Thank you for showing this usb tester. Could ya do a follow-up video explaining in more detail about it. Examples what A and B are, what the different lights are for, and what to expect for different cables? I think that would be quite helpful. I really enjoy your videos.
That's a pretty neat little tester. I don't know how many times I've swapped things around to try and figure out if a cable is broken or if it just can't do data but this definitely would save me some time the next time that comes up. Thanks for sharing!
I live in Computer Cable Hell so this video was so helpful. I have ordered the board form Amazon via your link. I hope to soon be living in Computer Cable Heaven. You're a star.
I really appreciate your making this video. Thank you so much. Might you be willing to make one where you show how cables that are not working look with Treedix tester? I have two USB to USB Hard Drive type cables. Both of them lit the same lights on the tester but when in use, one of them keeps dropping and then the computer reconnects to the external USB drive while the other cable keeps the hard drive connected and never drops it.
I picked up a few cable testers years back and there were only a few options and the only one with a variety of connectors requires a separate power input… For lighting a few surface mount led’s? I intended to copy the smaller micro to A tester with the battery and mod the larger one but never got around to it. Fast forward to today and there are several at the rock bottom prices we expect from China, the one featured in this video being the one I decided on for less than $20 shipped. Everyone should have a few of these kicking around especially if you’re into electronics, I’ve lost some hours to troubleshooting a project only to discover it was a bad cable or one that only does power.
Bought this a couple of days ago, arrived today. Have so many cables that sort of does not work correctly and I wanted to do a sort of them.... think this will do...
I have a few 12TB WD Black external mains powered HDD's and my 4 port KVM switcher uses these weird USB 3 Micro B ports so this little device will be very useful for me. The Amazon UK link actually works too on my device (I always have issues with links on YT) so that even cooler lol Thank you Lee for sharing with us this useful item.
Really impressed by this show and these explanations. Being a software guy, I"m totally ignorant when dealing with hardware. Now I know. Yes, I already have the device.
Comments are ridiculous. Sorry it's not an EVERYTHING IN ONE tool. This helps sorting out the collection of cables people have and find it out if a cable they bought really does do certain functions (like data). Thanks for sharing!
we used to have: "1 protocol 1 cable". Now, we have: "all protocols" and "1 connector - type C" where everything is possible and usually whatever you wanted ... is what you are missing. Many USB-C cables, lots of descriptions on them and yet when it comes to connection... very often failure ;-) (we can easily forget type A and micro - they will vanish very soon). There is a perfect video on Robert Feranec channel about it: "Which USB Has The Best Power? Big differences ..." - worth spending almost 2 hours to understand what is what ;-)
MOST of what you said, i read and agree with, now saying that, I do not agree with,USB MICRO will vanish soon, let alone just in the USA, in the world there are TONS AND TONS of devices out there and still being used, and for sure i think and say it will NOT BE ANY TIME soon that they WILL VANISH VERY SOON! sad perhaps but true! HHO
I'd definitely buy one if it also tested signal integrity. I have many many cables that all have identical standard pinouts, but some work with Android Auto some do not, some will flash my Arduinos and ESP32's and some will not... but all of them have all 4 wires including the data wires connected, and work in other data transmission situations like copying files to my phone. I need a device that can tell me which of my cables are better and why.
@3:10 Type A-to-Type A cables are not to standard! They can cause shorting. 😂 Type-A is host-end, Type-B is device-end. With double-ended Type-C cables it is negotiated between devices.
@@heretolevitateme I have had one for many years. Supplied with a Dynamode sata adapter. Other brands use them amzn.to/3TsQE1t Also used to be common for data transfer between 2 computers, although they were configured differently
Also I understand why in compatibility mode that it cant use two of the pins from og usb 1.0 but why cant the computer detect to some level so those 2 pins and wires are not wasted.
I bought this tester. Its so confusing. I simply wanted something to tell me if the cable was broken so expecteced Pinrows A to light with Corresponding Pinrows B to show it is working. Their instructuctions are expectedly terrible (translated from chinese) and even though their Amazon CS response is quick, it is equally confusing. Normally, when i buy this sort of thing, i write new instructions for the manufacturer to share with customers, unfortunately i dont understand the device enough lol.
Only problem with this is it only checks for contact, not for signal integrity. I know thats enough for most things you need day to day (like "is this broken? Does it only charge or data too? Is this usb3 cable a scam or actually wired up?" And so on) and its a really cool thing for that usecase, but lots of people will forget a potentially way more important part of the whole thing: signal integrity aka. "is this thing using correct wires? how accurate were they with the length? Is it shielded and drilled correctly?" And testing that kinda stuff will be WAY more expensive. So i'll shut up now, i know i'm being a pedant 😂
100%. People tend to neglect the importance of signal quality when it comes to digital signals and for power. This might be better than nothing, but after using it you still don't know if the cable is good.
