Creating your own USB C charging cable?

timmothy · 21 Jul 2020 at 15:33

Would it be possible to make your own USB C charging cable by cutting the original charging cable for the laptop and then cutting a usb c cable and joining the wires?

The reason I ask is the original charger for the Lenovo x230 is huge and it would be great if I could turn it into a usb c cable and then charge it via a normal PD charger.

Armageus · 21 Jul 2020 at 15:38

No - the x230 needs 20v, and whilst USB PD can support that, it needs the device's charging circuit to be able to tell it to supply 20v, otherwise it will remain at 5v.

KompuKare · 21 Jul 2020 at 15:44

Anything is "possible", but some things are not worthwhile?
Here's the Wiki on USB C power delivery:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware#PD
So there is 20V but there's negotiation etc. as otherwise a phone expecting 5V might end up being fried with 20V.

Besides, the 65W ThinkPad chargers aren't that large. Not as small as the modern 45W ThinkPad ones but not huge either, but since the X220 can have a 35W CPU it really needs the 65w adapter. Do you have the 90W version?

timmothy · 21 Jul 2020 at 16:06

I will hopefully be doing quite a bit of travelling soon and it will make a huge difference to not have to carry the 90w supplied charger. I will have a 65w or charger for phones etc and it would be great to use the same one for the laptop. There are cables on AliExpress that convert from the original charger to usb c, do you think they will work?