Charging from Dell Thunderbolt dock

Is it safe to charge a Fairphone 3 from Dell Thunderbolt dock? Has anyone ever done this before?

Hi @shaakunthala and welcome to the forum.

What makes you think there may be a problem?

The phone is designed to take from 5v to 19V provided by a QC3 style of charger. I imagine if the thunderbolt gives 5v like USB ports it won’t be problem. Which version of thunderbolt do you have? The only issue is that it may be a bit slow to charge.

Would have to read the specs on the device you have to see the output voltage.

I’m bit nervous to do so because I think the input voltage is too high.
It’s a WD19TB dock (Thunderbolt 3).

This is the specs sheet. The output voltage is 19.5 VDC.
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/nl-nl/000130291/how-to-use-and-troubleshoot-dell-thunderbolt-docking-station-wd19tb?lang=en

It looks like the 19.5v is to power a laptop, there are proper USBC ports you can use.

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-uk/000130291/how-to-use-and-troubleshoot-dell-thunderbolt-docking-station-wd19tb?lang=en#FAQ

I don’t have any additional cables with me right now, and the battery is at 2%. I was considering disconnecting my laptop from the dock for a while and charging the phone with Thunderbolt directly.

That’s the thought behind this idea. So far seems a no-go. :frowning:

Can you not just borrow a USB cable?

The specs for QC3 are

Quick Charge - Wikipedia

It seems it can handle 22v, it’s always a gamble unless you get official confirmation.

I can’t believe, that behind that USB-cable is no data handshake which tells both partners, what is possible. So I would not hesitate to use the USB-C connector.

See for example: https://www.reddit.com/r/galaxys10/comments/bj2whn/use_dell_usb_c_dock_for_charging/

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I think the problem is the OP only has a Thunderboltto USBC cable and wants to plug in to the Thunderbolt which has a static 19.5 so no comms with the phone, the phone would just have to take, if it can.

However there is at least one USBC port which will probably only provide 5V and the connectors are the same and the thunderbird cable is supposed to be USBC compliant.

Thunderbolt 3 uses a standard USB-C connector. Nobody would dare to put a static 19.5V on that.

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Don’t forget the QC3 is designed to take 22v any way the 19…5 is the voltage supplied to the unit, not what it provides via USB/Thundebolt

I’ve just found this

  • Front USB 3.1 Gen1 x1: Dell PowerShare BC1.2; 2 A @ 5 V (max 10 W)
  • Front USB 3.1 Gen1/Gen2 Type-C: 1.5 A @ 5 V (max 7.5 W)
  • Rear USB 3.1 Gen1 x2: 0.9 A @ 5 V (max 4.5 W)
  • Rear USB 3.1 Gen1/Gen2 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 x1: 1.5 A @ 5 V (max 7.5W) @ 5 V (max 15 W)
  • Rear Thunderbolt Type-C Port: 3 A @ 5 V (max 15 W

So I don’t see a problem, either :slight_smile:
@shaakunthala see USB Ports

At work we tried it with a Samsung phone. It only did something at all if the docking station was connected to a notebook before. But if that was the case the phone recognized that it got energy and the mouse connected to the docking station could move the cursor on the phone, too. However it was not really successful in charging. It went very, very slowly, almost only kept the battery level.
So long story told short: I’d try it, if my FP2 had the right connector and I wouldn’t have a charger with me.

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The specification says, that a USB power source can only provide more than 5 Volts if the device connected has asked for a higher voltage. So since Dell is a reliable provider the chance that it does any damage to your phone is very small.
It can be that the charger can only offer voltages, that the Fairphone cannot use, in which case it would fall back to 5V and you should be able to charge at least slowly.

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