TB18DC Dock does not work as advertised

I looked for 3rd-party docks and none of them are capable of charging the computer

At my office, two of us have two 7730's with TB18 docks. We purchased these systems new back Nov-18, including new Dell monitors. The docks have never worked properly - NEVER. Dell warranty replaced the first dock I had. The new one had the exact same issues.

When i start up in the morning i have to plug the dock in, then unplug it and repeat that cycle repeatedly to get the dock to charge the laptop. In doing this, it often hoses up the drivers and I end up having to reboot. At this point, when i finally get the white LED for charging to stay lit I just reboot for good measure to clear up all the bios and/or driver confusion.

I thought this was a problem only with the 7000's and TB18's but, there's another guy in our office who has one of the more common Dell laptops (don't know the model but not a workstation type). He has the exact same issues and in fact from all of the cursing I hear from him suspect his may even be worse than mine.

Plugging then unplugging the dock cable can only result in damaged pins and a worn socket so even if Dell fixes this problem we are going to have problems down the road just based on this ridiculous means of connection. How on earth did that dock cable/connection method get through the engineering review process at Dell? Surely someone saw the obvious mechanical weaknesses!

I'm so glad I came across this thread.  I've had it with the TB18DC dock with my 7730.

Even with the latest driver and BIOS updates this thing is a productivity suck, rather than the productivity tool I paid for.

Sometimes everything works for a few days but the problems always return. Almost everything connected to the dock stops working.  Network, audio, USB all fail (but DisplayPort keeps working).

I have to disconnect everything and reboot repeatedly until the bloody thing starts working again.  What a waste of time.  These ongoing issues are an impediment to productivity. I've installed all the latest drivers for both the laptop and the dock. And I know I'm not alone in this.

It seems the only way I can get it work again is to follow a process like this:

• Power down 7730.
• Unplug TB18DC from 7730.
• Pull power cord from TB18DC.
• Unplug EVERYTHING from TB18DC.  (Network cable, monitors, USB devices, external audio.)
• Wait a minute.
• Power TB18DC back up.
• Plug back into 7730.
• Wait for Windows to boot.
• Power off 7730.
• Plug everything back into the TB18DC.
• Power the 7730 back up.

This is the only sequence that seems to make the TB18DC recover from these issues.

I'm cranky as all get up about paying so much for a flaky product.

Have the rest of you given up on the TB18DC?  What has support been saying about it.  With so many of us having the same issues, this doesn't sound isolated.

I've also been getting the "not enough power" warnings on my 7730. Are the rest of you using the Thunderbolt software? Mine shows only one port has Dell Thunderbolt cable and dock attached. If I flip the connector over, the other port shows devices attached. The connectors are definitely fully seated, and the cable is routed straight in cleanly. Is everyone seeing this, or is one cable/connector faulty?

Can we get any answer from support ? Do you plan to fix the problems ?

Any new version of dock firmware is planned ? I have few TB18DC  & 7530 and problems mentioned in this thread occures on each of them. TB16 also has problem with XPS 9570 (ethernet cable in RJ 45 causes blue screen on win 10) fixed by usb-c ethernet adapter (ofc 0 fix from dell so far, "solution" find by myself).

You sell so expensive stations with so many BUGS. Shame on you DELL.

I have similar issues with this dock. My employer buys THOUSANDS of Dell laptops, and the 7530 uses this dock exclusively.  There are no other options, short of plugging monitors, ethernet, and USB devices into the laptop every morning.

Essentially, getting the laptop to work with the lid closed while attached to this doc is a no-win scenario.  It works first time, maybe 20% of the time.  Resetting the dock seems to be some kind of voodoo ritual which entails disconnecting, facing true North, sacrificing a chicken, and who know what else to appease the dock gods.

When the laptop is opened, more times than not, none of the peripherals connected to the dock are operational.  This includes monitors, ethernet, USB keyboards, USB mice, USB cameras, etc.

If nothing else, I'd like to know the proper documented procedure for using this thing.  It is not a plu & play kind of device, and I swing it by its Thunderblolt cable want to throw it out of the window to see what kind of distance I can get.  I cannot recommend this dock, and hence the use of a 7530 by anybody in my company.

Same issue here. Have a user that has one external monitor and the dock (TB18 -240W) using dock for a few usb devices (all of them work), ethernet and for the display. User would like to close the lid of their precision 7530 without the computer going to sleep and just work off one lone monitor. However, when he closes the lid of the precision the computer will either sleep, or the laptop screen will go black and not be recoverable without a reboot. Also, when connecting to the dock to boot the computer will take about 2-3mins to boot up, I have seen slow boot times but this is wayyyyy to long. Similar to what you mention fitzie, it will maybe work with the lid closed 10% of the time.  

Steps taken: Ran almost every conceivable driver for this computer, thunderbolt controller, BIOS, ethernet, graphics, USB. Have all power settings set to, "Do Nothing". I have also ran every Windows Update known to man. 

Hi,

Same behavior for me since end of 2018 with my 7730 and the TB18DC.

Dock already replaced once but with same results.

All the drivers, firmware and bios are up to date ... and I check every week if there is anything new ... I still hope that one day Dell will release something that will solve the problems, but I think that I will be dead before ...

This TB18DC is a complet nightmare, I spend 30 minutes every morning to get everything working (2 Monitors, USB keyboard, ...) !!!!

When by chance I get the charging led on the Thunderbird connector and get the laptop booted then I get no USB devices ... need to boot, reboot, connect/disconnect several times to hope to get everything working.

In addition, there is nothing to see if the laptop is working or not, I work with my 7730 closed inside a vertical stand on my desk and I can never know if the computer starts up or no or if it is on, the light on the TB18DC is always on when he is powered and there is no information on the state of the computer ... I only know that the laptop is on if I see an image on my external monitors or if I hear the fans ...

For professional equipment at this price it's a shame !

I have also been having similar issues as others on this post. I have a Dell Precision 7530 and dock it to the Thunderbolt TB18DC. From the dock, I have an external monitor connected via HDMI, keyboard via USB, mouse via USB and headset/microphone via USB.

The dual USB-C connection to the laptop is incredibly flimsy and so is the permanent connection from that wire into the thunderbolt dock. It is a wider plug that looks like it can be unplugged, but is permanently secured to the dock. As permanent as it is, there is a lot of play in it from the day I received it. This connection jiggles up and down very easily. Because of these loose of flimsy connections on both sides of this connecting wire, any slight tap or contact with the laptop or dock causes the external monitor to disconnect. Most of the time the monitor flickers off, then about 5-10 seconds later, it will reconnect. Sometimes, the connection is lost for good and i have to go into the mode of disconnecting and reconnecting all wires into the dock.

Most mornings when i plug the laptop (while it is on sleep mode) into the dual USB C connector, the dock will recognized it, wake up the laptop and display on the external monitor while the laptop lid is closed. 

sometimes, it does not recognize it and i have to unplug all connections from the dock, press and hold the power button on the dock for 45 seconds or so, then replug everything in. Sometimes i have to reboot the laptop also. 

Overall it is a TERRIBLE dock that is physically designed poorly with loose/weak connections, and has glitchy software.  

Thanks,

We have bought several of these docks, and they are all P>O>S 's . I would claim Lemon Law on them. The Dual C USB HEADS ARE TOO HEAVY.  We have constant problems. The setup on them is also very difficult with all the drivers you have to go get, and the directions are wrong when it says to leave the dock plugged in when you run the software, I have found that if you do the software will not install, you unplug the dock and it installs. good luck to all normal users getting this done.  

I have the same issues, I'm glad I found this thread and see that I am not the only one.