PPSTrigger - USB PD Trigger SuperCharged with PPS!

Details

Purchase worldwide Elecrow (In Stock!)

Reference case design Fusion360

Specification

Tested USB PD3.0 and USB PD+PPS from 3.3V to 20V @ 5A continuous. Actual voltage and current output depend on your charger. This include 12V @ 5A

Please check the recommended charger if you don't already have one.

V1.0: Without mounting screw. As of March 2023, all Lectronz stock has been upgraded to better ESD protection.

V1.1: With mounting slot and screws. As of March 2023, all Lectronz stock has been upgraded to better ESD protection.

V2.0: Under testing. Support current limit. Link to project here.

How to use the board

Default (no jumper): Always able to adjust voltage through potentiometer. Full range of your PPS charger.
5V jumper: Request constant 5V
9V jumper: Request constant 9V
12V jumper: Request constant 12V
15V jumper: Request constant 15V
20V jumper: Request constant 20V
Pot jumper: Read the potentiometer at start-up and request this voltage. Voltage is not changeable during normal operation

Theory of operation

The device utilizes the AP33772_CPP library. Using the awesome USB-PD standard, the PPS mode can provide equal or more current than the fixed PDO within its voltage range (3.3V-11V or 3.3V-21V) except for 20V for some chargers. The device will always try to negotiate using the PPS profile first. If the charger is missing PPS capability or the PPS voltage range is under the selected voltage, a fixed PDO will be used.

There is no current limit, you can use up to the rated current on the charger. Higher than spec current draw will cause the charger to reset and re-connect after a couple of seconds. This is a standard safety in USB-PD charger.

PPS Example

Let us use a UGREEN 140W charger with the given power profile:

5V@3A, 9V@3A, 12V@3A, 15V@3A, 20V@5A
3.3V - 21V@5A

Since this board has PPS, when turning the potentiometer, you will get the full range starting from 3.3V to 21V. Keep in mind that the power brick tends to give a bit more voltage when there is no load. This is to expect some voltage drop across the cable when the load is attached.

If fixed voltage is selected, for example, fixed 9V. The device will request 9V in PPS mode.

Current limited is built-in to the USB PD 3.1 devices. If the cable is non-e-mark (3A rated), your PPS voltage range is limited based on the load so that the max current draw is only 3A max, preventing the circuit from being over current. Similar to an e-mark cable (5A rated), the current will cap out at 5A and the voltage will stop increasing even if the user tries to crank up the voltage. However, if the load is attached later and the device detects a high spike in voltage, it will go into over-current protection mode, stop the current flow, and restart. These are observed behavior from some UGREEN chargers. PPSTirgger does not directly contribute to charger behavior.

Charger/Cable configuration

Recommended/Tested USB-C Charger

UGREEN 100W - PPS 3.3 - 21.0 @ 3A
UGREEN 140W - PPS 3.3 - 21.0 @ 5A
AOHI Magcube 140W - PPS 3.3 - 21.0 @ 5A
GKUTW HX65P3 65W - PPS 3.3 - 21 @ 3A
Anker 737 (GaN Prime 120W) - PPS 3.3 - 11.0 @ 3A
Anker 737 Power Bank - PPS 3.3 - 21.0 @ 5A
Anker PowerHouse 521 - PPS 3.3 - 11.0 @ 3A
..... too many. Mostly anything that says "PPS" would work

Many Anker charger/power banks do not include PPS capability in their marketing document. However, some devices still support PPS and thus require some testing. UGREEN markets PPS directly in their datasheet.

Dimension

Reference Case Design

Portable power supply project - Hackster.io

Testing result

Stress test 5V @ 5A for 4 hours. The board temperature settles below 55C, well within spec for all ICs.

Our first 5 stars review

Files

PPSTriggerCase_ReferenceDesign.step

Reference case design for M2 screw

step - 5.12 MB - 09/13/2024 at 02:26

Download

PPSTriggerCase_ReferenceDesign.f3z

Reference case design for M2 screw

f3z - 1.28 MB - 06/21/2024 at 20:56

Download

Case with multimeter.stl

Ready to print reference case design, 0.2mm layer, PLA

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 119.22 kB - 06/21/2024 at 20:55

Download

PPSTriggerV1.1.step

3D Step file for V1.1

step - 14.72 MB - 05/25/2024 at 08:04

Download

Fab Drawing.pdf

Dimension file for V1.1

Adobe Portable Document Format - 4.83 kB - 03/09/2024 at 04:11

Preview

Project Logs

Collapse

Adding mounting holes V1.1

CentyLab • 02/13/2024 at 05:00 • 0 comments

The newer version of the PPSTrigger board now features half-cut mounting holes. This will fit your standard M2 screw or bolt. No more gluing your circuit to your 3D-printed enclosure.

The new board also features a new LDO that has better ESD protection than the previous selection.

