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I have an Acer Swift 3 laptop that charges from a 65W USB-C wall charger it came with. The cable is ~4ft long, but I need it to be a foot longer to comfortably reach the laptop on my desk. Unfortunately the cable is hardwired into the charger, so I can't replace it with a longer one. I could use a normal extension cord, but there's no good place for the extension cord/charger interface where it could fit between me and the outlet. I can just barely fit a USB cable through a tiny hole that won't fit an extension cord.

So the way I see it I have 3 options:

1: Buy a USB-C male to female extension cable. But with all that power going through, does it need to be a specific type of cable or spec to work or avoid frying my laptop?

2: Buy a generic 65w USB-C laptop charger that comes with a longer/detachable cable. But I also don't know how safe that is for my laptop.

3: Use a 10ft extension cord to go around the cupboards/wall, which would be over carpet. I could attach it to the baseboards but isn't using a long, permanent extension cord considered a bad idea for fire safety reasons?

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    The fire-hazard danger caused by over-heating the usb cable (or the charger itself since that has top deliver MORE power than it is design for if the extension USB cable happens to be an electrial bottleneck) is way worse than a 10 foot regular mains extension cord. USB cables usually don't have any useful information on the packaging to indicate whether they are safe to use for this.
    – Tonny
    Commented May 7, 2023 at 10:59
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    While diy.se would tell you off for using permanent extension cords, I think that's mostly because of cables melting from kW loads, while 65W on the mains side even at 120V is only half an amp (and even less in 230V territories) – doesn't sound like a fire risk even with the most garbage extension cords. Whereas the same 65W at USB-C voltages would be quite a few amps... (I am not an electrician, however.)
    – grawity_u1686
    Commented May 7, 2023 at 11:00
  • I have used power bars very safely and added that note to my post.
    – anon
    Commented May 7, 2023 at 13:14

2 Answers 2

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I've done the second option, and the whole point of USB C/USB PD is so you're not tied to the manufacturer's power supply - get a quality generic one, and you should be fine. I'd run my work laptop on such a charger since I also needed additional USB power for things like my phone and some other devices and there was no issue.

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1 and 2 are not all that practical. Cords on the DC side are not readily replaceable, at least for units I have seen,

Properly done 3 is OK. Just Be careful about long term (months or longer). Some power bars (good quality ones) have decently long cords, and so you may be able so safely use a power bar to accommodate your needs. I use power bars very safely.

Best solution: Get an electrician to put an outlet near your desk.

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  • option 2 is ... literally a power brick with a USB C port you can plug in your own C to C cable on
    – Journeyman Geek ♦
    Commented May 7, 2023 at 11:02

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