USB-C as the “One Cable To Rule Them All” has certainly been a success. While USB-A is still around for now, most of us have breathed a hefty sigh of relief with the passing of micro-USB and the several display and power standards it replaces. It’s not without its minor issues though. One of them is that it’s as susceptible as any other cable to a bit of strain. For that, we think [NordcaForm]’s 3D-printed USB-C cable strain relief is definitely a cut above the rest.
Waxing lyrical about a simple 3D printed model might seem overkill for Hackaday, and it’s true, it’s not something we do often, but as Hackaday writers travel around with plenty of USB-C connected peripherals, we like the design of this one. It’s flexible enough to be useful without resorting to exotic filaments, and since it’s available in a few different forms with curved or straight edges, we think it can find a place in many a cable setup. Certainly more of an everyday carry than a previously featured 3D print. If you want to learn more about USB C, we have a whole series of posts for you to binge read.
If it was a way to make right angle short ends, but it’s a way to put a longer lever into the poor socket which is much harder to replace. The right way to strain relief of a cord is a radiused funnel not that springy elephant trunk stuff. Besides aren’t those ugly soiled stiff braided cable sheaths better at holding up to stress?
I think I skip this one, since I prefer a cheap but broken cable over an expensive repair to a broken connector inside a device.
You can use this before the cable begings to get damage.
Also my comment about the first link (FM3k) was not accepted because I wrote about me laughing like a “minion hearing the word BUT, but with a double T” when I heard about FM3k.
I think their point was that it’s a bad idea to attach a big lever to the connector, so when something bumps it, instead of damaging the cable, it would wrench the USB socket off.
Funny link to “a previously featured 3D print”.
FM3k .. (insert here a minion hearing the word “butt”).
Success might be “a bit” of stretch from a developer’s point of view. From an advanced user’s, like an IT admin, it might be even worse. But I am sure the casual users are relatively content.
In other words: I bought a 3D printer and I must justify it somehow.
Buying a 3D printer and doing what with it makes sense according to you? Man, comments like yours make every comment section worse post by post.
If you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
Sometimes, when you really really want a hammer, you start inventing nails. Then everything that isn’t a problem starts to look like a nail too.
In that case, it’s best if you don’t buy the hammer.
A spring type would looks more elegant
Or you could buy quality cables and also treat them with the respect they deserve. I have not worn out a USB cable in decades. And some of them travel a lot.
Congratulations. Please proceed to the front to collect your “Quality USB Cable Only Guy” award. It’s the same with all those “I ain’t got a scratch on my 15 yr. old phone”. Yay!!! But other people have because you know… Not everyone is a clone of YOU.
This is the price you pay for having electronics (line drivers, etc.) in the Plug.
A bad design all around, and one that will make China lots of money in offloading inferior cables.
Why we don’t have an optical fiber along with some power wiring defies logic.
That’s not a problem with USB-C, that’s a problem with idiots kinking cables at a straight angle, often repeatedly. If “you have no choice because the cable is short”, then the proper solution is to use a longer cable. And if you don’t have the space behind the socket, this does not fix the problem.
I lost count of how many dead game controllers I fixed by pruning the cable where cable meets the enclosure.