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The spec may say it, but I've never encountered a USB-C cable that claims to support 240 watts. I suspect if machines that tried to draw 240W over USB-C were widespread, we would see a lot of melted cables and fires. There are enough of them already with lower power draw charging.


Search Amazon for "240W USB" and you get multiple pages of results for cables.

A few years ago there was a recall of OnePlus cables that were melting and catching fire, I had 2 of them and both melted.

But yes 240W/48V/5A is insane for a spec that was originally designed for 0.5W/5V/100mA. I suspect this is the limit for USB charging as anything over 48V is considered a shock hazard by UL and 5A is already at the very top of the 3-5A limit of 20AWG for fire safety.


We've had a variety of 140W laptops for a few years already, so the original spec has been far away for a while now.

The advantage of USB-C is the power negotiation, so getting the higher rating only on circuits that actually support it should de doable and relatively safe.

The OnePlus cable melting give me the same impression as when hair power cables melt: it's a solved problem, the onus is on the maker.


240W cables are here but at around a 10x price premium. Also cables are chipped so e.g. a 100W cable won't allow 240 in the first place.

Users needing the 240W have a whole chain of specialized devices, so buying a premium cable is also not much of an issue.




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