USB recharging - 12v Tablet?

PerfectBlue97

Prominent Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
1,065
Reaction score
72
Points
478
I brought a re-branded Chinese tablets. It's no Nexus, but it's pretty good for the price and it does what I need it to do.

The packaging it says that it supports recharging through a USB mini socket (The USB port is specifically labeled as being for both peripherals and charging on the box). Only, when I plugged it in, it wouldn't recharge.

At first I thought that it might be faulty (see above about it being a rebranded Chinese tablet) but then I noticed that the mains adapter is 12v, not the usual 5v that you tend to see, which means that my PC probably doesn't output sufficient power to recharge the tablet.

I'd like to buy a spare mains adapter, is there such a thing as a 12v mains adapter that has a UK 3 pin plug on one end, and a USB Micro plug on the other. I've already checked the manufacturer's website, and they don't do one?

Also, is there any way to get my PC to output 12v over USB, for example, a powered USB hub with a special high powered socket for recharging things?
 
Not possible to modify the voltage on a pc socket. Also word of warning: only use the psu to charge the tablet. Do not use it to charge a mobile or sat nav or anything else: you will just end up frying it.

Why the usb standard was ever allowed to provide anything other than 5V I'll never understand!
 
Not possible to modify the voltage on a pc socket. Also word of warning: only use the psu to charge the tablet. Do not use it to charge a mobile or sat nav or anything else: you will just end up frying it.

Why the usb standard was ever allowed to provide anything other than 5V I'll never understand!

Well ... some machines do come with a special USB socket that provides additional voltage. I was wondering if anybody made one as an add on card?

I can't use the PSU to recharge anything else, it doens't have a USB socket on the end. It's a pin\jack plug. I'm actually looking for one with a USB plug on the end.

I think that the reason that a USB socket was limited to 5v was that it was never intended for recharging things. Back in the day when it was introduced they only really envisioned people using it for things like mice and games controllers. There weren't even USB HDs back then.

Anything that needed more power usually had a mains adapter with it as it needed mains voltage, and it's not safe\smart to put mains voltage through a hot swapping plug. you don't want to electrocute yourself.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom