Satechi 72W TYPE-C PD car charger teardown

I have been using Satechi 72W car charger in my solar home project to power my laptop for about 3 months. I have noticed that at high load it gets too hot, and I suspected that there might be a bad connection in the car lighter socket, which would contribute to the heat generation. I have decided to take the charger apart, and solder wires directly to the PCB, to eliminate risk for a bad connection.

Doing a tear down was not as effortless as expected. It was relatively easy to remove the aluminum cap, but I was struggling with removing the PCB. I had to remove the plastic piece by piece only to find out that I could easily remove the PCB by pressing the ground contacts, so that they go inside of the case. The PCB then just slides out.

I was a bit surprised to find that the whole board was coated in a soft and thick material. It was easy to remove, and it didn’t seem it would provide any protection against moisture or condensation. The material did feel cold to touch, so it is probably used for improved thermal dissipation.

I could identify the key components:

USB Type-C PD3.0 controller, Injoinic Technology IP2712
Buck-Boost controller, Southchip Semicoductor Technology SC8701
N-Channel MOSFET 43A 16mOhm, Techcode TDM3482

There are two inductors, one is used for the buck-boost converter, and another one supposedly for the buck converter (5V for USB-A connector), which I couldn’t identify (marked as AVZ J16 655).

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Enclosure partly removed, bottom side of the coated PCB.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Enclosure partly removed, USB ports.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Bottom side of the coated PCB .

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Top side of the coated PCB.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Side view of the cigarette lighter connector.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Side view of the cigarette lighter connector with spring cap removed.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Bottom side of the PCB with coating removed.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Top side of the PCB with coating removed.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. Top side of the PCB with coating removed and capacitors lifted.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. The key components on top of the PCB: SC8701, IP2712, inductors.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter teardown. The key components on bottom of the PCB: N-Channel MOSFET TDM3482, buck converter AVZ J16 655.

Satechi 72W TYPE-C-PD car charger adapter. Ground spring connectors.

Efficiency and standby power

In one of my previous posts I have also measured the efficiency and standby power.

Anker PowerDrive 2 and Satechi 72W USB-C PD standby current depending on the input voltage — Satechi charger has two to six times larger standby current compared to Anker.

Anker PowerDrive 2 and Satechi 72W USB-C PD standby power depending on the input voltage — Satechi charger has significantly larger standby power compared to Anker.

Satechi 72W USB-C PD efficiency depending on the input voltage and output power — Satechi charger has a decent efficiency of about 85% on average. At 8W@9V ouput, charger works down to 4V input, at 25W@20V down to 9V. I couldn’t measure at any lower input voltage at 60W@20V, because my bench power supply can’t provide more than 5A.

Anker PowerDrive 2 and Satechi 72W USB-C PD efficiency via USB-A ports depending on input voltage — Satechi has slightly lower efficiency compared Anker, when using USB-A port. The comparison, however, is a bit unfair, since power output is not the same.

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Minhaz Abedin

9 months ago

I’ve been using <a href=”https://dolbear.tech/product-category/headphones/”>Anker car chargers.</a> for years now, and they never disappoint. The price in Bangladesh is quite competitive, considering the durability and fast-charging capabilities these chargers offer. Definitely worth every penny.