t seems that few features of a consumer electronic product will generate as much rancour as a mobile phone charger socket. For those of us with Android phones, the world has slowly been moving over the last few years from micro-USB to USB-C, while iPhone users regard their Lightning connector as the ultimate in connectivity. Get a set of different phone owners together and this can become a full-on feud, as micro-USB owners complain that nobody has a handy charging cable any more, USB-C owners become smug bores, and Apple owners do what they’ve always done and pretend that Steve Jobs invented USB. Throwing a flaming torch into this incendiary mix is the European Union, which is proposing to mandate the use of USB-C on all phones sold in its 27 member nations with the aim of reducing considerably the quantity of e-waste generated.

Minor annoyances over having to carry an extra micro-USB cable for an oddball device aside, we can’t find any reason not to applaud this move, because USB-C is a connector born of several decades of USB evolution and brings with it not only the reversible plug but also the enhanced power delivery standards that enable fast charging no matter whose USB-PD charger you are using. Mandating USB-C will put an end to needlessly overpriced proprietary cables, and bring eventual unity to a fractured world.

What Could Go Wrong?

The USB-C port is tough, convenient, and feature-rich, so where might be the snags in this plan? Imagine for a minute that they had made this move back in 1998 instead of 2021. There were a multitude of chargers on the market back then, but probably the most common was the Nokia 5 V miniature barrel jack. It would have made sense to go with the Nokia connector, so all phones made in the last couple of decades for the EU market would have it. By now the demands for an improved connector taking up less space and with some means of data transfer would be deafening, because the mobile phone has evolved in so many ways unimaginable in the days when a Nokia 5100 was an object of desire.

So it is today, the USB-C connector has all the features we can think of for a mobile device of the 2020s, and will remain useful for the coming years, right? But what about the 2030s or the 2040s? When a Galaxy Fold or an iPhone 13 look as quaint as that Nokia with Snake on it does today, will the 5 GB data transfer rate or 100 W power limit be enough? Any mandated standard must have within it a provision for revision to reflect technological advancement, otherwise we risk creating a throwback. Or push forward the next standard.

So we welcome the prospect of a truly unified charging cable for all our devices. We think USB-C is a good tool for the job, and we hope it doesn’t simply create standardised EU versions while leaving the rest of the world still arguing over which cable is best.

Low leakage current is most common. Sometimes it is possible higher leakage on device but you were well grounded.

“Out of curiosity when i change polarity of ac power cord everything becomes normal. What’s the reason?”

Many modern equipment that use swich mode power supplies have filter capacitors between mains side and chassis. Depending on equipment design there can be two capacitors (designed to be grounded equipment) or one capacitor from one of of the ungrounded power connector pins to case. Depending on mains plug polarity you have it from live to chassis (leakage) or neutral to chassis (almost no leakage).

Traditional transformer can have some leakage that can vary depending on which side of primary is on live or neutral.

“is it dangerous for human being?”

When equipment is properly designed, im good condition and built using proper parts, it is not dangerius.

The European Parliament recently voted to recommend a single, universal charger for all mobile phones and portable devices sold in Europe. USB-C could become that single-cable standard.

In January, members of the European Parliament voted to recommend a single, universal charger for all mobile phones and portable devices sold in Europe. By a 550 to 12 vote, they argued that standardization on a single charger would not only reduce e-waste, but also be more cost-effective for consumers. What’s more, a group that champions environmental interests across the EU, named the European Environmental Citizens’ Organization for Standardization, is recommending that USB-C become that single-cable standard.

USB-C is the “Holy Grail” of wired connectivity. It offers bidirectional data and power, and a tiny, orientation-agnostic connector that’s the same on both ends of the cord. And, because it carries up to 100 W of power, USB-C can truly become the one connector for any type of electronic device with a power adapter.