
Anker PowerPort PD 1 USB-C Wall Charger Teardown - devy
http://www.chargerlab.com/archives/1565.html
======
theamk
I was looking forward for Ken Shriiff-style charger reviews ([0], [1]) and was
disappointed to find out this is just pictures, with almost no analysis.

FWIW, from the photos, it looks like the charger is not very bad from safety
perspective -- there is a wide, healthy space between high and low side.
(unless there is a diagonal trace in the "The back of the PCB" photo, between
high and low voltage sides.. but it is so absurd if true, I think it is just a
camera artifact)

[0] [http://www.righto.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-
and...](http://www.righto.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-and-why-
you.html) [1] [http://www.righto.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-
ap...](http://www.righto.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-apple-
is.html)

~~~
kens
> I was looking forward for Ken Shirriff-style charger reviews

Ha ha, thanks! I agree with you that it looks okay from a safety perspective.
It looks like they built the charger with reasonable quality, not cutting
corners, but it's not at the Apple level of (over-)engineering. The one
sketchy thing is the charger panel that just pops off (instead of being
glued/welded), potentially exposing the user to high voltage.

One interesting thing is the amount of complexity that USB-C adds. The charger
has a separate daughter board for the Cypress USB-C controller chip. This chip
contains a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M0 CPU running at 48 MHz. I believe that works
out to about 8 Cray 1 supercomputers using the Dhrystone benchmark.

The switching power supply is a quasi-resonant flyback topology. To
oversimplify, the incoming AC is rectified to DC, chopped up into pulses that
are fed through the flyback transformer. The output from the transformer is
rectified, yielding the low-voltage, high-current DC output.

One somewhat advanced feature is that the output is not rectified by a diode,
but by a MOSFET controlled by the controller chip. This is called _synchronous
rectification_. This improves efficiency because you don't have the voltage
drop you get across a diode.

The SMPS controller chip is interesting. Most switching power supplies have an
optoisolator to provide feedback between the output and the control chip. But
this control chip connects to both the input side and output side; it contains
an inductive isolator internally. The control chip also contains the MOSFET
that chops up the input voltage. So the big controller chip replaces multiple
components in a typical charger.

The LED indicator is a bit puzzling. There's a TL431 voltage reference chip
next to it. The TL431 is extremely common in chargers to provide the feedback
for voltage regulation, but apparently it's being used here to drive the LED.

~~~
RandallBrown
You're saying that our phone chargers have the equivalent of EIGHT of the
fastest computers in the world in 1976? Wow.

~~~
nimish
A usb c controller is quite complicated. The protocol is not simple at all.

~~~
RandallBrown
It's still mind-blowing that if you wanted a USB-C controller in 1976, you'd
need $64 million dollars worth of computing power.

~~~
nimish
You would need more than that, since a significant cost is already built into
the economies of scale of making non-leading-edge chips.

Exponential growth is a crazy thing.

------
sisk
The subject of this teardown is the 18w PowerPort charger, _not_ to be
confused with the soon-to-ship (?) gallium nitride (GaN) 27w charger known as
the PowerPort Atom PD-1[0].

I only know of two shipping GaN chargers at the moment: the 45w RAVPower (RP-
PC104)[1], and the 45w Mu One[2]. I imagine we'll see an ton of GaN chargers
this year.

[0]:
[https://www.anker.com/deals/powerport_atom](https://www.anker.com/deals/powerport_atom)

[1]: [https://www.ravpower.com/p/ravpower-45w-type-c-pd-wall-
charg...](https://www.ravpower.com/p/ravpower-45w-type-c-pd-wall-charger.html)

[2]:
[https://www.themu.co.uk/collections/muone](https://www.themu.co.uk/collections/muone)

~~~
chx
The Inergie 60C must be one as well, it's too small to be anything else. Also,
the finsix dart is GaN but it's not USB C.

~~~
sisk
Thanks for the additions.

Didn't think of the Dart since it's been around for a while. That has to be
one of (the?) first GaN chargers to market?

~~~
chx
I am an idiot, the Dart is not GaN. [https://www.pntpower.com/5-reasons-why-
avogy-and-finsix-put-...](https://www.pntpower.com/5-reasons-why-avogy-and-
finsix-put-sic-in-their-chargers/)

------
jaytaylor
Had never heard of "ultrasonic welding" [0]. Also had no idea the wide range
of applications, even many shoes use this process for bonding the materials
together [1].

