the rare moments that I'm clever enough to lay the groundwork for future projects.
Isn't the ampacity of 12awg rather higher than 20A? Or are you sizing for Vdrop in a long run?
 
I'm pulling oversized wire to my CLAs and a few other few key places as well, similar reasons. I love the rare moments that I'm clever enough to lay the groundwork for future projects.
Isn't the ampacity of 12awg rather higher than 20A? Or are you sizing for Vdrop in a long run?
I went off the manufacturer spec sheet for that low voltage Dc 12-2 wire. May be higher for others based off insulation.
 
Isn't the ampacity of 12awg rather higher than 20A? Or are you sizing for Vdrop in a long run?
In general 12ga is 20A max, but one can calculate the voltage drop and exceed “the tables” but I say, “why?” Correct sized wiring will not get hot, is more efficient in use, and while a bit more expensive-sounding by percent, in practical terms the dollars difference is not tragic in practical use most of the time.
 
Honestly I was checking if I had misunderstood something, not to question @chrisski 's choice : )
I overlooked the fact that it's 12/2 so the ampacity won't line up with NEC's tables for conductors in free air.
My bad, sorry about veering off topic in an otherwise tidy thread.
 
Last edited:
A bit of a necro revive but AFAIK there aren't any panel mount options but there are several buck boost boards, and the smallest one I own is 47x32mm and 13mm tall at the caps
IP2368 mini also called IP2368 pro (two different designed boards are out there, size specs are similar but the one I linked is a bit shorter)
This one WORKS (my YouTube channel was devoted to busting all the shitty ones for a while). It is also able to be used with LiFeP04. Comes set for 4S but can be used with 5S and 6S but I think there's a transistor that has be changed or it'll blow. If your diy device is higher voltage you could probably just use a capable buck converter? The one downside is when power is cut the only way to "restart" it is to charge it for a second but the idle power draw is quite low, I leave it attached to a 4S5P 18650 pack (16Ah) pack all the time and barely notice a voltage drop.
SW2303 is a shit show. Works up to maybe 60W then craps out. I suspect the PL5501 might be the issue.
SC8812A with the chipsea chip known as the "120W bidirectional full protocol fast charge" whatever works too but its 4S NMC only I think.
IP5389 might work...I bought a TZT board that took a shit after two weeks
SW3518S is the 100W version of the buck only SW3516 that does 60W. Very reliable but needs 20.5"ish volts for 20V output.
 
A bit of a necro revive but AFAIK there aren't any panel mount options but there are several buck boost boards, and the smallest one I own is 47x32mm and 13mm tall at the caps
IP2368 mini also called IP2368 pro (two different designed boards are out there, size specs are similar but the one I linked is a bit shorter)
This one WORKS (my YouTube channel was devoted to busting all the shitty ones for a while). It is also able to be used with LiFeP04. Comes set for 4S but can be used with 5S and 6S but I think there's a transistor that has be changed or it'll blow. If your diy device is higher voltage you could probably just use a capable buck converter? The one downside is when power is cut the only way to "restart" it is to charge it for a second but the idle power draw is quite low, I leave it attached to a 4S5P 18650 pack (16Ah) pack all the time and barely notice a voltage drop.
SW2303 is a shit show. Works up to maybe 60W then craps out. I suspect the PL5501 might be the issue.
SC8812A with the chipsea chip known as the "120W bidirectional full protocol fast charge" whatever works too but its 4S NMC only I think.
IP5389 might work...I bought a TZT board that took a shit after two weeks
SW3518S is the 100W version of the buck only SW3516 that does 60W. Very reliable but needs 20.5"ish volts for 20V output.
Can you clarify which was reliable with 12v? Or other better options since? (Only need 65w max per outlet, most 45w) And YouTube link!?
 
Can you clarify which was reliable with 12v? Or other better options since? (Only need 65w max per outlet, most 45w) And YouTube link!?

About halfway through I discuss the modules I like for PD.

With 12V input the mist you’ll get is 36W on buck only modules. With a buck boost you’ll get 20V 5A=100W but you need more like 13V. Might be more lenient with 4S LFP though but I know for NMC that once my 4S pack gets below 3.50V per cell the fuel gauge (which probably isn’t calibrated correctly) shows low battery. I think in my testing I actually needed 12.7 or 13V for the module to boost to 20v but that might be related to losses in the wire.
 
Back
Top