What is it?

This is a cable tester that can help you when you have many cables lying around and you wand to know which cables are good for CHARGING and which cables are good for DATA SYNC. By using this device you can also see if one of your cables has an interrupted wire inside. It is very important to know what type of cable you have as a consumer also because many phones today use the SYNC functionality of the cable to exchange information with their charger and enable the quick charging protocols. Example : Samsung note 9 will charge in 1h30min using a SYNC cable but will charge in aprox 4h using a CHARGE ONLY cable.

Why did you make it?

As a maker I have tons of cables around me and with every device that arrives in lab I get even more cables. Because I don't keep my table organized (as I should :-) ), I always grab the cable that is closest to my hand and put it in use. In many situations, I have had problems as the cables were either Charge ONLY or they were poor quality and the wires inside were interrupted. This led me to build my own simple and efficient cable tester for any USB 2.0 cable that can roam my desk.

What makes it special?

Aside from the shape that I have chose to make it fit in the modern environment as a fancy keyring, my cable tester is simple but effective. You don't need to understand volts, amps, watts nor any other electronics to read it . Because it is powered by a coin cell battery (CR2032) you can use it anywhere and you don't need another power source to get it going.

Usage :

*** Please buy and fit a CR2032 battery in the battery holder on the back.

Scenario 1 - Test if cable has interrupted wires

1. Plug your cable in the USB A female connector ( good old usb socket)
2. Plug the other end of the cable in the corresponding socket ( micro usb, mini usb or type c)
3. Check the leds that turn on ( VCC&GND for CHARGE ONLY and D+ , D- + VCC & GND for SYNC cables)
4. Start twisting the cable while looking at the leds.
5. If any led turns off during the twisting process, try to focus on smaller areas while twisting and see where you have the interrupted wire.
6. Fix the cable or just replace the cable with a good one. If you have to replace the cable, please try to recycle it.

Scenario 2 - Test what type of cable you have : CHARGE ONLY or SYNC

1. Plug your cable in the USB A female connector ( good old usb socket)
2. Plug the other end of the cable in the corresponding socket ( micro usb, mini usb or type c)
3. Check the leds that turn on ( VCC&GND for CHARGE ONLY and D+ , D- + VCC & GND for SYNC cables)*
4. In the case of TYPE C cables, if you get only VCC&GND lights, please turn the TYPE C connector 180 degrees and then plug the cable again. Due to the USB specification, they will appear on side to be CHARGE ONLY and on the other side to be SYNC. This is absolutely normal. If the cable is CHARGE ONLY on both sides than you know that is a non compliant USB cable and can only be used for charging.

What do you get ?

I will ship to you a fully assembled and tested USB cable tester as the one in the pictures. The BATTERY IS NOT INCLUDED but it is a very common form factor. ( CR2032 battery)

Why to buy this product from me ?

I assemble every product manually by hand and test every product before sending it out. I don't resell a product manufactured in a factory, rather I am manufacturing myself and I control the process from design to assembly of the product; also I am here to answer any questions you might have about using the product.