Issue: My Plugable dock (UD-ULTC4K) repeatedly reconnects whenever the current charge percentage is less than 80%. I have a 16-inch 2021 Macbook Pro with the M1 Pro chip. Once it finally gets to 80%, it stays connected and works fine.
I believe this is happening because the dock cannot handle the wattage that the laptop is drawing when fast charging. This laptop comes with a 96W Apple charger (which I am not using). The Plugable dock is also rated for 96W, so I think it may not be able to support what it’s rated for, perhaps the dock I received is defective or the advertised rating is inaccurate. I have been using this dock for 8 months now, so the issue is not going to resolve by itself. I have DisplayLink Manager 1.7.1 installed.
Is this a known issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for contacting Plugable support! Sorry to hear about this issue with the dock disconnecting while charging. I’d be more than happy to assist you.
This is not a known issue and the UD-UTLC4K dock is not expected to have trouble charging up to the full 96W output. (We regularly use the UD-ULTC4K with an M1 Max 16" for testing purposes for example.) It’s possible the dock could be defective and simply needs to be replaced, but I’d like to ask a few quick questions just in case something may stand out:
Has this issue been happening the entire 8 months of ownership or did this develop over time?
Also to check are you connecting the dock using the original USB-C to USB-C cable and power adapter that originally shipped with the dock?
When the dock disconnects/reconnects does it look like the whole dock is dropping (so video, charging, and USB data, etc) or do only some functions seem to drop off while others continue working?
If you connect the dock to a different USB-C port on the Mac, is the behavior still the same?
Once I know more I can offer any suggestions, or if nothing stands out we can look into replacing this dock under warranty to see if the replacement will behave as expected.
Please don’t hesitate to let us know of other questions.
Thanks again for contacting Plugable support and best wishes!
Joshua Henry
Senior Engineer | Product Owner
Plugable Technologies
Has this issue been happening the entire 8 months of ownership or did this develop over time? Yes it started as soon as I received it. Also it does not happen when I have the original Apple 96W charger connected. But the point of the dock is to allow me to use a single cable for everything, so having to connect the Apple charger in addition to the dock makes it less convenient.
Also to check are you connecting the dock using the original USB-C to USB-C cable and power adapter that originally shipped with the dock? Yes I checked and the USB-C wire has a sticker on it that says "plugable.com/ud-ultc4k on it. Its definitely the original cable.
When the dock disconnects/reconnects does it look like the whole dock is dropping (so video, charging, and USB data, etc) or do only some functions seem to drop off while others continue working? The whole dock disconnects. It takes about 20-30 seconds to reconnect every time, and happens every minute until 80% charge is reached.
If you connect the dock to a different USB-C port on the Mac, is the behavior still the same? Yes I tried all 3 USB-C ports
By the way the dock gets fairly hot when this is happening so maybe it is overheating from the power draw. It is out in the open on top of my desk and not covered by anything.
Thanks for letting me know about the new version of DisplayLink manager, I will try it out. But I dont think that will solve this issue as its just drivers to connect the second monitor via displaylink and doesnt affect charging.
I’m having the same issue and can confirm with the same answers as OP. After plugging it in after using it when the battery is low everything will disconnect and reconnect every 30 seconds. Unplugging the external hard drive from the dock seems to have stopped it today.
I’m on an Apple M1 Pro MBP with UD-ULTC4K docking station.
To add to @unraveled_cradle752 's reply, I do not have any devices connected other than my 3 monitors, keyboard, and mouse. And my monitors are powered by their own power supply, not the dock, so i’m definitely not trying to draw more than 96W.
Are there any drivers or software I’m supposed to download other than the DisplayLink manager?
Since you’re both seeing similar behavior, and because this behavior is unexpected based on our testing with a similar system and the same dock, I would like to try and get some additional information from both of you to see if anything may stand out as to the cause.
If you’re able, I would like to get a macOS system report per the below instructions:
For macOS 13 and Later Versions
Navigate to the Apple Menu › About This Mac
From the window that appears, click on the ‘More Info…’ button
The ‘System Settings’ application will open. On the left-hand side of the application, the ‘General’ option will appear selected by default. The ‘About’ information section will appear on the right-hand side of the application
Scroll down within the ‘About’ section until you reach the bottom
Click on the ‘System Report…’ button. The ‘System Information’ application will open
From within the ‘System Information’ application’s menu bar, click on File › Save… to save the information to a file
For macOS 12 and Earlier Versions
Navigate to the Apple Menu › About This Mac
From the window that appears, click on the ‘System Report’ button.
A System Information window will appear. From the application menu bar, click on File › Save… to save the information to a file
After gathering the system report please send us the file that is created by emailing it directly to our support address, support@plugable.com, by adding it as an attachment.
I can then follow up with any recommendations and email both of you directly as needed. If nothing stands out then I may want to try sending both of you pretested (known-good) replacement docks under warranty.
@Joshua_H I purchased the dock from Amazon and I am using the power supply that I received with it. Can you please verify that this is the correct power supply? I do not see any Plugable branding on it.
I am using power supply: Chicony A18-135P1B (135W DC output)
