Yo everyone. I’m trying to understand how USB power works with batteries, hopefully this is the correct community to ask. We have so many different devices that can be charged with USB-C, yet all the power bricks and power banks have different voltage, amps, watts. Can I use any USB-C brick or power bank with any device and battery and it must intelligently never draw over the limits of the power source?
I thought that USB-C is made for this yet I can read reports that people damaged their Nintendo Switch because of a power brick. How careful do we have to be when charging our phones, tablets, laptops, gaming devices? What exactly to look out for when deciding what to plug in where? Thank you very much for any replies.
USB standard is 5V and the current is varible between some limits. Charger power is V * A = W. When you connect any device it uses 5V and it drains the required current. That make imposible to burn the connected device, the worst thing that could happen is the devices doesn’t charge because the charger can’t provide enough current.
Said that, there are several propietary additions, for example, Qualcomm Quick Charge. The charger and the device both have a custom chip. When you connect the device, it starts charging as a regular device @ 5V following USB standard. If the chip is available in the charger and in the device, they could agree in using 9V, 12V or more and the voltage changes in the charger and the fast charge begins. I think the chip is able to test if the cable is good enough too. If you change the power all devices and cables involved must be safe and certified for that.
USB-C makes something similar to Quick Charge official though, and OP asked about USB-C. USB-C supports USB PD (Power Delivery) in which a device can request up to 20V (or higher in recent updates). Same deal, starts out at 5V, but the devices negotiate for the highest common supported voltage and it starts operating at that voltage. It’s how higher power devices like laptops, gaming systems, mini PCs, etc. are able to use USB for power.
Thank you for completing my answer. USB is the specification, USB-C is a connector type. The definition of voltages, power, etc is in the specification.