Hardware 3rd party cable charges from plug but not from power bank

[TimoCT]

Hello everyone, here's hoping someone can give me some information on this issue:
I used to be able to charge my Switch with a 3rd party cable both from a plug and from a power bank, however the latter no longer works. The cable provided with the Pro Controller works correctly, so I know the cause isn't a problem with the power bank.
This is the cable in question: https://www.syncwire.com/products/syncwire-unbreakcable-type-c-to-usb-3-0-cable-3-3ft-1m-black. As written above, charging from a plug works well, it might not be 100% the same speed as the Pro Controller cable but it works.

Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? Thank you all in advance!

 

[FanboyKilla]

There's not really much troubleshooting to do with a cable, it's a cable, it either works or it doesn't lol. I would try plugging that 3rd party cable into other devices and see if you can/can't get it to work with anything else. Maybe try apply a little pressure on the cable ends one at a time while it's plugged in to see if maybe one of the pins isn't making good connection or something.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

There's not really much troubleshooting to do with a cable, it's a cable, it either works or it doesn't lol. I would try plugging that 3rd party cable into other devices and see if you can/can't get it to work with anything else. Maybe try apply a little pressure on the cable ends one at a time while it's plugged in to see if maybe one of the pins isn't making good connection or something.

Wrong, with USB-C it's not that simple. Using a wrongly made cable can actually brick the device or the device used to charge.

Hello everyone, here's hoping someone can give me some information on this issue:
I used to be able to charge my Switch with a 3rd party cable both from a plug and from a power bank, however the latter no longer works. The cable provided with the Pro Controller works correctly, so I know the cause isn't a problem with the power bank.
This is the cable in question: https://www.syncwire.com/products/syncwire-unbreakcable-type-c-to-usb-3-0-cable-3-3ft-1m-black. As written above, charging from a plug works well, it might not be 100% the same speed as the Pro Controller cable but it works.

Does anyone have any idea why this is happening? Thank you all in advance!

Don't use just any USB-C cable, if you use a cable that doesn't have a 56k resistor it could actually ruin your charger/powerbank as the 56k resistor tells it not to try to fast charge (which only chargers/powerbanks with an USB-C USB-PD output support)
And because the Switch is picky with power and non compliant chargers and docks are known to brick Switches it could even brick the Switch itself if the charger or device used to charge handles the fast charging attempt poorly.
Many cables sold are advertised as having a 56k resistor, name brand ones should also be safe, avoid anything else unless it's confirmed as having a 56k resistor by other people.

 

[TimoCT]

The strange thing is that the cable works, there's no problem with it. As I wrote before it doesn't look like it charges as fast as the other cables, but it works nonetheless, 2Ah at the very least.
The problem hasn't manifested with a phone, just with the Switch charging from the power bank. In fact I tried another power bank, which only delivers 1Ah, and that one seems to actually charge the console with the same cable! So the issue only arose in the past week with the single combination of the first power bank, the cable in the link provided and the Switch, any other combination of devices and cables looks to be functioning correctly.
Edit: to add to the pool of information, the power bank delivers 5V 2.4A through USB-A, the charger has a Quickcharge 3 USB-A port and a couple of ports identical to those on the power bank. I've used the cable with both for over a year, they've always done the job correctly up to now.

 

[FanboyKilla]

Wrong, with USB-C it's not that simple. Using a wrongly made cable can actually brick the device or the device used to charge.

Ahhh yes you're right, I forgot we're talking about USB-C here. My Switch and my Go-Pro are like the only two devices I use that have USB-C so I'm always thinking about standard USB-A to micro/mini/lightning etc.

Definitely want to stay away from cheap/knock cables when it comes to USB-C!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

The strange thing is that the cable works, there's no problem with it. As I wrote before it doesn't look like it charges as fast as the other cables, but it works nonetheless, 2Ah at the very least.
The problem hasn't manifested with a phone, just with the Switch charging from the power bank. In fact I tried another power bank, which only delivers 1Ah, and that one seems to actually charge the console with the same cable! So the issue only arose in the past week with the single combination of the first power bank, the cable in the link provided and the Switch, any other combination of devices and cables looks to be functioning correctly.
Edit: to add to the pool of information, the power bank delivers 5V 2.4A through USB-A, the charger has a Quickcharge 3 USB-A port and a couple of ports identical to those on the power bank. I've used the cable with both for over a year, they've always done the job correctly up to now.

It seems obvious that the powerbank is smart enough to cut power when the Switch is requesting more power than it can provide. Not all devices support USB-PD, those devices wouldn't care what cable you use so that would explain why it works with other devices.

 

[TimoCT]

It seems obvious that the powerbank is smart enough to cut power when the Switch is requesting more power than it can provide. Not all devices support USB-PD, those devices wouldn't care what cable you use so that would explain why it works with other devices.

I'm not sure I quite understand what you're suggesting. As far as I know, USB-PD is implemented with USB-C to USB-C connections, or plug to USB-C for that matter, right?Beside the official Nintendo charger that came with the Switch I own nothing that supports USB-PD, so every time I've charged the console with a power bank or a USB plug charger I've always done so without that charging specification. This would mean that two years have gone by and I've never had a problem using chargers and power banks that do nothing more than put out 2A at 5V and half of that time the cable in question was being used. What is puzzling to me is that all of a sudden a cable has stopped doing what it has done all this time, but only if connected to one particular power bank. I haven't bricked the Switch, both power banks still work correctly as does the wall charger, the cables are fine, but that third party one doesn't want to know anything about charging the Switch when connected to that first power bank.
Actually, let me say this: the power bank is one of those that turns itself off if it doesn't detect anything charging, then keep in mind that the it works with the Pro Controller charging cable, while the third party cable works with the wall charger and the other power bank. If there's anything else keeping it from turning off, the Switch charges, albeit only if in sleep mode! It's as if it only draws minimum amounts of power if it isn't from the wall charger.

 

[TimoCT]

I got a replacement cable shipped by the company, it was indeed a cable failure that for some reason didn't make it completely unusable. The replacement works fine, just as the original used to. Case closed, the cable's good, the Switch is alright too.