How Do Chargers and Cables Work Together To Charge A Device? Bonus Points To Those Who Can Explain How Fast Charging Works As Well
In: Technology
Not sure what you mean, as the cable isn’t “smart”, it’s just two connectors with wires to carry data and power. So it’s not really “working”, except to conduct electricity. Although if the wires are too thin, it has too much resistance which will lower the voltage, slowing charging (and heating up the wire).
Also, I’m assuming you mean USB (because there are other ways to charge devices). In that case the charger is tasked with supplying 5V. According to the USB standard (which many chargers don’t follow), it should supply 100mA until the device negotiates for more power. One way to do this is resistors across the USB data lines in the charger; this signals the device that the charger is capable of supplying 1A or 2A etc of power.
However instead of simple resistors, smart chargers can communicate over the data lines and it and the device can negotiate what kind of power to transfer. And that’s how fast charging works: the devices negotiate a high level of current and also a higher voltage (for example, 9V or more). This negotiation is important because if the charger just put out 9V without the device asking for it, a lot of devices would be damaged (devices must be specifically engineered to support higher voltages, and many do not).
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