[vcf-midatlantic] [off topic] - GaN USB chargers and temps

[Sentrytv]

I’m sure we all have seen this and I don’t know if it’s exactly as what’s described here, but my little 1” square sized Apple charger for my iPhone, gets burning hot to the point where I can’t even touch it while the phone is charging for an hour or so.
It hasn’t died yet, after several years.

Sent from:
My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

> On Feb 21, 2024, at 8:47 PM, William Dudley via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
> 
> Electrolytic caps are not going to be happy with high temperatures.
> 
> Bill Dudley
> 
> This email is free of malware because I run Linux.
> 
> 
>> On Wed, Feb 21, 2024 at 2:58 PM John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic <
>> vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hey folks -
>> 
>> Looking for some insight from the hardware inclined here.
>> 
>> GaN USB chargers are touted as being able to deliver higher power in
>> smaller form factors (I.e. charging a 65W USB device while the size of a
>> “standard silicon” ~ 10-20W USB charger).
>> 
>> I know on paper GaN can run a lot hotter successfully than silicon (>150C
>> for example), but I’m wondering - when you have a GaN USB charger that runs
>> pretty hot for long period of time, is it really safe?   Aren’t there
>> likely other components in the charger that don’t have the increased heat
>> tolerance of GaN semiconductors?
>> 
>> I’m asking as one of my GaN chargers gets hot enough to the point that I’d
>> be really worried with a traditional PSU.  It only happens if I had two
>> devices attached that need a full charge - once they’re topped off or
>> higher up in charge temperature is no issue.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> John
>>