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Two months in the past, EDN printed my teardown of Lenovo’s Good Clock 2:
I’d talked about in it that my dissection sufferer, acquired at steep low cost from the unique MSRP, included the “non-obligatory charging dock for each it, a wireless-charging (with MagSafe assist, in addition) smartphone or different gadget, and a USB-tethered gadget (the USB charging port moved from the again of the speaker itself to the dock on this second-generation design)”:
02.13.2024
02.07.2024
01.31.2024
An upfront correction earlier than continuing; I understand on reflection upon re-read that my imprecise wording may need left you with the impression that the dock not solely charged wireless- and USB-connected gadgets but in addition powered the Good Clock 2 itself. Certainly, there’s an array of contacts on the underside of the Good Clock 2:
which, as you’ll quickly see, mate as much as an array of spring-loaded pogo pins on the dock. Nonetheless, as you might have already ascertained, on condition that that the Good Clock 2 comes with a wall wart:
which mates with a barrel plug connector on the again of the gadget:
the ability circulation truly goes from the Good Clock 2 to the charging dock and from there to its USB and wi-fi charging amenities for different gadgets’ use. One different word on the latter level, by the way in which…because the wall wart’s DC output is barely 18W (12 V x 1.5 A) and since a few of that energy must be dedicated to fueling the Good Clock 2 itself together with no matter may be linked to the dock over USB, that explains (amongst different causes) why Lenovo labels the wi-fi charging pad as “MagSafe-compatible”, not totally “Made for MagSafe”. Certainly, dive into the merchandise’ tech spec minutia and also you’ll discover the next concerning the dock’s wi-fi charger:
5 W
7.5 W
10 W
Quick-charging
Frankly, I used to be stunned to see that the height wi-fi charging energy goes that prime; I’m guessing it’s solely legitimate if the USB charging port isn’t in simultaneous use on the time.
In that earlier writeup, I additionally famous that “I purchased mine model new direct from Lenovo on the finish of 2022 for less than $29.99, full with the docking station (which I’ll save for an additional teardown to come back).” That point is now if you happen to haven’t already figured it out ;-).
Our earlier allusion to the charging dock, apart from the verbiage and photos on the skin of the mixed packaging:
was deliberately titillating: a quick glimpse of a white field:
beneath the extra ornamental field for the Good Clock 2 itself (which was presumably supposed to be optionally positioned straight on retailer cabinets for standalone sale):
Right here’s a fuller view of the aforementioned field o’the underside, as-usual accompanied by a United States penny (0.75 inches/19.05 mm in diameter) for size-comparison functions:
Riveting presentation, eh? I’ll prevent six closeups of assorted plain white field panels, as an alternative substituting a sole closeup of the product sticker within the earlier overview shot:
Sure, the label consists of the FCC ID (O57SEA61UW). And sure, if you happen to’re impatient to see what the charging dock seems to be like inside you could possibly bypass my scintillating prose and bounce proper to the FCC’s inner photographs. However the place’s the enjoyable in that? Are you making an attempt to harm my emotions? 😉
Ahem. Onward:
Right here’s our first glimpse of our sufferer; its backside aspect, to be exact:
The charging dock has dimensions of 0.93″ x 8.65″ x 3.26″ (23.66 mm x 219.65 mm x 82.77 mm). I couldn’t discover a weight spec anyplace and didn’t assume to weigh it myself till after it was already in items. Beneath it’s nothing however extra cardboard together with a literature sliver:
Right here’s the dock once more, nonetheless in its protecting translucent sleeve:
First glimpse of the topside:
Lastly free of its plastic captivity:
The 2 oval inserts match into matching insets on the underside of the Good Clock 2, with the one dealing with energy switch apparent from the aforementioned pins-to-contacts cluster:
Let’s subsequent go searching again to get a distinct perspective on these pins:
Together with, refocusing barely, that USB charging port:
Lastly, flipping the dock again over (the entrance and sides are bland except you’re into photos of off-white plastic):
Let’s take a better have a look at these markings and the sticker alongside them:
You most likely additionally noticed the 2 rubberized “ft”. When you’ve perused any of my teardowns earlier than, that what’s usually beneath them (screw heads, and so forth.) are prime candidates to get inside, due to this fact garnering my instant consideration. Ordinary habits rears its head once more:
A-ha!