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_welding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_welding)

[1] [https://science.howstuffworks.com/ultrasonic-
welding.htm/pri...](https://science.howstuffworks.com/ultrasonic-
welding.htm/printable)

------
wlesieutre
Page is hanging trying to load a pair of jquery files

    
    
        http://dn-staticfile.qbox.me/jquery/1.11.1/jquery.min.js?ver=1.11.1
        http://dn-staticfile.qbox.me/jquery-migrate/1.2.1/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=1.2.1
    

and doesn't seem to display images without them. The rest of the page did
render eventually though.

If anyone else has this issue, right clicking the image and using "View Image"
does work, I guess it's relying on jquery to display them on the page or
something?

~~~
Ambroos
Images are hidden by default until a script shows them with an animation
(fade) once they're loaded. The script is part of the Wordpress theme this
site is using. Clearly it's old code considering it's relying on code only
compatible with jQuery 1.2.1 which was released in 2007.

~~~
marpstar
To be fair, that's jQuery Migrate 1.2, which was released in 2013. Not much
better, but still... jQuery 1.11 (the version it's actually using) was
released in 2014.

------
wkearney99
If you want some entertaining tear-downs and analysis, BigCliveDotCom on
Youtube is great viewing.

[https://www.youtube.com/user/bigclivedotcom/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/bigclivedotcom/videos)

------
voltagex_
I prefer these reviews: [https://lygte-
info.dk/info/indexUSB%20UK.html](https://lygte-
info.dk/info/indexUSB%20UK.html) (warning, large number of images)

------
frankus
Apologies for being mildly off-topic, but is anyone aware of a USB-C PD
charger with more than a single USB-C PD port? Doesn't necessarily have to be
wall-wart style.

~~~
ars
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07JVL8C3H](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07JVL8C3H)

Anker PA-Y16

It's cheaper to buy two single port ones though :(

~~~
sahaskatta
That may charge 2 smart phones just fine, but it isn't enough for a laptop
like a Macbook 13 or Dell XPS 13.

I'm sure we'll see ones that can handle enough output for a computer + phone
in the near future!

~~~
SomeHacker44
Count me in... I would love a full spec USB-C charger with 100+ watt total
output across, say, four or five USB-C ports. Maybe add an A or two for good
measure, perhaps with QC.

I do carry an Anker with one USB-C and four A for travel with my (USB-C)
laptop(s).

While I am wishing... A USB-C hub (bus powered or from a PD input) with full
speed USB-C ports, maybe 4-6, and an A or two for good measure.

~~~
Marsymars
Maybe someone who knows electronics better than me can chime in with
corrections and/or correct terminology, but my impression is that USB PD
doesn't lend itself to having a bunch of type-C ports that draw from a shared
max power rating in the way that's common with USB BC devices. e.g. if you
have a 100W brick, you're going to have five ports with 20W max, or one 60W
port and four 10W ports, etc. (that is, each port is essentially an
independent charger sharing a housing, and with the heat limitations of the
shared housing)

~~~
gman99
The USB-C PD definitely allows you to do exactly what you suggest.

I know this is supported in this google dual-port PD charger:
[https://store.google.com/gb/product/usb_c_dual_port_charger](https://store.google.com/gb/product/usb_c_dual_port_charger)

There is an explanation on how the power budget is split in this post:
[https://plus.google.com/+BensonLeung/posts/8jmUYtJxAwX](https://plus.google.com/+BensonLeung/posts/8jmUYtJxAwX)

Presumably other multi-port chargers also do similair things

------
londons_explore
Surprising that this doesn't use a higher frequency to reduce the iron core
size and make the device smaller and lighter.

Perhaps the product designers said 'it's gotta weigh at least 5 oz' and the
engineers thought they'd use old-fashioned huge low frequency 20kHz flyback
transformers rather than put a steel weight in.

~~~
theamk
Controller datasheet shows the frequency of 30 KHz to 100 KHz, depending on
the load.

Sure, it is not 1MHz, but I think high voltage, high frequency MOSFETs might
be too expensive for just 18W design.

------
londons_explore
I would expect a brand-name device claiming to support USB-C PD to support the
15 and 20v modes too, so it can at least charge a laptop.

All the components I checked are already capable of it, so I guess some tests
failed and they rushed it to market without 15 and 20v support?

~~~
Johnny555
Do you need to use the 15V or 20V modes to supply 18W to a laptop or can the
laptop just use the 2A@9V?

I can plug my Macbook into a 5V only USB phone charger and it says it's
charging (ok, it doesn't really keep up with the power usage, so the battery
still drains, but it drains slower than it would if not plugged into anything
at all)

~~~
londons_explore
Lots of laptops require 20v because they are re-using circuitry from the days
of 19.5 volt proprietary charging bricks.

