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All iPads Lightning cable melted

s0nicpr0s

s0nicpr0s

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 1, 2010
230
47
Illinois
My sister and I have been sharing a 4th generation iPad the past few weeks, she'll have it one week, I will the next. We purchased a second lightning cable so that we wouldn't have to worry about charging it at each others houses. When she brought it over last night, she grabbed the 12w wall charger, and the cable that came with the iPad. She commented that the cable was getting very hot, and after she left I plugged the iPad back in.

Using the apple charger, as well as a 2.1 amp wall adapter I use for my phone, the iPad wouldn't charge. Plugging it into my iMac would cause the "Too much power" warning to pop up instantly, and the PS3 couldn't charge it either.

I took the iPad to a friend's house, and using their lightning cable allowed me to charge the iPad a little bit. I stopped at the closest apple store and showed my cable to two employees. They gave me a new cable.

I'm curious if anyone else has run into an issue where the cable has gotten so hot, that the connector casing looked warped afterwards. I should've snapped a picture of it before taking it in, but I wasn't thinking ahead.
 
Medic311

Medic311

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2011
1,659
58
mine hasn't warped or melted, but the tip that goes into the charger gets VERY hot after just 30 mins of charging. i can't even imagine what it would be like if charging from 0% to 100% for 5 hours or something.

it's a moot point though, i'm returning it and ordering and iPad 3 refurb.
 
R

raccoonboy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2012
918
5
There are people around here whose Ipad mini's lightning cable also melted and it also took the 5W adaptor along with.
 
s0nicpr0s

s0nicpr0s

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 1, 2010
230
47
Illinois
I wish I did. Like I said, didn't think to take a picture until after I got home with the new one. They took the old one when I traded in my broken one. Where the cord connects to the connector was warped. The middle of the plastic had a dimple or squashed in area, almost like the heat had shrunk it a little. And where the metal sticks out towards the top, the plastic was kinda pushed outwards towards the iOS device
 
Medic311

Medic311

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2011
1,659
58
racoonboy said:
There are people around here whose Ipad mini's lightning cable also melted and it also took the 5W adaptor along with.
Click to expand...

yeah that's why the lightning cable was so hot, b/c the 5W charger itself was insanely hot to the touch. i don't know what the hell is wrong with it. i stopped using it and i just use a generic USB wall charger that i got from amazon and it runs only slightly warm.

when i return the iPad Mini this week i will tell them about the problem. i'm not returning it for the charger/cable temperature, but rather b/c i just don't like the form factor. i'm going back to an iPad 3 refurb instead
 
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R

raccoonboy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2012
918
5
Medic311 said:
yeah that's why the lightning cable was so hot, b/c the 5W charger itself was insanely hot to the touch. i don't know what the hell is wrong with it. i stopped using it and i just use a generic USB wall charger that i got from amazon and it runs only slightly warm.

when i return the iPad Mini this week i will tell them about the problem
Click to expand...


I have no idea why apple provided only 5W charger with the mini? The battery capacity is almost as much as Ipad 2, no?
 
D

DonnieZ

macrumors member
Jun 18, 2010
33
8
Even on the iPad 2 the 5w charger got very hot. The additional draws from the new iPads I'm sure is very taxing on it.
 
R

raccoonboy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2012
918
5
DonnieZ said:
Even on the iPad 2 the 5w charger got very hot. The additional draws from the new iPads I'm sure is very taxing on it.
Click to expand...


It might be useable but i would never charge an Ipad using Iphone charger. Ipad demands more energy than it can give. Its okay the other way around though.

----------
Medic311 said:
b/c of the 5W charger costs pennies compared to the 10W/12W charger
Click to expand...


And yet $329 is the mini starting price :)
 
M

Mileskor

macrumors newbie
Aug 4, 2013
1
0
Me too!

My cable melted today too. Had I not discovered it, my house might have burned down! It was glowing red when I found it
 

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mtneer

mtneer

macrumors 68040
Sep 15, 2012
3,179
2,714
racoonboy said:
It might be useable but i would never charge an Ipad using Iphone charger. Ipad demands more energy than it can give. Its okay the other way around though.

----------




And yet $329 is the mini starting price :)
Click to expand...

Pennies saved over several hundred million units = millions!
 
EDH667

EDH667

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,035
278
Northern California
B

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
EDH667 said:
From looking at the thumbnail, that looks like a non-Apple lightning cable. The Apple lightning cables do not have lines along the edge which looks like another piece of metal was attached.

...
Click to expand...
I don't see what you're looking at. Other than the melted part, it looks like the cable that came with my iPad.
 
B

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
darngooddesign said:
The plug casing looks rectangular, apples is ovalish.
Click to expand...
Difficult to tell from a melted and warped casing, however it looks like it could be the right shape.

EDH667 said:
Parallel lines just in from the top edge (orientation of photo) and bottom edge.
Click to expand...
If you're talking about what I think you are, my lightning cable looks different along the edges as well. It could be light scratching from being used.

I'd rather it be a 3rd party cable or at least used with a 3rd party charger.
 
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S

SamuraiMinis

macrumors member
Jul 31, 2013
89
0
Mileskor said:
My cable melted today too. Had I not discovered it, my house might have burned down! It was glowing red when I found it
Click to expand...

To me it simply looks warped by it melting do to the heat. It is hard to distinguish with the damage though. Is it the one you got with your device in the packaging?
 
ActionableMango

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,612
6,907
I have an Apple cable, an Apple licensed cable, and a cheap Chinese knockoff. I use all three about equally.

The first two, Apple and Apple licensed, do not have those lines along the side.

The cheap knockoff has those lines along the side because that's how it is made. Those aren't wear lines.

So the lines in the picture above make me think it is a cheap third party copy.

If anyone is interested, I can provide a clear photo of all three.
 
Shanghaichica

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,642
13,143
UK
Apple are going to start a trade in programme where you can trade in your non apple cables and get an official cable for $10

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-76926400/
 
B

Buffy91423

macrumors newbie
Jan 20, 2014
1
0
I almost never use the apple chargers for my iPod or iPhones, but my boyfriend and my boss do and today she left hers plugged into the computer as normal (it is the official apple one) and the top part where the cable n the lighting area meet started melting randomly burnt my finger picking it up to see what the burning smell was and quickly unplugged it but now it is no longer usable but all of my 3rd party chargers have never had a single problem now I'm not sure how much I trust the apple made ones
 
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