AM I the only one confused about what ya all said, if ya cable indicates that it should work using this cable tester, then what am I missing if ya still plug it up, and it dont work, even sharlock would say, well perhaps it is broken??? DUH, again, what am I missing. this device is awesome, and works for most of what is needed to know, shows up when ya all plug in ya all cables, NO DEVICES!!! HHO
This product should not exist. It's just a led driven continuity tester. And at most we realize we don't have full data speed or features. With all the fast charging, PD or QC, we can't tell if a cable can handle 65W. For this we need to measure the cable and it's voltage drop. It would be possible to determine what cables are used and what max power could be sent trough the cable. I usually buy cheaper cables, and most of the time work nicely. But my phone is no longer accepting some cables, so I bought a thick cable and same story. So we should be testing what power it can deliver safely, and maybe actual speed. This should be a pocket tool.
I got one. LEDs lighting up is always nice. But i have no idea how to interpret the LEDs. I can nowhere find a good explanation, especial when LEDs left or right lighting up.
A Type-c connector has 24 pins. That's potentially 24 separate wires (in pairs) running the length of the cable. Not all cables have all wires. The lights mean the cable has the specific wire pair.
That one’s not very useful at all! 99% of the time you’re looking for the voltage drop on the cable… The longer the more voltage drops, and some cables do deliver more current then others. That tester won’t help with that.
Thank you for showing this usb tester. Could ya do a follow-up video explaining in more detail about it. Examples what A and B are, what the different lights are for, and what to expect for different cables? I think that would be quite helpful. I really enjoy your videos.
That's a pretty neat little tester. I don't know how many times I've swapped things around to try and figure out if a cable is broken or if it just can't do data but this definitely would save me some time the next time that comes up. Thanks for sharing!
Great piece of kit to have peace of mind. That one test did seem to misreport though, so I hope that gets followed up just to give total confidence.
I live in Computer Cable Hell so this video was so helpful. I have ordered the board form Amazon via your link. I hope to soon be living in Computer Cable Heaven. You're a star.
Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for.
Funny... I saw the same article and also realized that I couldn't find that model either. The model you reviewed just arrived today! Works great!
Thank you for your very helpful video. Wishing you all the best!
thanks for this was in the process of making one last week but this has saved money on part cost.
Excellent findm Lee; thank you!
I've got one of these on order from Amazon. Should be here tomorrow.
Ta for review, added to my collection
I really appreciate your making this video. Thank you so much. Might you be willing to make one where you show how cables that are not working look with Treedix tester? I have two USB to USB Hard Drive type cables. Both of them lit the same lights on the tester but when in use, one of them keeps dropping and then the computer reconnects to the external USB drive while the other cable keeps the hard drive connected and never drops it.
nice, have a custom usb c to a for my keyboard that stopped working, could be helpful for sure.
I picked up a few cable testers years back and there were only a few options and the only one with a variety of connectors requires a separate power input… For lighting a few surface mount led’s? I intended to copy the smaller micro to A tester with the battery and mod the larger one but never got around to it. Fast forward to today and there are several at the rock bottom prices we expect from China, the one featured in this video being the one I decided on for less than $20 shipped. Everyone should have a few of these kicking around especially if you’re into electronics, I’ve lost some hours to troubleshooting a project only to discover it was a bad cable or one that only does power.
Thank you a lot! I really need this!
Many thanks just orded one, great video 😊
Bought this a couple of days ago, arrived today. Have so many cables that sort of does not work correctly and I wanted to do a sort of them.... think this will do...
I have a few 12TB WD Black external mains powered HDD's and my 4 port KVM switcher uses these weird USB 3 Micro B ports so this little device will be very useful for me. The Amazon UK link actually works too on my device (I always have issues with links on YT) so that even cooler lol
Thank you Lee for sharing with us this useful item.
Really impressed by this show and these explanations. Being a software guy, I"m totally ignorant when dealing with hardware. Now I know. Yes, I already have the device.
Comments are ridiculous. Sorry it's not an EVERYTHING IN ONE tool. This helps sorting out the collection of cables people have and find it out if a cable they bought really does do certain functions (like data). Thanks for sharing!
i wonder why noone does a comprehensive device that can really test it all - like which wattage a PD cable can do aswell
we used to have: "1 protocol 1 cable". Now, we have: "all protocols" and "1 connector - type C" where everything is possible and usually whatever you wanted ... is what you are missing. Many USB-C cables, lots of descriptions on them and yet when it comes to connection... very often failure ;-) (we can easily forget type A and micro - they will vanish very soon).
There is a perfect video on Robert Feranec channel about it: "Which USB Has The Best Power? Big differences ..." - worth spending almost 2 hours to understand what is what ;-)
MOST of what you said, i read and agree with, now saying that, I do not agree with,USB MICRO will vanish soon, let alone just in the USA, in the world there are TONS AND TONS of devices out there and still being used, and for sure i think and say it will NOT BE ANY TIME soon that they WILL VANISH VERY SOON! sad perhaps but true! HHO
@@lecyalphamaids9134 in Europe micro USB is almost vanished already and I don't regret it at all ;-)
Ordered one from Amazon USA... 😎
I'd definitely buy one if it also tested signal integrity. I have many many cables that all have identical standard pinouts, but some work with Android Auto some do not, some will flash my Arduinos and ESP32's and some will not... but all of them have all 4 wires including the data wires connected, and work in other data transmission situations like copying files to my phone. I need a device that can tell me which of my cables are better and why.
