CA4U 30W review
Hello everyone! Today we're examining the CA4U 30W charger, which cost me only 100 TL. I'd barely heard of the brand, so what we'll find inside is anyone's guess.
Package contents and general design
It arrived with transparent wrapping around the box. After removing it, this is what the front looks like.
This is the right side. I am honestly tired of everything being marketed as AI these days; soon they will call a toaster AI too. Of course, there is no AI chip inside this charger.
The left side of the box lists details such as the charger specifications, manufacturing facility and importer. It states that the USB-A port can supply 18W and the Type-C port 30W. When both are used together, the maximum combined output is 15W.
The back of the box shows the charger itself through a transparent section. Once the box is opened:
There is nothing in the box except the charger itself; they did not even include a manual. Anyway, this is the front of the charger, with the '30 Fast Charger' marking. It is not unusually light either; at least it has some weight to it.
Side view of the charger.
Rear side carrying the charger information.
AC plug contacts.
USB-A and Type-C outputs. The USB-A port is orange.
The label lists the following USB-A and USB-C output ratings:
| Sign out | Supported Voltage / Current |
|---|---|
| USB-A | 5 V / 3 A · 9 V / 2 A · 12 V / 1.5 A |
| Type-C | 5 V / 3 A · 9 V / 3 A · 12 V / 2.5 A · 15 V / 2 A · 20 V / 1.5 A |
| USB-A + Type-C | 5 V / 3 A (combined) |
Fast charging is supported on paper. We'll see how the unit actually performs in the measurements later on.
AC Input Stage: Internals, EMI Filter, Bridge Rectifier, Manufacturer and PCB Underside
The plug contacts are soldered to the PCB with wires, which had to be disconnected to open the case. The interior is tightly packed. With the white securing compound and one bulk capacitor removed, the components become easier to inspect.
This is the internal layout.
EMI filter
The EMI filter is surprisingly complete. The input first passes through a 2.5A time-delay ceramic fuse, then a common-mode choke and a 5-ohm NTC before reaching the bulk capacitors. There is also another choke between the bulk capacitors. In total:
There is a 2.5A fuse, a common-mode choke, a 5-ohm NTC and a differential-mode choke.
Bridge rectifier
WRABS20M
3N10H
2A 1000V
A 2A bridge rectifier was chosen, which is not particularly impressive. Even Samsung's 25W TA800 uses a 3A bridge rectifier. The unknown manufacturer is another point worth noting.
Manufacturer and rear side of the PCB
Turning the charger over reveals a 1mm-thick silicone thermal pad used to help with cooling. It is a welcome detail. After removing it:
The bare PCB is exposed. The soldering is generally clean and I did not spot a problem. I do not have reliable information about the manufacturer. The PCB is marked:
The marking 'TP74C1U1 BO1 2106Y' does not lead to any useful information. The optocoupler providing isolation and feedback between primary and secondary is:
OR 1009
Surface-mount design.
Primary Stage: Bulk Capacitors and Controller
Bulk capacitor
— Capacitor 1 —
HRK CD 400 V 33 µF 105°C @ 2,000 h
— Capacitor 2 —
HRK CD 400 V 10 µF 105°C @ 2,000 h
I honestly did not know the capacitor brand. Looking into its background, the company appears to have been founded in 2013, so it is a fairly new manufacturer. I would treat long-term reliability with some caution. The two capacitors provide 43µF in total, which is perfectly adequate for a charger of this power.
There is also a capacitor for the auxiliary winding in addition to the bulk capacitors:
HRK CD 100 V 4.7 µF 105°C @ 2,000 h
It is from the same series.
Controller
SP6649DF.
It contains an integrated 650V MOSFET that drives the main transformer. It also supports OCP, OPP, UVP, OVP and OTP, covering nearly all of the expected primary-side protections. I cannot practically verify those protection thresholds here.
Transformer design and isolation
JHF7401
CLY
The main transformer is compact, just like the charger itself. I cannot completely dissect the isolation construction because I do not intend to destroy the charger.
The secondary windings have an additional insulating wrap for safety, which is a good detail, and they are kept well away from the primary side.
Isolation
The closest primary-to-secondary spacing is about 7mm, which is a very adequate clearance distance.
DGCX
CD222M
Isolation is not only about the transformer and clearance. The charger uses a genuine 2.2nF Y1 safety capacitor, so there is no obvious cost-cutting here.
Rectification Type and Output Filtering
AKT3040Q.
40A @125°C 30V
Rds(on): 6.3mΩ
x2
The secondary uses synchronous rectification. Two 40A MOSFETs are used for rectification, which is a strong choice. The controller driving those MOSFETs is:
SP6519FB.
Here's the synchronous rectification controller. A separate charging-protocol controller handles the different output voltages:
IP2726.
The charger supports several fast-charging protocols.
- USB Power Delivery 2.0: Supported
- USB Power Delivery 3.0: Supported
- PPS: Supported
- Qualcomm QC 2.0 / 3.0: Supported
- Qualcomm QC 4 / 4+: Supported
- Huawei FCP: Supported
- Huawei SCP: Optional
- Samsung AFC: Supported
- MediaTek PE+ 1.1 / 2.0: Supported
- Apple 2.4 A: Supported
- Samsung 2.0 A: Supported
- USB BC1.2: Supported
A TL431 is also used in the feedback circuit.
Filtering
RLE2
330uF
25V
Now we reach the weakest part of the charger: output filtering. Ripple performance is poor even at half load. Instead of using a single output capacitor, two capacitors would have made more sense, and the capacitor brand itself is also unknown.
Regulation and ripple tests
The test setup is modest, but it does the job. 🙂
The measurements were performed only at 5V. I do not have the equipment to properly test the fast-charging modes. What I can confirm is that my Samsung M21 charges at around 7V when connected.
Voltage regulation is not particularly impressive either. At full load it reached -3.88%, placing third in my comparison, while the output voltage dropped as low as 4.95V.
At full load the charger produced about 125.27mV of ripple. As mentioned in the filtering section, this is poor performance; electrically it is competing with the counterfeit Samsung TA800.
As for temperatures, the synchronous rectifiers reach roughly 80–90°C. The charger runs quite hot.
Conclusion
Now for the conclusion. I honestly did not expect this kind of internal design from a 100 TL charger made by a brand I had never heard of. The manufacturer did not cut the EMI filter, Y1 capacitor or synchronous rectification, and the controllers and charging-protocol support are also quite good. On paper, it looks surprisingly solid.
The same cannot be said about actual electrical performance. The 125.27mV ripple result is especially poor, and voltage regulation is not very encouraging either.
Pros
- A surprisingly complete internal design for a 100 TL charger.
- Common-mode and differential-mode chokes, an NTC and a ceramic fuse.
- A Y1 safety capacitor and roughly 7mm primary-to-secondary clearance.
- Synchronous rectification and a controller with broad charging-protocol support.
Cons
- Poor ripple performance, especially under high load.
- Mediocre voltage regulation.
- Unknown capacitor brands.
- Several MOSFET and diode manufacturers are unknown.