USB4 Screw Lock Cable, 80Gbps Dual-Screw USB-C, PD 3.1 EPR 240W

Overview

At 80 Gb/s the link margin is thin enough that a plug which has worked slightly loose does not fall out — it first degrades into intermittent link training failures that cost a day to diagnose. This USB4 screw lock cable clamps the USB-C shell to threaded posts on the device with a pair of captive knurled thumb screws, which removes the mechanical variable so the electrical ones can be judged on their own.

Key Specifications

What 80 Gb/s asks of the cable

At this speed the cable is an active part of the channel, not a piece of wire. Four things have to be true at once before the link will train and stay trained.

E-Marker and capability negotiation

An E-Marker is the small electronics package in the cable that tells the host what the assembly can carry before any contract is agreed. On USB Power Delivery the same mechanism governs current: above the standard 3 A level the cable has to declare its capability, and the host limits the contract to what the cable reports. That is why a cable is often the reason a 240 W charger delivers 100 W, and it is why we state the marker capability on the drawing rather than on the packaging.

PD 3.1 EPR: what has to agree before you get 240 W

• The source has to offer the EPR voltage and current profile.
• The sink has to request it and be designed to accept it.
• The cable has to declare, through its E-Marker, that it can carry the current.
• All three have to stay in agreement after thermal and mechanical cycling, not just on the bench.

Where the run is longer than passive copper will hold, an optical assembly is the honest answer — see the USB-C active optical cable. For a dock or an eGPU enclosure that does not need locking, the USB4 80Gbps cable is the non-locking sibling of this build.

When the specification effectively forces a locking plug

• The assembly is mounted on something that moves: a camera on a jib, an XR rig on a walking operator.
• The equipment travels, and the port is mated and unmated at every venue.
• Retraining the link costs more than the cable, which is the case on any live production.
• The port sits behind a panel where nobody can see whether the plug has backed out.

Retention design

• Two knurled thumb screws, one each side of the plug shell, engaging threaded posts on the device jack.
• Screws are captive in the overmold so they cannot be lost during a build or a service call.
• Finger-tight installation, no driver required, which matters when the port is behind a panel.
• Screw pitch matched to the common dual-screw USB-C receptacle footprint used on industrial and broadcast equipment.

Typical applications for this USB4 screw lock cable

• 8K and 16K production cameras feeding a recorder or a switcher
• Machine vision and inspection stations with a high-bandwidth link to a host frame grabber
• XR and simulation rigs where the tether is subject to constant movement
• Docks and expansion enclosures in broadcast and industrial racks, alongside the USB-C to DisplayPort cable for the monitor side

Compatibility and caution

The plug is a standard USB-C connector. It will mate with any USB-C receptacle that presents the matching threaded posts, and it will also plug into an unthreaded consumer port, in which case it behaves as a normal USB-C cable without retention. Backward compatibility with earlier-generation hosts is expected, but the achievable data rate and power profile are set by the lowest common denominator in the chain, so we recommend a sample evaluation on the actual host hardware before volume release.

Ordering notes

Stock lengths are 0.5 m, 1 m and 2 m, with 0.3 m available for rack-internal runs. Longer runs at 80 Gb/s are only practical with an active or optical assembly, so we qualify the link end to end with you rather than quoting a passive length that will not hold the rate.

On USB4 Screw Lock builds, prototype lots run from 1 to 50 pcs and leave in 3 working days. Production runs of 500 pcs and up ship 14 working days after approval. Tooling not already held adds around 10 working days. USB4 OEM and ODM shipments carry your part number and labeling, and we provide material certificates and first-article reports when asked.

Workmanship and testing

Build standard for USB4 Screw Lock builds is IPC/WHMA-A-620 Class 3 under ISO 9001, with terminations from 32 to 12 AWG. 100% continuity and pinout are tested on each USB4 unit before it is packed, and seal checking is quoted whenever an ingress rating is on the drawing.

Material declarations against RoHS and REACH are issued per project, alongside the dimensional and electrical reports agreed at quotation; see certifications, compliance and material declarations. Where your drawing names a UL style or another approval, the build follows your drawing and ships with the supporting document rather than a claim of our own. Overmold tooling for this part is designed and cut in our own tool room under overmold tooling cut in our own tool room, so the tool belongs to your program and a revision is a machining job rather than a new negotiation. Related reading: build-to-print cable assemblies.

Related assemblies

• USB-C screw locking cable, 10 Gb/s, side or top screws
• Right-angle USB Type-C screw-lock cable
• Circular USB-C screw cable with metal M12 style coupling
• USB4 80Gbps cable for docks and eGPU enclosures

Full range: screw-lock molded cable.

Frequently Asked Questions