Eager-eyed readers might have already seen that each ft left plastic movie behind:
which fortunately was no match for my trusty Philips screwdriver:
That stated, I’m truthfully unsure how a lot goal the screws served, since after I sufficiently loosened them, I used to be left with two enclosure halves that also stubbornly clung collectively. Some extra consideration alongside the perimeters from my spudger adopted by a screwdriver (flat head this time), together with some endurance, lastly satisfied them to separate, nonetheless:
Within the technique of wrestling the underside panel away, I’d inadvertently additionally dislodged a beforehand unknown-to-me top-side insert, which I centered my consideration on subsequent:
And after eradicating 4 screws holding the steel plate in place (beneath of which, I think you’ve most likely already guessed, is the wi-fi charging coil), I used to be in a position to elevate it away:
See, there’s the coil (different examples of which we’ve seen earlier than in teardowns previous)!
Revealing, within the left-behind high half of the chassis, the “MagSafe-compatible” magnets:
Subsequent step: separate the PCB from the insert. The primary 4 screws to be eliminated had been apparent to my eyes, however the PCB nonetheless wouldn’t budge…till I regarded once more extra carefully and noticed #5 (not the primary time I’ve missed a screw in a disassembly rush, and sure not the final, both):
Free ultimately!
Talking of magnets, right here’s one other (larger) one:
Revisiting my earlier Good Clock 2 teardown, I spotted I hadn’t talked about a steel plate on the within of its underside, focusing as an alternative on the mini-PCB (such {an electrical} engineer, aren’t I?):
This magnet, maybe clearly, proximity-clings to the plate, thereby serving to hold the Good Clock 2 linked to the dock beneath it.
Lastly, the closeups of the “guts” that you simply’ve been ready for. Observe first the black-color floor strap wire connecting the steel plate to the PCB:
Flip it over and you’ll see the 2 thick wires connecting the PCB to the coil, together with two a lot thinner wires that run between the PCB and the temperature sensor on the coil’s middle:
Now for the PCB itself. Right here’s the aspect you’ve already seen loads of, which factors downward when the system is assembled:
Close to the middle, and towards the highest, is a chip marked MT581 (together with a vertical line seemingly drawn by hand with a Sharpie?) from Maxic Know-how, described as a “extremely built-in, high-performance System on Chip (SoC) for magnetic induction primarily based wi-fi energy transmitter options”. It’s the perform equal of assorted ICs from STMicroelectronics that I’ve encountered in previous wi-fi charger teardowns. Under and to its proper is the CH552T, a USB microcontroller manufactured by Nanjing Qinheng Microelectronics. Unsurprisingly, it’s close by the dock’s USB charging port. And within the higher proper quadrant, to the correct of the MT581, is a cluster of 4 small chips with equivalent markings:
RU3040
PR05078
whose perform eludes my Google analysis (concepts, readers?). Flip the PCB over:
and the dominant function that’ll possible catch your eye is a rectangular-ish define close to the periphery comprised of 18 small white items of what seems to be like plastic. At first, I assumed they may discover use in attaching the PCB to the underside of the insert, however extra considerate evaluation shortly dashed that concept. Turning the PCB sideways revealed their true goal:
They’re LEDs, implementing the charging dock’s “nightlight” perform. Duh on me!
That’s all I’ve acquired for as we speak, of us, though I’ll as-usual maintain onto the items o’{hardware} for some time, for potential help in answering any questions you may need on stuff I haven’t already coated. Extra usually, as all the time hold forth along with your ideas within the feedback!
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line publication.
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