Video: Product introduction and how-to

CentyLab • 01/05/2024 at 23:55 • 0 comments

Thank you for all of the support we have in Hackaday and also on Reddit. We are working on getting the unit back in stock as well as creating a video that would cover:

Product introduction
Explain the voltage selection decision tree of the device, PPS vs fixed voltage
Explain e-mark cable 5A vs non e-mark 3A and how it impacts power output
Example of the over-current draw on the circuit
Example of using non-PD power brick
How to mount the board on your 3D design

Please comment below if there is anything you would like us to cover.

Discussions

radius.io wrote 07/17/2024 at 10:40

Hello,

I'm very interested in this product to power different devices with barrel jack connector by using a single usb-c charger instead of the multiple ac/dc converter given with the different devices.

I took me a while to find out the "PPSTrigger", everything i found before (prébuilt usb-c to jack cables) have fixed voltage and are limited to 2A.

I still have a question. With most usb-c charger, when you plug or unplug a device from the charger, the charger stop to deliver power to all ports for a few second (i guess to renegociate all voltage).

Will this happen with only different PPSTrigger connected to the usb charger ? I think all usb-c devices I have doesn't support PPS. So i don't know if chargers behave in the same way when device support PPS.

If the issue depends of the behavior of the charger, may be there is a list of charger that would not interrupt the power ?

PS: I did see the list of recommanded charger, but it don't tell how they behave when a device is pluged/unpluged.

Thanks,

Are you sure? yes | no

CentyLab wrote 09/23/2024 at 07:21

Hi, we did not perform study on that but they tent to disconnect and readjust the distribution. We know that the UGREEN 100W would do this. And yes, all depend on the IC used in the charger.

Are you sure? yes | no

vadmium+had wrote 07/16/2024 at 12:10

I recently got two of these through Elecrow, and I successfully got ≈ 15 V 5 A by setting the pot. However I would prefer to fix the output using the pads on the back. I’ve tried bridging each pair of pads, but no matter what I try the voltage is still adjustable via the pot. My power source is a Ugreen which supports basic 15 V fixed at 3 A and PPS up to 21 V 5 A. Am I doing something wrong, or are the fix pad settings not implemented?

Also, it would be great if the firmware and schematic was available.

Are you sure? yes | no

CentyLab wrote 09/23/2024 at 07:27

Hi, we are sorry for the late reply, hackaday is not the best at nofitication. The expected behavior should be: short 15V pad only, then the device will fix at 15V and ignore the pot.

To prevent cheap copy, it is hard for us to release the firmware but we can release a simplified schematic in the near future.

Are you sure? yes | no

Funtime60 wrote 07/03/2024 at 00:22

Is it possible to release a version of the firmware that doesn't lock the voltage at boot? I want to use an old PPS brick I have as a benchtop power supply.

Are you sure? yes | no

CentyLab wrote 09/23/2024 at 07:28

Hi Funtime60,

The voltage is not locked at boot. If you dont solder anything at the back, the unit will work as a bench top powersupply.

Are you sure? yes | no

Badbabyboyo wrote 01/18/2024 at 17:00

When you say "Voltage is not changeable during normal operation" do you mean you cannot adjust the PPS voltage when there is a load? Also, this board is amazing, thank you for making it!

Are you sure? yes | no

CentyLab wrote 01/18/2024 at 17:07

Hi, that is correct that you cannot adjust PPS voltage after bootup. The board does not know if there is a load or not. One example is, the board boot-up, see that you want 10V from the potentiometer, request 10V, and then turn on the output. Now, if you have a load at the end, there will be some voltage drop through the cable. Then you might only get 9V out of the whole setup.

If your load doesn't change, recommend in default mode, adjust to the desired voltage, plug in your load, and then compensate by asking for a little more voltage. Then solder the POT jumper to fix the voltage.

Are you sure? yes | no

Badbabyboyo wrote 01/19/2024 at 21:26

That all makes sense. In the video it looks like you adjusted the voltage request on the fly, was that something you changed in the software just for the demo? If so, is that potentially bad for the hardware or do you just have it set not to change after bootup to avoid changing it accidentally.

Are you sure? yes | no

CentyLab wrote 01/19/2024 at 22:00

You are correct on the 2nd point, it is just to prevent changing after booting up. This is for long-term implementation for constant power, people who come by can't just change the knob and kill your device. By default, you can change the voltage with or without the load. It is not bad for the hardware, it is designed to do that.

Are you sure? yes | no

jacobsson wrote 12/06/2023 at 06:49

Amazing! This solves so many inconveniences ❤️

Are you sure? yes | no

CentyLab wrote 12/28/2023 at 11:03

I just got some on Tindie and someone put in an order immediately.

Are you sure? yes | no

jacobsson wrote 12/28/2023 at 11:11

Just put down an order of 3! Could you make one of them with screw terminals?

Are you sure? yes | no

CentyLab wrote 12/28/2023 at 18:02

Totally can. So 2 without and 1 with screw terminal. You got it!

Are you sure? yes | no

PPSTrigger - USB PD Trigger SuperCharged with PPS!

Description

Details

Purchase worldwide Elecrow (In Stock!)

Reference case design Fusion360

Specification

How to use the board

Recommended/Tested USB-C Charger

Dimension

Reference Case Design

Portable power supply project - Hackster.io

Testing result

Our first 5 stars review