TCH-6 9-in-1 USB-C digital AV multiport adapter

Discussion in 'TCH hubs with PD (Power Delivery) support' started by Ken, Jul 9, 2018.

  1. Ken

    Ken Administrator Staff Member

    Pepper Jobs TCH-6 is a USB-C 3.1 to USB 3.0 hub with:

    Gigabit Ethernet port - driver-less, plug and play
    USB-C PD charging port - support passthrough charging of up to 20V/3A (60W)
    SD & TF card reader - read from either a SD card, or a Micro SD card
    HDMI output - up to 4K@30Hz, or 1080p@60Hz
    USB audio - support both stereo audio ouput & microphone input
    3 x USB 3.0 ports - support standard USB-A devices

    The USB 3.0 ports allow you to connect your USB devices or another hub to the host device,
    the TF & SD card readers allow you to access the external memory from the host device,
    the USB-C female port can charge for the host device and supply power for the hub simultaneously,
    the Gigabit Ethernet port allows the host device to get access to wired network and
    the HDMI port allows you to connect to a HDMI monitor so that you can watch videos or slideshows together on a bigger screen.

    This product has been designed to work with new MacBook, new MacBook Pro, Google's new Chromebook Pixel and other USB-C ready devices such as cellphones, tablets, laptops and mini PCs.

    tch6_6.jpg
     
    MFA likes this.
  2. PBvB

    PBvB New Member

    Dear Reader,

    I've recently bought this 9-1 USB-C Hub and I've been using it with my Macbook 12".
    Attached to the hub are:
    - HDMI to 1080P monitor
    - USB C to USB C cable (from pepper-jobs) to 30W official apple charger
    - 3.5 mm audio jack to Stereo.

    My issue is that the audio drops every minute/minute and a half if all the cables are attached.
    In sound settings, the USB headset disapears and reapears within a couple of seconds.

    If I unplug the HDMI cable, audio plays without any issues.

    This sounds like a power issue to me, is the 30W charger not powerfull enough to power everything and should I buy a more powerfull charger or is there something else I'm missing?
     
  3. Ken

    Ken Administrator Staff Member

    It looks like the 30W adapter is not providing enough power for both charging the MacBook 12" while powering the hub.
    You may do a simple test - to use the hub without connecting to the charger, or connecting to a charger with higher output (if you have one of those).
    If the problem is gone, then it's very likely a power issue.
    (Worst case scenario, you still have a 3.5mm jack on the MacBook)
     
    Richard likes this.
  4. Lauren

    Lauren New Member

    Hi,

    I've recently bought the TCH-6 and I've been using it with my Macbook (13-inch, 2018, OS Mojave 10.14.2) but I have been having some issues:

    a) My macbook freezes regularly when I plug the hub in. When this happens, it doesn't help to unplug the hub, I have to force restart my macbook to solve the freezing. This seems to only happen when I'm already logged in. When I lock the screen before plugging in & then unlock with touchID, it seems fine.

    b) In the middle of transferring files from my memory card to my laptop, my laptop reported that the memory card had suddenly been ejected. This without having touched the device and several times in a row.

    My reseller (pepperjobsDOTnl) proposes to switch me for a TCH-MBP 7 but I'm unsure if this is gonna solve the problem + I will no longer have an ethernet port which I'm not that keen about.

    Thanks for your answer!
     
  5. Ken

    Ken Administrator Staff Member

    When using multiple features with the hub, such as Ethernet + card reader + etc...
    it's recommended that you connect the charger to the hub to provide the power needed by those features.
    The MacBook Pro USB-C port, also USB-C port of other devices, do provide some power but not to the extend that it could support all the features working simultaneously.
     
    Richard likes this.
  6. Lauren

    Lauren New Member

    Thanks for your answer! However, the problems did occur with only a memory card in it, nothing more than that..
     
  7. Ken

    Ken Administrator Staff Member

    Hi Lauren,

    It doesn't really matter how many devices are you using, when you connect the hub to the device,
    those many features need power, even if they are at idle state.
    Of course, when you are using them, they need extra power.
    Please connect to the adapter and let me know if the problem persists.
    We're here to help.
     
    Lauren likes this.
  8. Andrew Mizzi

    Andrew Mizzi New Member

    Hi Ken!

    Thanks for providing support to us.

    I'm using the TCH6 with my iPad Pro and am having 2 issues.

    • I'm unable to charge my iPad pro via the hub. The charging icon on the iPad cycles every second between charging and not charging. Of particular use, I want to charge my iPad while using the hub's HDMI port.
    • When using the HDMI port, audio is routed to the 3.5mm jack and not through HDMI. Any suggestions? Plugging something into the 3.5mm port and then unplugging it works, but not always an option when I'm not carrying a 3.5mm accessory.
     
  9. Ken

    Ken Administrator Staff Member

    Hi Andrew,

    The iOS/iPad OS doesn't have the ability to allow you choosing which audio output like you can do in Android, Windows or macOS, that's the root issue and we are also trying to solve it by changing the hardware design. Unfortunately, since you have already owned the hub, that means no fix apart from your 3.5mm plugging/unplugging trick.

    For the charging issue, may I know which charger are you using with? The original iPad Pro charger is only 18W, deducting the power that the hub needs, there should be only a few watts left. Do you have a larger power charger to try?
     
  10. Andrew Mizzi

    Andrew Mizzi New Member

    Hi Ken

    Thanks for the info. The charger I am using has a max 33w output. Photo attached.

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Ken

    Ken Administrator Staff Member

    I can see this is a travel charger, do you have a proper USB-C charger to try?
    Even the original 18W charger would be fine.
     
  12. Andrew Mizzi

    Andrew Mizzi New Member

    I will try when I arrive home in a few days.
     
    Ken likes this.
  13. Ken

    Ken Administrator Staff Member

    Hi, how is it?
     
  14. Andrew Mizzi

    Andrew Mizzi New Member

    You’re right. It needs the 16W to charge. I tried my 12/10/5W and nothing else worked. I’ll start carrying that around with me now.
     
    Ken likes this.