@3:10 Type A-to-Type A cables are not to standard! They can cause shorting. 😂 Type-A is host-end, Type-B is device-end. With double-ended Type-C cables it is negotiated between devices.
@@heretolevitateme I have had one for many years. Supplied with a Dynamode sata adapter. Other brands use them
amzn.to/3TsQE1t
Also used to be common for data transfer between 2 computers, although they were configured differently
What about the same but HDMI tester ? I've got plenty of HDMI cables at the moment :)
Also I understand why in compatibility mode that it cant use two of the pins from og usb 1.0 but why cant the computer detect to some level so those 2 pins and wires are not wasted.
Nice I do have a portable montor but I broke it by pressing my foot directly on the LCD screen so Im saving money to get a battery verison
Neat tester.
I bought this tester. Its so confusing. I simply wanted something to tell me if the cable was broken so expecteced Pinrows A to light with Corresponding Pinrows B to show it is working.
Their instructuctions are expectedly terrible (translated from chinese) and even though their Amazon CS response is quick, it is equally confusing.
Normally, when i buy this sort of thing, i write new instructions for the manufacturer to share with customers, unfortunately i dont understand the device enough lol.
Only problem with this is it only checks for contact, not for signal integrity. I know thats enough for most things you need day to day (like "is this broken? Does it only charge or data too? Is this usb3 cable a scam or actually wired up?" And so on) and its a really cool thing for that usecase, but lots of people will forget a potentially way more important part of the whole thing: signal integrity aka. "is this thing using correct wires? how accurate were they with the length? Is it shielded and drilled correctly?" And testing that kinda stuff will be WAY more expensive. So i'll shut up now, i know i'm being a pedant 😂
100%. People tend to neglect the importance of signal quality when it comes to digital signals and for power. This might be better than nothing, but after using it you still don't know if the cable is good.
AM I the only one confused about what ya all said, if ya cable indicates that it should work using this cable tester, then what am I missing if ya still plug it up, and it dont work, even sharlock would say, well perhaps it is broken??? DUH, again, what am I missing. this device is awesome, and works for most of what is needed to know, shows up when ya all plug in ya all cables, NO DEVICES!!! HHO
Hi, can you write down resistors value on the board? They all must have the same value.
flat cables in my experience are missing shielding
Need one for usb4 for some reason one of mine cannot supply power despite the tester showing the power line is lit
the problem is that device doesn't differentiate between ground and shield correctly
Is there a basic link as to how to interpret this? The lights?
m.media-amazon.com/images/I/B16L0R3mdZL.pdf
How would this detect a short in the USB port?
wow, great, thx
Why does your usb a cable have 10/14counting grounds lit up? Usb a only has 9 pins. Plus why is an 11th slightly lit
Good video and looking to get it.
Is there one that will show the data transfer speeds and/or power charging speeds?
I haven’t seen one yet.
what does it mean, when ID LED is lit?
So how lights tell you which one supports data and which not?
A full table is shown here
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C
4:33 cable model please?
@@gabxln amzn.to/42vouIm
Gr8!
Already unavailable on amazon UK :(
It is available now
Aaaaaand it's out of stock 😢
This product should not exist.
It's just a led driven continuity tester. And at most we realize we don't have full data speed or features. With all the fast charging, PD or QC, we can't tell if a cable can handle 65W. For this we need to measure the cable and it's voltage drop. It would be possible to determine what cables are used and what max power could be sent trough the cable. I usually buy cheaper cables, and most of the time work nicely. But my phone is no longer accepting some cables, so I bought a thick cable and same story.
So we should be testing what power it can deliver safely, and maybe actual speed. This should be a pocket tool.
after video 14 of them shaved out from amazon ))
I got one. LEDs lighting up is always nice. But i have no idea how to interpret the LEDs. I can nowhere find a good explanation, especial when LEDs left or right lighting up.
This was a decent guide
www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/introduction-to-usb-type-c-which-pins-power-delivery-data-transfer/
Great little tester with a funny name....3diks
A bit disappointed; no explanation on what the lights mean... so I still have no idea if this is useful.
its probably indicating the pins are connected
for me, it would be insane useful
A Type-c connector has 24 pins. That's potentially 24 separate wires (in pairs) running the length of the cable. Not all cables have all wires. The lights mean the cable has the specific wire pair.
That one’s not very useful at all!
99% of the time you’re looking for the voltage drop on the cable… The longer the more voltage drops, and some cables do deliver more current then others.
That tester won’t help with that.