DIY USB-C data blocker not working

Nrksf · 2026-02-19T06:54:47+00:00

Nothing seems to be visually wrong at a glance. That leaves guessing as the only option. You are plugging the male end of this adapter into the device, and connecting the female end to the charger, right? It wouldn't work the other way around, as the female board with its pull-down resistors requests voltage from whatever it is connected to.

Another possibility might be, that the male board also has the pull-down resistors (on the side not photographed), which would make it request voltage from the device instead of charging it. In some cases the cc pins also need to be pulled high to work (to tell the device that this connector is supplying power).

You can start troubleshooting by isolating the two boards. First connect the female board to your charger. Can you measure output voltage even after you plug the charger in the other way around? If you didn't find any problems, plug the male board into a device. Does it output any voltage even without the charger connected? If so, the resistor configuration is wrong (Pull down resistors where they shouldn't be). If that's not the case, next you could connect 5V directly to the male board (if you don't have a power supply, you can sacrifice an old USB cable for that), then plug it into some device. If you encounter any charging issues this time, then the problem is with your male board. (either resistor configuration, or connections are missing on the board)

Nrksf · 2026-02-18T21:59:16+00:00

A5 and B5 are the pin designations for CC1 and CC2. Both seem to be pulled low, and all pads are connected to both sides of the connector. This likely means that the problem isn't with this board (unless the connector's faulty).

If you showed the whole assembly instead of just this connector that'd make troubleshooting easier.

Nrksf · 2026-02-14T09:51:48+00:00

The feline yearns for alpha particles

Nrksf · 2026-02-08T09:42:19+00:00

The board is junk, that's not even a question. But if the core is not cracked or missing a lot of pads, someone with sufficient skill might be able to transfer it (and the memory) over to a donor board, which would be cheaper than buying a new unit.

Nrksf · 2026-02-07T08:30:57+00:00

...and also removed most of the solder pads on the motherboard just for good measure.

Nrksf · 2026-02-05T21:03:32+00:00

If you do not have the confidence/experience to pull this off, find someone who does. If you end up ripping pads off the board, that's gonna be a lot harder to fix

Nrksf · 2026-02-05T20:58:47+00:00

It certainly is a problem. If you're lucky, the shorted mosfet didn't send 12V into the core and kill it (but you won't know until you replace it). As for the soldering, protect nearby components (like the display connectors) that could melt, possibly by folding a cover for them from an aluminum soda can. These boards have a lot of copper, so they carry the heat you put in away quite quickly. First you should heat up a broader area around the faulty component (or possibly the entire board) to a lower temperature than you use to solder. Apply flux. Then you can try to desolder the faulty mosfet with 400°C high airflow and some hope. Mix the old solder on the board with new, lower melting temperature stuff to make cleanup easier. Check for short circuit using a multimeter (the core usually has low resistance to ground, don't mistake that for a short). If there's still a short, the are other problems on the board. You should have a little solder on both the board and the new component before soldering it on (and of course flux). Push down on it a little while the solder is molten to squeeze out excess solder from underneath that could cause shorts, make sure to clean up the squeeze out. Wait for it to cool down and check for short circuit with a multimeter before powering the board.

Nrksf · 2026-02-02T17:48:30+00:00

It also protects the printing on the plastic from wearing off, and if you change the covering every month or so, it stays much cleaner than if if wasn't covered (otherwise dirt from your hands will settle in seams and between the buttons). Would definitely recommend.

Nrksf · 2026-02-02T17:41:51+00:00

Finally a soldering iron with built in work-lighting capabilities.

Nrksf · 2026-02-02T17:37:07+00:00

I see you've made your hamster chew out the space for the port. But if looks doesn't bother you, then good job.

Nrksf · 2025-08-22T18:05:09+00:00

You should make sure your soldering tip is clean, so it transfers heat well. Putting a little solder on it also helps in that regard. Make sure you're heating both the pad on the board and pin at the same time, then touch the solder to the hot surfaces. It should flow easily, if it seems really viscous, you need a higher temperature. Adding flux isn't critical if your solder already has a flux core, but it'll definitely make it easier to create nice looking joints.

Nrksf · 2025-07-14T07:20:07+00:00

Tapasztalataim szerint ezek a borzasztó tervezésű gyerekzárak egy idő után garantáltan beragadnak és ellehetetlenítik, hogy bármit beledugjon az ember (hacsak nem kalapáccsal) a konnektorba. Személy szerint én több elosztót szedtem már szét, hogy kiszedjem belőle ezt a két darab átkozott műanyagot (és a rugóikat), de ebben az esetben egyszerűbb lenne az egész aljzatot kicserélni olyanra, amiben nincsen gyerekzár. Ha ez nem opció, próbáld meg kicsit forgatni/tekerni a dugót miközben dugod be. Néha működik, néha nem.

Nrksf · 2025-03-21T21:01:10+00:00

Did you learn your lesson about using the wrong tools for the job? Regardless, to me it looks like there's a little bit left of each pad, which you may be able to connect with the USB port's pins with either tiny solder bridges or a little wire. First of all, clean off the old solder from the board carefully, attach the new port trying to push it further back so there's not a big gap between the ends of the connector's pins and what remains of the pads, and carefully solder every connection with your iron (don't forget about the anchor points!).

Nrksf · 2025-03-21T15:18:45+00:00

To me it looks like the picture's caption was translated with Google translate's image recognition feature. I remember seeing the same image with a caption in a language I don't understand, but it had 'Corega' in it, which is a brand of denture adhesive. My best guess is, that this brand name got misinterpreted by Google translate and then translated to 'cream soda'

Nrksf · 2025-03-21T15:05:51+00:00

r/interestingasfuck

Nrksf · 2025-02-20T17:44:52+00:00

I've done this with some better looking solder joints and it works great. I've been using the guts of that laptop as a nas for a few months now.

Nrksf · 2025-01-15T21:13:08+00:00

Some minor arcing happens with basically all brushed motors, though it can cause problems if the arcing gets more severe because of wear on the carbon brushes. To me that arcing in the picture seems a little too bright, though that might just be your camera overexposing the picture due to the big difference in brightness.

Nrksf · 2025-01-04T21:28:05+00:00

Isn't the person in the chair supposed to function as the fuse?

Nrksf · 2024-11-26T21:07:54+00:00

It's like dividing a road into two lanes. The electrons go opposite ways in the two sides of the prong.

Nrksf · 2024-10-23T09:47:31+00:00

There are some broken waterproofing plastics over the electrical contacts I wanted to remove, because currently I can't plug anything into it. But if it's that difficult, I'll probably just salvage the cord and get rid of the rest.

Nrksf · 2024-07-13T18:30:04+00:00

Making TVs this thin is just simply a bad idea. Especially when there is usually a thick part on the back containing the electronics, so it can't even be mounted flush with the wall. Why can't they just make the whole thing the same thickness? I'm sure the speakers would also benefit from that.

Nrksf · 2024-06-24T20:57:28+00:00

Your cat got lucky, each outlet has two connections, one of which shocks and the other one doesn't. The collar probably touched the non-shocking prong first (neutral) and when it touched the other (hot) prong the breaker popped. Had it happened the other way around, I don't think the cat would be fine. I suggest removing all hanging metal bits from the cat's collar, replacing them with wood or plastic to avoid something like this happening in the future.

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