this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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EEVBlog also talked about this in a mailbag episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEZQvSgdA2k&t=1839s

And they also have different cable versions available: https://caberqu.com/

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago (3 children)

If it tested the resistance i would be great.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago

No point; resistance is futile.

I'll just see myself out.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There are some cheap testers for that. Even om amazon

[–] [email protected] 37 points 10 months ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Q: What does a buddhist electrician say when he meditates?

A: Ohm

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

lol, no pun intended, just too stupid to type on phone :-)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

You still need a multimeter, but the one I have (Treedix.com) has easily accessible electrical contacts for testing resistance.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Oh, that kind of bad usb cable. Still useful I guess.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Not sure what else, but the thing can tell you if a cable is USB2.0, USB3.0/3.1/.. or just for charging.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

I'm pretty sure they thought the article meant this type of badusb cable. I did, too, at first.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Is it common for USB-C cables to go bad? I just had a cable for an Xbox controller start to go bad somehow in a way I hadn't seen before. When plugged in, it will cause the Xbox to power off. Swapping out the cable, but using the same controller made the problem go away, so it's definitely the cable causing it. It's the same USB-C cable we had been using for awhile with this controller, it's what came with it.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I have a USB-C cable that will only work in a specific orientation. So I'll plug in a device, laptop won't recognize it, (sigh) unplug and flip the cable, and then everything works.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago

USB-A's legacy lives on

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

If you wiggle them around long enough, they all go bad. But it should take a few years under normal use. They are rated for around 10,000 insertions. Cable bending can also damage them.

The more annoying part with modern USB is that not all cables are alike to begin with. Cheap charging cables that you get with random gadgets (e.g. flashlights, fans, etc.) will often just have two pins connected, meaning they work only for charging, not data. Others might have data pins, but only enough for USB2, not USB3 speeds. Others might have too much resistance slowing down charging or dropping too much voltage to even have a device function properly at the other end (common issue with long cables or extensions). And so on. Rather annoying to deal with when you just have some random cables floating around, as there is absolutely no labeling or color coding to differentiate the cables.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

it's not that they go bad. this tool can tell you what features are on the cable because the cables vary a lot.

[–] riskable 4 points 10 months ago

It's not the cable that goes bad it's the connectors on the ends: They wear out.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There are superior versions of this that include every physical USB port (A, B, C, Micro, Mini, and even lightning) so that you can test any cable instead of just type C to type C.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Link? i have this one only

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Here’s the one I use: https://treedix.com/products/treedix-usb-cable-tester-board-usb-cable-checker-data-wire-with-acrylic-case-charging-test-data-line-type-c-micro-type-a-type-b

The exposed pads are also fantastic to break out data lines for measurement when performing electronics repairs.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

nice thank you

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's awesome.

Have you ever seen it with a real case, not just the acrylic "cover"? I'd like to be able to hand it to someone and not worry about the guts. Yea, I could print something, but frankly I can't be arsed, lol.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Mine didn’t come with a case, it’s a very simple circuit so not much concern of ESD causing a problem.

It basically just runs power through every pin on the cable to illuminate corresponding LEDs.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago

Oh, for sure. Just non-tech friends give me the squint eye when I hand em things like this (I'm known for using duct tape and goop on stuff, haha).

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Am I missing something here or is this roughly the same what you get for 4 bucks from China? I mean, 30 euros plus shipping is a lot for a cable tester imo

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Do you trust the $4 tester from China to test the suspect cheap cables from China?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

50% failure rate of the cables and 50% failure of the tester means a problem will be found 100% of the time, but it dmwont tell you where. Or something.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

This one seems to test much more lines than the cheap chinese ones.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Oh man! Super happy to see his channel on here. Dave is the shit and is the only reason I can half ass solder things. His intro soldering videos are great.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I have a really cool one of those for serial cables

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Null modem or straight through.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Consider using a USB-C analyzer or connections tester. These devices can provide information about the cable's performance, power delivery capabilities, and compliance with USB standards.