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According to articles on HowToGeek and other sites, it can be dangerous to charge a phone with a USB-C connector by using a non compliant adapter cable and a USB type A charger or laptop outlet. I am wondering whether the same problem (drawing too much power for the cable to handle) occurs when using a micro USB to USB-C adapter like this one together with a generic cable?

My guess is that it is just as dangerous because the reasoning from the article can be applied to the adapter instead of the phone. Can someone shed some light on this? I am about to recommend an adapter like the one linked above to a friend and I don't want her to ruin her charger or worse.

This question is not a duplicate of this one, since I am specifically asking about using an adapter + an older cable instead of an adapter cable.

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  • Which ACME cable?
    – beeshyams
    Sep 11, 2016 at 21:55
  • Sorry that ACME caused confusion. I didn't realize it to actually be a company. :D I was thinking more along the lines of Wily E Coyote. (Corrected the question)
    – AplusKminus
    Sep 11, 2016 at 22:07
  • Usually adapters won't tell you how much current it can take like cables do, but then again, Nexus 5X/6P only goes up to 3A unless you're using a C-C cable - anything else gives you 1.5A, which shouldn't be a problem. Dunno how your phone in question will behave.
    – Andy Yan
    Sep 12, 2016 at 0:50

1 Answer 1

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Description of your adapter holds the key :

Charge & Sync: Uses USB 2.0 protocol for high-speed Micro USB charging and fast data transfer (480 Mbps). Has a 56K? pull-up resistor for unbeatable safety and reliability

(Emphasis Added)

This kind of resistor is to specifically cater for generic cables - from the section Good and bad cables

The specification table below shows what values can be used to set a specific Type-C charging mode and underneath, in the small print, we can see that a 56kΩ resistor should be used with all legacy cable connections. This is to limit the amount of current transferred to Default USB power or the USB Battery Charging standard (if the cable supports fast charging) when connecting up to older USB type devices.

In the specific adapter of yours, it is catering for legacy cables as a precaution whether the cable has it out not

tl:dr; You are good with this adapter

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