Here is something that every tech that does service work should have on their bench.
Have you ever been working on an item that is charged by USB? The unit is dead, not firing up and like most of today’s devices, they are tough to open up.
So how do you tell if it’s charging or even drawing current when you attempt to power it up? Here is a handy little device I have sitting in arms reach of the bench, it’s the 1528-1497-ND.
It’s the USB Charge Doctor from Adafruit.
Along with this little gem, I use the 1568-1216-ND from SparkFun, so I can grab one cable to handle either Micro B type or Mini B type connector for the device I am checking:
Not only you can used it to charge the devices, but the universal cable comes in handy when I need a B type male for data on a USB device. We also have a wide variety of USB A cable options.
Last, to complete the project, I chose an adapter which can provide up to 2.1 amps of current for a test charger, the 1470-4190-ND from XP Power. We do have a number of wall adapters available if you need a different current as well.
Now, when you use these items to check the charging current on the device in question. You’ll have a quick idea if the item in question is indeed charging by seeing the current draw of the item while it’s charging.