Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

Back in COVID times, when I had all the time in the world, my Switch got bricked after I charged it using my laptop charger. Nintendo refused to honor its warranty, citing some mumbo jumbo about proprietary USB-C hardware. Fortunately, we have pretty good consumer protection laws here in Australia By the end of an entire two month saga, they sent me a brand new Switch.

I always did think it was odd that a USB-C cable that wasnt Nintendo could break my Switch.

It's not that strange. USB-C is a plug, not everyone who implements the plug also implements it correctly. Some chargers with a USB-C Plug might just send a fixed voltage over the cable, rather then implementing the protocols.

I'm not saying that's the case for you, but USB-C is a minefield and I've seen some weird things happen with USB-C plugs.

I've once received a USB-C charger with a portable breast milk warmer device that outputted 18V at 2A without doing PD negotiation.

That fried another device when I plugged it in.

This is non compliant in the EU, but when I reported it to the responsible authorities, they didn't feel like doing anything about it.

We are talking about a charger that can fry any device and potentially cause a fire, coming with a product aimed at people with babies, that's clearly non compliant to be sold in the EU, and they are doing nothing at all. Pretty shocking if you ask me.

Yeah, I'm surprised that I'm being down-voted for this comment for this exact reason. Manufacturers are adding non-compliant USB-C plugs to tons of equipment and it causes these types of issues.