Also, having both step-up and step down convertors in your laptop is going to
make everything a bit heavier, bulkier, and costlier, for the very tiny
proportion of users who want to charge from a 5v phone charger overnight.

~~~
snops
Since the USB-C port often supports bidirectional power, it may not actually
make it that much larger, if at all, as the battery charger IC can often
operate in "reverse buck" mode to turn the battery voltage into 5V, which when
using synchronous rectification (almost mandatory for efficiency now) means it
has all the parts for forward boost, and just needs a slightly cleverer
control IC. This is like how many modern power banks can use the same inductor
for buck (5V->3.7V) charging and boost (3.7->5V) discharging.

Check this app note from Intersil/Renesas:
[https://www.renesas.com/eu/en/doc/whitepapers/power/usb-c-
bu...](https://www.renesas.com/eu/en/doc/whitepapers/power/usb-c-buck-boost-
battery-charging.pdf)

(of course, it may be slightly less efficient in boost charging, but since the
5V usb source has limited power, this may not be a concern in terms of
component thermal limits etc).

~~~
colechristensen
So this reuse is why almost no power banks support simultaneous charge and
discharge, I am guessing.

It is super annoying that I can't use any of my power banks as laptop-like
batteries for Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, and the like.

~~~
int_19h
Take a look at OmniCharge, e.g.:

[https://www.omnicharge.co/products/omni-20-usb-c/](https://www.omnicharge.co/products/omni-20-usb-c/)

------
anotheryou
I use this one for 30eur to power my dell xps when watching movies and charge
2-3 phones over night:
[http://budgetlightforum.com/node/62740](http://budgetlightforum.com/node/62740)

it's cheap super portable considering it charges all my devices at once and if
you don't need to charge fast on all ports at once it's totally fine.

edit: amazon reviews look like you have to get lucky to get one that doesn't
blow up... mine works absolutely fine since 6 month though.

~~~
colechristensen
Charging more slowly increases the longevity of your lithium-type batteries
anyway.

------
joshstrange
I really wish Anker would ship a charger that can power a MBP 15" 2018\. I use
Anker for everything charging/battery/cable related except my third party MBP
chargers (because they don't make one) and 90 degree cables (again, because
they don't make them. If not my boyfriend would slowly destroy every cable I
have by resting his phone on his chest while charging...)

------
lanius
Is USB-IF certification any guarantee of quality?

------
derefr
Anyone willing to compare and contrast with the iPad Pro's diminutive USB-C
charger?

~~~
mark212
there's a teardown of the Apple 2018 iPad Pro charger (18w) on the same site
for comparison. Sadly, there's not much analysis except to say that the Apple
charger is very well built and compact.

~~~
AceJohnny2
Links:

Apple 18W charger (iPad Pro):
[http://www.chargerlab.com/archives/939.html](http://www.chargerlab.com/archives/939.html)

Apple 61W charger (Macbook Pro):
[http://www.chargerlab.com/archives/1217.html](http://www.chargerlab.com/archives/1217.html)

Apple 87W charger (Macbook Pro):
[http://www.chargerlab.com/archives/1292.html](http://www.chargerlab.com/archives/1292.html)

------
garysahota93
Is this link working for folks? It wouldn't load for me :(

------
eugeniub
At first I thought this was about the PowerPort PD Atom 1, which isn't yet
released, but it's about the PowerPort PD 1, which came out sometime last
year.

------
gpderetta
0

------
gumby
Not sure I could call this "well made" which is a disappointment for me with
regards to Anker. The HV and LV sides don't appear to be well, or even at all
isolated.

I suppose the big yellow-wrapped thing is the voltage transformation stage,
but the connector should feed directly into it. Looks like it is actually be a
transformer rather than a switching supply, which I suppose could cut costs.

~~~
inferiorhuman
> Not sure I could call this "well made" which is a disappointment for me with
> regards to Anker.

Does Anker have a good reputation? I bought an Anker cigarette lighter - USB
charger a couple years ago. One of the reviewers pointed out it fit poorly,
took it apart, and made suggestions to Anker on how to improve the product
(and got feedback from Anker). I figured it was safe to assume the
improvements made it into the product. Turns out that a year later no
improvement had been made and the damn thing would disconnect every time I hit
a bump or looked at it funny.

From my POV Anker is 7-11 quality stuff.

Edit: I'm loving the downvotes from the brand loyalists who've nothing to
contribute.

~~~
AquaLineSpirit
There are two different sizes of cigarette lighter sockets, maybe that's why
it fit badly?

~~~
jefftk
Specifically:

* Size A: inside diameter ~21.0mm (mainly American cars)

* Size B: inside diameter ~21.5mm (mainly European cars)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_lighter_receptacle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_lighter_receptacle)

