Werewolf Upgrades My Old Devices to USB-C Power

When I bring my 27-inch desktop monitor into the garage to shoot some fun gadget videos, play classic Japanese SNES games with friends, or when I misplace the AC adapter for my old external hard drive, I can now power everything with a USB battery instead.

None of these devices originally came with USB-C ports; the USB protocol was still a distant concept when Nintendo released the Super Famicom in 1990! However, a small programmable dongle from Werewolf can adapt those old power ports to accept USB-C power. I was so impressed that I picked up a second kit as a birthday gift for a friend.

These dongles make it easy to add USB-C without any complicated modifications. You simply plug the $8 Werewolf VFLEX dongle into your phone to program it, connect it to your USB charger or battery, and then attach a $4 barrel jack tip. It’s like having a universal AC adapter that doesn’t even need a wall outlet, as modern USB-C batteries provide significantly more power than older gadgets require.

For instance, I’ve powered my Asus monitor, Super Famicom, and a budget RCA-to-HDMI adapter all from a single Shargeek 300 portable battery and two VFLEX adapters. At the current power draw (2W for gaming, 24W for the monitor, and under 1W for HDMI), that hefty battery will last for hours. My wife’s original 1989 Game Boy, which I measured at just 0.33 watts while playing Tetris, could theoretically run for over 90 hours on my pocket battery.

I have real-world examples too: during a classic gaming party on the Fourth of July, I powered the Super Famicom with a VFLEX for a five-player Bomberman session. When I recorded my Steam Machine video, I used an old Atomos recording device whose batteries were too weak, so I plugged it in with a VFLEX. Just recently, while filming my Sharge Disk Pro 2 video, I didn’t want to disturb my monitor’s neatly organized power supply, so I turned it into a portable setup using a VFLEX and a USB-C battery.

While the VFLEX is practical and requires no invasive modifications, it does require some planning. Before connecting it to a device, you should always plug the USB-C end into your phone to set the correct voltage. It retains settings in non-volatile memory, but I wouldn’t want to risk sending my vintage Game Boy the 19 volts my monitor needs.

The brilliance of Werewolf’s system lies in its ability to request the specific power you need without converting voltage. It uses the same protocols as other USB-C devices to negotiate power, but you get to specify the amount.

However, you can’t just grab a VFLEX and expect your existing chargers to handle everything. For example, my Apple 140W USB-C power adapter, the most powerful one they offer, can’t provide the 19 volts my monitor requires. Like most 100W USB-C PD chargers, it can deliver 5V, 9V, 15V, or 20V, and being a 140W Extended Power Range (EPR) charger, it can also handle 28V.

These voltages work for many devices, and Werewolf claims the VFLEX can even support up to 48V if you have a 240W USB-C power adapter. But if you need a USB-C voltage that falls below or between the standard 5, 9, 15, 20, 28, 36, or 48, you’ll need a programmable power supply (PPS), which Apple’s charger isn’t.

Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about most of this. You can save profiles for each device and charger in the Werewolf app and use the VFLEX dongle to test your power sources. Just press the scan button, connect the dongle to your charger, plug it back into your phone, and the app will record your charger’s capabilities.

When it’s time to connect my 19-volt monitor, I don’t have to remember which charger can deliver that voltage; I simply tap the monitor’s picture in the app, and it shows me which of my saved chargers are compatible. I select the charger, hit “Update” to program the dongle, and then connect everything correctly.

How did I know my monitor needed 19 volts? Unfortunately, the VFLEX can’t test a standard barrel jack, so I had to check the specifications on the monitor or the old power brick. Typically, you can find the device’s input voltage or the charger’s output voltage online.

There’s one more detail to consider: some devices, like guitar pedals and my Nintendo Game Boy and Super Famicom, have a negative center pin instead of a positive one, requiring a reverse-polarity connector to avoid damage. The Werewolf app doesn’t allow you to program this (even though there’s a non-functional toggle), and you can’t just flip the connector upside down.

If you see the center negative symbol on your device, you’ll need to use an orange-tipped plug.

The team at Werewolf is aware that the VFLEX “may not resonate with the average consumer” due to these complexities; they’re working on specific adapter cables for retro gaming consoles, CPAP machines, and M12 connectors for industrial use. The founder has plans to phase out the orange connectors in favor of a reverse-polarity version of the VFLEX itself, which would allow for any adapter size to be converted to reverse-polarity, eliminating the need for multiple connector variants. Once that’s implemented, the Werewolf app will also be able to alert you if you’ve connected the wrong type of VFLEX.

I’m thoroughly enjoying my modular USB-C power setup and hope for even more power and flexibility from Werewolf in the future. The dongles are already firmware updatable, there’s a public API and web app, and there’s talk of the company potentially creating its own power supplies to unlock additional voltage options down the line.