Discuss Laptops power station in the DIY Electrical Advice area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

marcior

DIY
Reaction score
0
Hi,
How can i get for example 12 laptop usb-c chargers (65w each) on one power station?
I have 12 laptops on a desk and i need to get rid of the chargers (its a mess) its possible to do something that have 12 cables from one power source? I was searching for some vendor with a solution but I didn't found it.

Its possible to do?

Thank you.
 
Do all the laptops need the same voltage? because if not then it's gonna be far more complicated than putting together a chunky power supply with a lot of connectors.

I've done it but only with USB-A kind of stuff, 5V you know for phones, battery chargers, fans... problem with USB-C is that it accepts a wide range of voltages and there's negotiation to be done, that's when things get complex, it's doable, I'd do it, but it requires a lot of dedication and some specialist tools = really expensive.

Here's a prebuilt PDU that's using I believe a 20V power supply and dual boards but it's meant to be rackmounted, so it's big, oh and you also have to order a bulk of 500 units, can't buy just one or two.
Laptops power station proxy-ima - EletriciansForums.net
 
Do all the laptops need the same voltage? because if not then it's gonna be far more complicated than putting together a chunky power supply with a lot of connectors.

I've done it but only with USB-A kind of stuff, 5V you know for phones, battery chargers, fans... problem with USB-C is that it accepts a wide range of voltages and there's negotiation to be done, that's when things get complex, it's doable, I'd do it, but it requires a lot of dedication and some specialist tools = really expensive.

Here's a prebuilt PDU that's using I believe a 20V power supply and dual boards but it's meant to be rackmounted, so it's big, oh and you also have to order a bulk of 500 units, can't buy just one or two.
View attachment 101177
Hi Carolina, yes all the same voltage. Yes i was thinking in something like that. Where i can find hardware to do this? The power source i saw it already selling online, but that usb-c connectors I can't find.
Thank you so much for spending your time to reply.
 
Its possible to do?
I think it depends on whether the laptops you want to run from a common supply are all similar, and/or if you will want to plug a different, more modern, machine into your supply at some point.
You may be aware that usb-c can support variable power delivery, so after a connection is made (using 5V), the computer can negotiate with the supply for higher voltage/ more current.
Do you know if your machines are in this category?
I'm no expert with this technology, but I think as a minimum, if you use one common beefy power supply, you will need a regulator or power delivery module for each usb-c outlet.
I think such modules incorporate the usb-c connector you are looking for.

I would advise you to do a lot more research before DIY'ing such a solution, as it sounds like a mistake just could result in destroying a dozen laptops simultaneously 🤪
 
Last edited:
Hi Carolina, yes all the same voltage. Yes i was thinking in something like that. Where i can find hardware to do this? The power source i saw it already selling online, but that usb-c connectors I can't find.
Thank you so much for spending your time to reply.
Building your own power supply is no joke, you have to be at engineer level to do something like that. You could use a prebuilt and the delivery boards Avo Mk8 mentioned which would be similar to these:

SparkFun Power Delivery Board - USB-C (Qwiic) - DEV-15801 - SparkFun Electronics - https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15801 (USA site)

If you want a single PSU and 12+ outputs it's gonna be large, assuming 20V output we're talking at least 50 amps, the one in the pic I linked is nowhere near that, I think it's 15 amp.
It is possible to build of course.
 
This sort of thing, but unfortunately seems to be discontinued:

Never seen one of those. Makes sense that they exist though.
 

Reply to Laptops power station in the DIY Electrical Advice area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock