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Power(W) = tension(V) * current(A)^2

Since when?

P = I V = I^2 R = V^2/R

but P ≠ V I^2

and it is possible the whole iPhone was at mains voltage due to a short in the suppy, and it would not itself have 'known'


And lets not start the Tesla vs Edison argument of AC vs DC dangers
 
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In today's Chinese news:

蘋果機觸電疑涉山寨充電器 (09:31)

空姐疑用蘋果手機觸電亡案,央視畫面顯示死者所用iPhone 4兩側有灼燒痕,充電器非蘋果原裝貨。
內地傳媒引述專家指,懷疑女死者使用山寨充電器,未做好電路保護,導致強大電流直接進入手機。

內地央視播出的新聞畫面顯示,死者所用手機是iPhone4,並非金屬外殼的iPhone5,手機兩側有明顯灼燒痕,手機充電器非蘋果大陸原裝充電器。

央視報道稱,警方在現場發現,死者身體多處被電擊灼傷,身邊的iPhone4手機正在充電,但手機的數據線、充電器及插線板都完好無損,手機也能正常開機。《新京報》報道,記者注意到,從央視播出的畫面來看,死者使用的充電器,並非蘋果大陸原裝iPhone手機充電器。

報道引述電訊專家項立剛表示,從目前情形看,有可能是山寨充電器的問題。「山寨充電器有可能偷工減料,電容的質量、保護電路沒有做好,導致充電器的電容被擊穿,220V的交流電直接進入手機電池裏。但也有一種可能。我們知道台灣、日本用110V的電壓,中國用220V。如果充電器是按照110V電壓做的,其容納電壓的能力會相對弱一些。有可能會出現擊穿的狀況。」

據一名手機廠商人士說,手機充電時,充電器會將220V的電壓降低到5V左右,而這個電壓遠遠低於人體能夠承受的36V,因此即使手機漏電,也不會致人電擊身亡。如果充電器出現故障,或者電路安全保護出現了問題,正在充電過程中的充電器,確實有可能將220V的電壓直接傳送到手機電池裏,導致人體被電擊。

(新京報)

Google Translate:

Apple shock suspected copycat charger (9:31)

Stewardess suspect case with Apple phone electrocution death, the deceased CCTV screen display used on both sides of a burning iPhone 4 marks, charger non-Apple original goods.
Mainland media quoted experts refer suspected the woman to use the copycat charger circuit protection is not good, resulting in a strong current directly into the phone.

Mainland CCTV news broadcast footage showed the deceased using a mobile phone is iPhone4, and non-metallic enclosure iPhone5, phone burning marks on both sides of a clear, mobile phone charger non-Apple original charger continent.

CCTV reported that police at the scene found that the deceased suffered multiple electric shock burns around iPhone4 phone is charging, but the phone's data cable, charger and plug wire boards are intact, the phone starts up normally. "Beijing News" reported, the reporter noted, CCTV broadcast images from the point of view of the deceased on the charger, not the original Apple iPhone mobile phone charger continent.

Xiang Ligang telecommunications experts quoted said that from the current situation to see that there may be problems copycat charger. "copycat charger may cut corners, the quality of the capacitor, the protection circuit is not good, leading to the breakdown of a capacitor charger, 220V AC directly into the cell phone battery inside, but there is also a possibility and we know that Taiwan, Japan, with a voltage of 110V , China with 220V. 110V voltage if the charger is made ​​in accordance with its ability to accommodate the voltage will be relatively weak. there may be a breakdown of the situation. "

According to a mobile phone manufacturers say, cell phone charger, the charger will reduce the voltage to 5V 220V or so, and this voltage is much lower than the human body can withstand 36V, so even if the phone leak, it will not shock causing death. If the charger fails, or circuit security problems, the charger is charging process, it is indeed possible to 220V voltage directly to the phone battery inside, causing the body to be an electrical shock.

(The Beijing News)

Summary:

1) The woman was using an iPhone 4, not an iPhone 5
2) She used an unauthorised ("shanzai" = counterfeit) charger

That's why her family is not suing Apple.
 
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蘋果機觸電疑涉山寨充電器 (09:31)

空姐疑用蘋果手機觸電亡案,央視畫面顯示死者所用iPhone 4兩側有灼燒痕,充電器非蘋果原裝貨。
內地傳媒引述專家指,懷疑女死者使用山寨充電器,未做好電路保護,導致強大電流直接進入手機。

內地央視播出的新聞畫面顯示,死者所用手機是iPhone4,並非金屬外殼的iPhone5,手機兩側有明顯灼燒痕,手機充電器非蘋果大陸原裝充電器。

央視報道稱,警方在現場發現,死者身體多處被電擊灼傷,身邊的iPhone4手機正在充電,但手機的數據線、充電器及插線板都完好無損,手機也能正常開機。《新京報》報道,記者注意到,從央視播出的畫面來看,死者使用的充電器,並非蘋果大陸原裝iPhone手機充電器。

報道引述電訊專家項立剛表示,從目前情形看,有可能是山寨充電器的問題。「山寨充電器有可能偷工減料,電容的質量、保護電路沒有做好,導致充電器的電容被擊穿,220V的交流電直接進入手機電池裏。但也有一種可能。我們知道台灣、日本用110V的電壓,中國用220V。如果充電器是按照110V電壓做的,其容納電壓的能力會相對弱一些。有可能會出現擊穿的狀況。」

據一名手機廠商人士說,手機充電時,充電器會將220V的電壓降低到5V左右,而這個電壓遠遠低於人體能夠承受的36V,因此即使手機漏電,也不會致人電擊身亡。如果充電器出現故障,或者電路安全保護出現了問題,正在充電過程中的充電器,確實有可能將220V的電壓直接傳送到手機電池裏,導致人體被電擊。

(新京報)

Today's Chinese news:

1) The woman was using an iPhone 4, not an iPhone 5
2) She used an unauthorised ("shanzai" = counterfeit) charger

That's why her family is not suing Apple.

Hmm...interesting.
 
First thing that came to my mind is how every once in a while, if I'm fumbling with a charger, trying to get it into a plug behind a piece of furniture, I might touch the prongs on the plug with a finger.

----------

.5 amps can kill u.

Maybe if you placed leads on either side of your chest. Anything on an extremity is going to take a fair bit more than that.
 
I think you'll find it's natural selection at play here...

Anyone using a phone plugged in, whilst they take a shower, shouldn't really have any complaint

Where does it say anything about a shower? It sounds like this incident could have happened to anyone.
 
Specifics of the incident aside, the story has risen to #6 in the Bing Trending List. It would be wise of Apple to issue a follow up statement about this before the media distorts the story even more.
 
Did you miss the bit where it said she was using an official Apple charger?

Why waste time on actual facts when we can once again try to justify the ridiculous prices Apple charges for their accessories.

There really is a quality difference, George! This isn't like Monster cables at all!
 
Not at all racist.

It would be racist to say "chinese people always use knockoff stuff". You could make it even worse by adding "because they're not as good as americans" or something like that.

But it is not racist to observe that 99% of knockoffs come from China, and that this happened in China. Therefore, it is possible that these were not genuine parts.

This is absolutely racist, there's no third-party parts sold in the US? Wake up! Search Amazon.com / eBay, you will get whole bunch of third-party parts there. Yes, most of the third-party parts are made in China, but don't forget the genuine Apple products are also made in China, because labor cost is cheaper there.

I live in China, non of my friends are using non-genuine chargers, I can't find a reason to do so. When you buy an iPhone, it comes with a genuine charger.
 
This is absolutely racist, there's no third-party parts sold in the US? Wake up! Search Amazon.com / eBay, you will get whole bunch of third-party parts there. Yes, most of the third-party parts are made in China, but don't forget the genuine Apple products are also made in China, because labor cost is cheaper there.

I live in China, non of my friends are using non-genuine chargers, I can't find a reason to do so. When you buy an iPhone, it comes with a genuine charger.

American homes are big enough to lose things in.
 
Please resolve the true problem, so nothing like this ever happen again.

How? China does very little to shut down clone merchandise factories. Problem is at the government level.

----------

Supposedly she had just gotten out of the bath tub. Supposedly the phone was being charged IN THE BATHROOM.

Do they not mandate or use GFCI outlets in bathrooms in China?

Those fake chargers are very poorly isolated from the mains.
 
Blue - I would imagine if that girl had a working GFCI - this thread would not exist.

Especially considering the age of many homes vs the time GFCIs have been around.

Not to mention, I've seen a disturbing amount of GFCIs bypassed / disabled here in good ole "Murica. Do to the "inconvenience" of false-triggers, like on power washers, or motor homes. Ironically enough - the types of equipment that this protection is needed most.
 
How? China does very little to shut down clone merchandise factories. Problem is at the government level.



Did you read about the charger-accident in Finland (please see couple posts above)? In that case, the boy was using genuine Apple-made charger which flamed up while charging and caused electrick shock and burning injuries to the boy. Finnish authorites are investigating the case.
 
...
C: If you did actually look up "Switching Supply Failure Modes" you would realize that one failure mode results in THE ENTIRE LINE VOLTAGE PASSING THROUGH TO DC / SECONDARY LEG. Translation: You're connected directly to whatever is coming out of the wall outlet. Oh, the iPhone has a metal exterior - that it uses as an antenna? Oh, most everywhere line voltage has a reference to earth ground. Wait, humans stand on the ground, AND can hold things? I wonder, what could the odds be...

D: Metal iPhone, Ground Shields, Failure of Switching Supply - Electrifies the "Ground Shield" and results in the skin / exterior of the phone going "hot" - PCBs inside could care less, as they are "within" a Faraday cage. Just like how you'd be safe inside a steel cage, that was struck by lightning. Again, just Google.

If I ever needed help to rewire my house and I could only pick from this thread, I'd pick Big-TDI-Guy.

From the facts given, I'd guess one of two things happened:

1) Something's seriously wrong with the water pipes, and not only are they not grounded, they're somehow tied to neutral or even hot. Current flows from faucet to one hand, across chest and heart, to other hand, to iPhone's metal band to USB cable's shield, to charger, to wall socket.

2) Isolation failed on charger. Current flows from charger, through USB shield, to metal antenna band, to hand, across chest and heart, to other hand to faucet (grounded).

In both cases, the phone can be fine because the power supply still works, the phone only sees 5V because its circuit loop is only between the phone and the charger, while the person sees line voltage across the heart.

All you other people chatting away about how 5V can't kill you or that the USB wires must be too thin to kill you are all going about it wrong. If the iPhone's fine but the person's not, then current must have travelled over USB cable's shield. A braided shield can carry way more current than the 26 gauge or whatever they use for USB power lines.
 
First thing that came to my mind is how every once in a while, if I'm fumbling with a charger, trying to get it into a plug behind a piece of furniture, I might touch the prongs on the plug with a finger.

No problem touching the prongs, because as long as you can touch them, they can't be deep enough in the wall to connect to high voltage.
 
I'm sure you're right...it needed to be challenged nonetheless.

Xiang Ligang telecommunications experts quoted said that from the current situation to see that there may be problems copycat charger. "copycat charger may cut corners, the quality of the capacitor, the protection circuit is not good, leading to the breakdown of a capacitor charger, 220V AC directly into the cell phone battery inside, but there is also a possibility and we know that Taiwan, Japan, with a voltage of 110V , China with 220V. 110V voltage if the charger is made ​​in accordance with its ability to accommodate the voltage will be relatively weak. there may be a breakdown of the situation. "

Happy now?
 
A Hornets' Nest

This has certainly turned up a hornets' nest. It was probably rather rash of me and others to assume that the phone was a knock-off. However, it is hardly racist. China is the major source of counterfeit products, as it is of legitimate products. It is also, as far as I know, the only country which has also had counterfeit Apple stores. Many unfortunate members of the Chinese public paid good money for what they had every reason to believe were genuine Apple products only to find that they were counterfeit.

Every country has counterfeiters and China, with a population of more than 7,000,000,000, probably has more counterfeiters than most. In the UK, there have been numerous examples of Chinese counterfeit chargers bursting into flames (I know of no electrocution cases).

There are some interesting parallels with the UK in the nineteenth century. At the height of the industrial revolution, Britain had many food adulteration scandals like the ones we have seen recently in China. The Chinese government has acted swiftly in relation to food adulteration and I hope that it will be as decisive in clamping down on those producing counterfeit electronics and other goods.
 
No problem touching the prongs, because as long as you can touch them, they can't be deep enough in the wall to connect to high voltage.

Your mileage may vary! I've seen Euro plugs with plastic compromising 70% of the prong, with just the tip being metal. Those, I'd agree with your statement, but plugs in the US - the prongs are metal entirely. And you most certainly can get shocked by a partially inserted plug out here, should you touch the prong itself.
 
I got a warning for trolling for my last post, so I'll rephrase and dedramatise here:

This is China's own problem. Civilised societies(1) do not need to worry about this. China is well known for systematic production of counterfeit food and there are poisonous food in almost every category(2). With a government so corrupted(3) that there is almost no enforcement of any safety standard(4), it is no surprise that there are more life-threatening fake chargers than real ones in that country.


1)I do not believe China is a civilised society based on the following facts: lack of rule of law, very corrupted government, no human rights including press freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of gathering.

2)This is well documented in news.

3)Ranked 80th on Corruption Perception Index 2012.

4)Well documented in the news, including recent events such as falling bridges, collapsing roads, poor building standards of public schools.

Note to moderator: this is not trolling, unless there is rule that says criticising China is trolling. Notes are purely there to support my arguments of the case. They are NOT part of the arguments. This post is not meant to be political.
 
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