USB Type-C Power Question

[elimjohnson]

Seeing as how USB Type-C will be able to supply 100W of power...will it be able to power a 3.5" mechanical HDD in an external enclosure without an AC power adapter? Full size mechanical HDD's require both a 5V and 12V supply as far as I know.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, elimjohnson.

Although I've never tested that out, I see no reason for it not to work. After all this is the whole idea of the USB Type-C, to combine all previous USB versions (as it's backwards compatible) and eliminate the need for a lot of different cables, including a power cable. E.g. a 3TB WD Black drive's power consumption while reads/writes is 9.5W, so a USB Type-C should have plenty to spare.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[elimjohnson]

Thanks for the reply.

The reason I ask is because a HDD enclosure manufacturer suggested that it was not possible since they needed both a 5V and 12V source. I know the power usage of most any HDD these days is relatively low compared to the 100W USB Type-C can provide. The voltage on the other hand...not sure if USB Type-C is setup to handle that.

 

[Alabalcho]

There is a reason why 3.5" enclosures require external power bricks. If that enclosure (or hard drive) asks for 1A at 12V, and 1A at 5V (not unusual for large 3.5" HDD), then will your laptop be able to supply it over USB-C cable? How many such enclolures that company will be able to sell?

Then, think about marketability. Most recent external drives are 2.5", and for them any USB is good. External 3.5" enclosures are going dinosaurs path of extinction, and I don't think there will be any new exciting developments.

 

[elimjohnson]

Marketability is not an issue here. I have already spoken to 2 companies who are researching designs for exactly what I am talking about. It was a third company who is not researching anything because they said it wasn't possible. And no, 3.5" enclosures will still be around for a while yet. Its not like SSD's have hit the mainstream yet when talking about 1TB+ size drives. It's still a few years off till prices are not absolutely ridiculous.

But lets get back to the actual subject where I would like to stay....

As for powering Type-C 3.5" HDD external enclosures with a laptop, it may not be possible without an AC adatper for the enclosure. This may be something that people would have to know for that type of situation. But powering these off a home computer with an ample power supply really shouldn't be an issue I would think.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Well if you have a second USB type-C port and the laptop is connected to a power source via that port or via a standard power port, it might work, but otherwise I doubt it would be able to power it long enough relying solely on battery power. The USB type-C has a maximum power output of up to 20V, 5A.
As I've mentioned this is theoretically speaking as I've never actually tried this out.
And thanks for the additional info @elimjohnson.