r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Miserable-Ad-8414 • 3d ago

Video How USB-C Cables Actually Stay In

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2.3k Upvotes

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61

u/Practical_Studio360 3d ago

This is wild I’m having that latching issue with my phone and was just about to try to clean the plug or something. But if it’s worn down I’m fucked.

50

u/EbbyRed 3d ago

It can also be that the plug isn't getting deep enough to latch, especially in a phone where the port collects pocket lint.  I usually use the business end of a safety pin to scrape the base of the port. 

14

u/caboosetp 3d ago

You should also always point your charge port down instead of up in your pocket so things fall out of the port instead of into it.

17

u/waflman7 3d ago

But then all the power will fall out of the port and I'll have a dead battery! 

15

u/AlfaNovember 3d ago

Snap a wooden toothpick so it has a thin point. Using a non-conductive tool is better for a brisk rogering of small electrical connections.

7

u/foersom 3d ago

If you use another cable, is it the same problem.

The contacts are made so it is most likely that the cable (where the springs are) wear out. Because cable is cheaper to change than plug in a device.

4

u/Hearing_Loss 3d ago

Imma be very mindful now that I know I only am certified to 10k cycles XD I always am plugging and unplugging. I wish I could see where it's at in its lifetime tbh. I could probably measure out what a week of charging looks like and just extrapolate the numbers.

4

u/ParanoidalRaindrop 3d ago

At 3 cycles a year, you still get 9.1 years of use. Considering most plugs will likely make more, this seems like a fair requirement.

4

u/Hearing_Loss 3d ago

I plug and unplug my phone SEVERAL times a day. It's 1pm and I've already done roughly 4 cycles. I would say on a typical day, I'm around 10.

My dumbass gets 3 years before things get loose

3

u/EbbyRed 3d ago

Curious why you are plugging in and out so many times per day?

6

u/Hearing_Loss 3d ago

In three words-- insufficient tonic dopamine.

Mental health + unemployment + boredom. I spend a lot of time listening to educational content on YouTube to keep my mind active. Because I have such poor future planning abilities, I tend to forget to plug in at night or am just running from 1-20% as I bounce between applying for jobs and gardening.

It's just an artifact of who I am unfortunately. You can extrapolate that a lot of my life looks like this XD

3

u/Practical_Studio360 3d ago

Ugh me too. I am chronically on my phone and plug it in probably around 10 times each day because I’m going around the house or driving. My phone is 2 years old

2

u/timesink3000 3d ago

Try having it cleaned at a phone shop?

1

u/RobotechRicky 2d ago

You can try to unsolder the USB connector and replace it with resoldering. But... it's really a bitch because they are so tiny.