Thanks, @jr123. I’m holding off on the Volta right now simply because for me it’s a nice-to-have but I’m definitely looking forward to hearing about your experience.
The volta arrived. The magnet is definitely stronger than other amazon magnetic tips I bought. The charging tip has a nice blue indicator which is a bonus to help you know it is charging. There is a gap, so it doesn’t sit flush to the case. I’m not sure if the gap is a framework thing for not having deeper ports or if the volta is made like that. The gap doesn’t seem to catch things or bother me though. The cable stays nicely attached and detaches when my dog decides to lay on my cable at least 4 times a day. On cheapo amazon cables, the cables would fall off with any movement of the laptop. Charging performance is the same, so no noticeable issues. I bought the 60 watt version. It’s a win and I am happy with it. If anyone can suggest a good free program then I can give some data/stats on it for charging.
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@CJ_Elevated, are you able to supply cad files so we all can embed a volta charger into an expansion card?
Also, I know this’ll probably be a different product, but does anyone know of a way to have a mag cable connect at a 90 degree angle like the old macbook ones?
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Excellent. Ordered and Subscribed, and can’t wait to print one up myself. It’ll be great to have the day I actually get my Framework.
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Unfortunately it does look like this is a Framework issue, though I’m not sure why the receptacle would be designed that way.
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I have been using the Volta XL (earlier PD enabled cable) and the Volta Spark on a few of my laptops and phones for a while, they are awesome and the magnetic hold is pretty good.
That said, sometimes their cable lengths aren’t optimal, so I’ve explored other options, and recently picked up a few of these that are allegedly Thunderbolt 3/USB4 compatible, with claims of speeds from 10/20/40 Gbps and 4k@60Hz video. I haven’t been able to test the speeds or video yet, but they are cheap and let you use your existing USB-C to USB-C cables (like the Framework one if you got their charger), and the 90 degree offset head is great for the Macbook Pro or other laptops with their TB3/USB-C ports rather close together.
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@CJ_Elevated, any reason you chose this one over one that wouldn’t handicap data transfer speeds so much? Obviously I want safer charging, but I’d prefer it if I still get good data performance as well.
@ERLindeman I haven’t found a full 24 or even 19 pin magnetic cable that was stable enough. The connectors can short out if the cable is just slightly misaligned or twisted. This one allows for full 100W PD and little risk of damaging the motherboard.
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@CJ_Elevated Okay, that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the explaination; I can totally live with that.
gf and I been using these for a year so far. 65W charging, 2external monitors and gigabit to a docking station, using the special (short) cable that comes with the docking station so that removes one common problem of not using a good enough cable to get full current or full tb3 data speed.
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Hmm, that looks good, but I am worried about the issues expressed by CJ. I’ll probably remix @CJ_Elevated’s new design to incorporate a seperate USB-C port in the same card that can take advantage of the full data speed, since that way I get the best of both worlds and get an extra port to boot. That’ll probably be easier said than done, and CJ might do that himself, since he seems to like to push the boundaries quite a bit, but I’m sure the combined enginuity of this community can figure out a way of implementing MagSafe w/o sacrificing power or data speed or reliablity. It may take a few dozen iterations though. Currently getting my solder station and 3D printing workflow back up to a useable state, haven’t had a real reason to use either in the year since the move, and having this challenge makes me so unbelieveably excited!
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I caution everyone ordering amazon magnetic chargers including power bricks. Those cheap products are not necessarily UL or produced with any stringent ISO testing. At least Volta publishes the certifications they have whereas the amazon listings just mention it with no links or references. The amazon ones I ordered got extremely hot and easily broke. Do your homework and thoroughly check the certifications, especially on expensive laptops.
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Yeah, I would only buy an adapter to use with an existing UL brick, and I checked pin continuity on the one I did get, just to be extra safe. I think (or at least would hope) that everyone considering such a route in this community is bright enough to do their due diligence.
If you have a written up testing process and a GitHub gist or similar with a breakout adapter for testing, I can try to go through and add notes for any of the magnetic adapters that I’ve picked up to determine if they have any wires crossed or are passing through the correct voltages on the right pins.
I do not. I just did my own testing and validation, and did not document it at all, but I can speak to the integrity of the adapter that @CJ_Elevated linked me above.
If I made a 3d printable enclosure for the adapter, like one that would allow it to sit flush, would that be something people would use? Maybe have a usb-c splitter built into it and have a usb-c passthrough, and the recessed port for the volta charger tip?
EDIT: Maybe instead a usb-a and recessed usb-c so that something like this can be shoved into it:
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Splitter-Charging-Compatible-Chromecast/dp/B0968Q7MXZ/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=usb-c%2Bsplitter%2B60w&qid=1634567270&sr=8-5&th=1
EDIT 2:
Ordered a Volta spark, and the splitter, should get the Volta within like 10 days, will update when all comes in.
What gets me about these ‘solutions’ is that the cable always seems to have to have a regular USB-C at one end.
Why can’t I buy a cable with magnetic tips at both ends. That way, both the charger and the devices can all have magnetic connectors, and therefore it doesn’t matter which way around the cable goes or what device you want to use.
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