Why is it that Apple Lightning connectors and cables and Mini-B connectors and cables are rugged and reliable, but the phone and peripheral market seems to have settled on the Micro-B USB connector form factor which is absolutely terrible and always breaks?
Additionally people who make "charge-only" cables with the data pins disconnected, but otherwise look identical to any other USB cable should be execute
someone screwed up something in the mini-b design so it is only rated for ~1000 insertions, micro-b is rated for 10000
The micro-B was made a cellphone requirement by China, after hundreds (of thousands) of complaints about expensive/incompatible chargers.
Happened aobut ten years ago.
sure it must be micro-B? is it not like the EU rule that it must charge from USB?
On Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 2:51:48 PM UTC-7, Lasse Langwadt Christensen w rote:
Yeah, some more digging and I find the USB A connector is mentioned; for tiny connection to a cellphone, and 'free' data connection, the micro-B is just a common choice, not a requirement.
That's odd. I once was criticizing a board design for using both micro USB for data and mini USB for power, the idea being to not mix them up. I wou ld have preferred they both be micro just so I didn't need to have two diff erent cables. Others said the mini USB connector was designed to stand up to use while the micro USB connector was not. I assume the numbers you quo te are in the spec? Or are they just what the industry has agreed to?
Rick C.
The micro connector has the retaining spring on the cable, so it flexes and wears out first. The mini has the spring on the female side.
Obviously. Phones are coming with type-Cs now and Apple has used their "Lighting" connectors for some time.
bitrex wrote in news:D3YLC.169502$ snipped-for-privacy@fx38.iad:
They chose it because of its miniature size. IMHO, ALL of the USB designs are piss poor. metal faces sliding past each other, barely touching, and prone to contact pitting and other problems... mainly simply not staying connected.
Blame slimline phone design paradigms.
I do not grab my phone by dragging said cord, and yes, I do see that a lot.
I like PINS, encircled by the mating connector by a split cylinder.
whit3rd wrote in news:8ffa3dae-760e-4dbe-b5f2- snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Wrong!
Micro B ushered in with USB 2.0 spec, and that was back in 2000 and it was engineers' work, not chinese customer complaints that drove it.
With Apple cables, the connectors are OK but the weak spot is the place where the cable enters the connector. With the soft cable material and the hard shell used on the connector (without any flexing grommet) the cables always break at that point.
Rob wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@xs9.xsall.nl:
I agree. The makers never take care of tensile strain relief.
A similar problem is found on many power cords where the strain relief is so stiff that the cord flexes and breaks at the end of the strain relief.
Rick C.
I have had some good results with the Apple connectors by wrapping a short length of self-amalgamating tape around the stiff connector tube and the cable. This also fixes cables that have begun to break.
Of course don't do that with power cords... the cable itself is too stiff to be protected by the tape and it only hides the problem.
Rob wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@xs9.xsall.nl:
Sounds like some guys are just a little careless with some elements of their equipment.
I only plug in cold, never energized. I wrap cables up carefully as well, and I observe and learn from watching others degrade their gear.
I think you're unlikely to benefit from plugging phone cables in unenergized, but not pulling them out by the wire and wrapping them properly is obviously sensible. I've never broken one in 10 years of various use.
I should say it doesn't happen to me either, but I see a lot of cables and other equipment where I work. Either it does not occur to people that quickly repeated failures are probably caused by themselves, or they simply do not care because they know that all they have to do is walk by the servicedesk to get a replacement.
Rob wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@xs9.xsall.nl:
snip
It is not just the cords that go south. A bad cord also degrades the connector on the device as well.
It is possible to insert a bad connector such the it dives *under* the polymer conductor plate inside the device connector.
Good cables stay nice and perpendicular to the port opening. As they "wear", they begin to flex the device connector(s) they get inserted into.
USB should have been designed with round pins and shroud connectors. For me the entire design sucks in the final analysis.
Many things re-establish connection and continue on after a noisy wipe or temporary disconnection, etc.
Well Linux, for one, does NOT tolerate this with a connected USB storage medium. It is the one "app" which fails instantly on this OS.
In fact, a Linux distro on a USB stick will 100% fully freeze if one simply bumps the stick or wiggles it during the session.
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