To me, the USB cords used to charge both devices look awfully identical to me. I am getting ready for a road trip and I would love having only once cord. Has anyone used the same cord for both devices?
I see two possible ways to try to tackle this question. The first would be for someone who actually has those devices & cables to relate their experience.
The other would be to look at the cable connectors. If both cables have the same pair of connectors, then they’re essentially the same cable. If the connector pairs differ, then I doubt that they are the same.
If you want to try method 2 then post pictures of the cable connectors. If your devices use the connectors I think they do then I think I could tell the difference.
Are both of the cables USB cables? That is, does one end look like the example below and do you plug it into a computer USB port or a wall socket 5 volt USB charger when you want to charge the device?
Irrational j, that’s what I am hoping, that someone uses both devices and is a computer wiz. I did ask my neighbor who is a computer genius and he thought they were interchangeable, but he isn’t a type 1 person. The end that goes into the pump or CGM looks exactly the same. and the electrical outlet part is…well…a plug for an outlet. I did call T-Slim but they said to use their cord. Which of course I expected. I’m just hoping to take a few less items on this roadtrip.
Did you look at the number of pins on the side that goes into your device? From experience, I know that my phone charger and my kindle charger look exactly alike on the outside, but because the phone charger has less pins, it doesn’t work very well at charging my kindle. As neither is a diabetes device, I went ahead and tried it, and nothing did anything as dramatic as exploded, but my kindle didn’t charge enough to start up.
tl;dr I’m not sure I would risk it. Especially before heading off on a trip. Burning out a socket on either device would be devastating.
I use both. I had problems with uploading dexcom data with the non dexcom cable- I think charging is ok though. You can test it out yourself of course too. My pump works with either one I think for charging and I use the dexcom cable to upload from both. They both fit though for sure, the right number of pins etc.
I was on the phone with dex about something and they told me to only use the dexcom cable for uploads- you can tell which one it is because it has a B on it 
instead of labeling it: dexcom, it makes sense to put a B on it because among the numerous cables I have I will automatically know that is for my dex lol.
Thabks. I think I will use the "designated"cords for updating data, but may try using one cord for charging.
1 Like
I use the same cord for my T-Slim and my Dexcom all the time. I have one cord next to the bed and will charge one device at a time. I also have one cord at the office that I use to upload to Diasend every week. No issues here.
1 Like
Thank you everybody!
I solved the charging problem by either covering the 2 middle data pins on the USB side of the cable or taking a spare cable and cutting the white and green data wires in the cable.
I have used this method with a battery pack and a solar charger.
I covered the pins with a piece of paper.
There are two data wires and two charging wires in the cable period. I cut the two data wires on a spare cable (green and white wire) and can charge the receiver with any usb charger. You will need to do this with a spare cable as you will need the data lines to upload data on your computer. You should be able to charge from a computer usb port without altering the cable as the two data pins are dedicated to data on a computer and will not interfer with the cgm receiver
I use the same cable for charging my Tslim and data all the time with no problems. I don’t even know where my Dexcom cable is. I think it was too short so I don’t even use it. I use the cable that came with my phone.
I have charged the Dexcom and every other device (phone, tablet) with no issues. Look at the charger itself and see what the power, voltage, current is. If it is the same, you are good. I think that these days, it is pretty standard.
To answer definitively- my daughter got a Dexcom G4 Platinum Pediatric two months ago and has been re-charging with any nearby micro USB connection (phone, tablet, generic $2- I got on e-bay). Lo and behold, on the day before she is to go to sleep away diabetes camp for two weeks, Tandem takes down their server for the weekend (on five hour notice, when we are attending a swim meet, where incidentally I was officiating).
I had to get the data off the Dexcom. The Dexcom cable with the “B” is required. I located it and installed and it worked like a charm.
So 1) any cable that fits to charge, 2) reading out the data requires the Dexcom cable.