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Apple Pledges Investigation After Chinese Woman Reportedly Electrocuted Using a Charging iPhone 5
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Just Apple users? So is CNN accusing Apple of faulty iPhones? I use my iPhone and iPad while plugged in to power all the time. Never had any issues, never received a shock of any kind.
Well, I'm a certified Electrotechnical Engineer and If my word is worth anything, I would say:
a) It's physically impossible that the wires of a USB charger can be used to electrocute a baby human even. They lack the diameter necessary to carry enough current to kill. (considering c)
b) It's 99,99999% unlikely that the charger Apple uses would delivery an AC voltage, and an AC voltage in the magnitude that could kill.
c) The wires are too close in the cable to make an electrical arc through a human body. Even you connect a high tension to a Lightning cable, all you would get would be and electrical arc between the + and the -, and then, it will burn the wires, causing them to fall on the ground.
d) The PCB would burn if such a high voltage and high current would be passing.
DC current is safe no matter what, in fact, the electric chair was invented by Thomas Edison to promote his DC electric distribution system in detriment of the better AC that Westinghouse was using.
a) It's physically impossible that the wires of a USB charger can be used to electrocute a baby human even. They lack the diameter necessary to carry enough current to kill. (considering c)
b) It's 99,99999% unlikely that the charger Apple uses would delivery an AC voltage, and an AC voltage in the magnitude that could kill.
c) The wires are too close in the cable to make an electrical arc through a human body. Even you connect a high tension to a Lightning cable, all you would get would be and electrical arc between the + and the -, and then, it will burn the wires, causing them to fall on the ground.
d) The PCB would burn if such a high voltage and high current would be passing.
DC current is safe no matter what, in fact, the electric chair was invented by Thomas Edison to promote his DC electric distribution system in detriment of the better AC that Westinghouse was using.
But I think you missed the part where it said her family said she was using an official Apple charger. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
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En? DC can electrocute like AC, apart that it has another danger, electrolysis
What about a manufacturing defect with the port itself? In a funky enough situation, could a bad contact inside the phone create a charged circuit out of the antenna? Judging from the pictures, that's what looks like happened here.
Actually you've got this wrong. Edison used the electric chair to show the dangers of AC in order to promote DC.
Can't be the phone
It could not be the phone itself. - but the charger- if the 230 v arches trough to the USB cable giving her skin resistance ( wet, sweaty etc. ) and what shoes she was wearing and what kind of floor she was standing on - it can kill you - no doubt.
It could not be the phone itself. - but the charger- if the 230 v arches trough to the USB cable giving her skin resistance ( wet, sweaty etc. ) and what shoes she was wearing and what kind of floor she was standing on - it can kill you - no doubt.
First: is this a common occurance or freak one-off story on a slow news day in the middle of summer?
If it's a common occurance where are the other reports and why haven't they been publicized? And why hasn't a recall been ordered. Of course we know why. It's because
it is a one-off Ripley's Believe It Or Not story (or maybe CSI). The iPhone is far too popular a phone and Apple is more scrutinized now than a Sport's Illustrated Swimsuit issue in a middle school locker room in 1984.
If it's a common occurance where are the other reports and why haven't they been publicized? And why hasn't a recall been ordered. Of course we know why. It's because
it is a one-off Ripley's Believe It Or Not story (or maybe CSI). The iPhone is far too popular a phone and Apple is more scrutinized now than a Sport's Illustrated Swimsuit issue in a middle school locker room in 1984.
#6 is especially interesting. As it greatly limits the means with with she could be electrocuted. But it also makes the whole thing even more perplexing.
It's very unlikely she'd be see more than 3.3V at any of those external antenna (or even the SIM slot). 5V isn't much more. 9V starts to cause a noticeable "shock" on the tongue but not skin, due to the natural resistance (amps = voltage / resistance in ohms). So I'm at a loss to figure out where the extra voltage came from, and why it didn't burn out the device in the process.
And how did she wind up grounding herself such that current could pass from the hand through her body rather than just through the hand back into the phone? I'd almost suggest that the phone was actually the "ground" in this instance, not the source.
I'd say nationalist more so.
Sad to hear about this. Hopefully the issue gets resolved. I've never had any issues with Apple chargers. I'd think there would have to be something else going on such as the water discussed in the article.
DC is much more dangerous
Electrolysis of the blood- yes- plus since it has no frequency it seizes you muscles- you can't let go.
Electrolysis of the blood- yes- plus since it has no frequency it seizes you muscles- you can't let go.
According to Fortune:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/07/15/apple-iphone-electrocuted-charging/
Ms. Ma's iPhone 5, according to her family, was purchased in December and was still under warranty. The family told @Stewardess network that she had left a bath to answer a call.
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/07/15/apple-iphone-electrocuted-charging/
Ms. Ma's iPhone 5, according to her family, was purchased in December and was still under warranty. The family told @Stewardess network that she had left a bath to answer a call.
I get the feeling there is a LOT more to this than we are lead to believe. Let me guess, the name of this woman was "Som Ting Wong" and just the other day was piloting an aircraft.
The phone isn't the issue, it is DC and while it could burn, it wouldn't be able to arc across a vital organ and thus do any real damage. While, in theory, the battery could discharge and if she is grounded somewhere else pass the current through her body, the battery would discharge quite rapidly and thus likely not kill her. Maybe injure and / or burn, but not likely to kill. Thus the phone is really NOT the cause.
The charging cable is likely not the cause either, for when it is in working order it just produces power to the phone. Even if the lines shorted together, they would blow the fuse of the house, at best.
Charger seems to be the most likely culprit. If there is a failure in the coils, or wiring, it could cause the primary power to arc across the inductors and supply a large mount of current down the wire (plenty to kill someone). BUT the terminals on the end are too close together to kill anyone, it would burn their hand at best and give them a decent shock to where it is touched (finger, hand, face, etc). But it can't arc across the body. BUT now if she was grounded some other way, maybe via wet pipes in the house (building) then yes, current could flow down her phone charging cable, into her, out through the ground point and thus frying her.
So what could cause the charger to fail? Poor design (I don't think anyone would argue that with Apple). Bad Quality (again not likely with an Apple product, they have very high quality standards). Water. If she had water travel down the charging cable into the charger it could easily short it out, no matter who manufactured it. This would also supply an additional conduit for the current to travel back up the wire. Or a 3rd party charger that doesn't meet the quality and design standards needed.
China is also not known for their safety codes of their houses and their build quality. (Yes, I've been there many times). Any outlet near water should be GFI, thus even if shorted, it will immediately pop and usually prevent death. Likely this wasn't installed since I don't think it is a build requirement. Additionally their power is VERY unpredictable. Last time I was there, we had brown outs and power glitches all the time. We had to run all of our computers through power conditioners to make sure that they weren't damaged. A surge on the power line could have caused the charger to fail.
Main points :
* She had to be grounded somewhere else, most likely her feet.
* Very probable but not necessarily true, that she was using a knockoff charger. But if she was using a genuine Apple charger, it would have to be done in an unsafe way.
* If she purchased an adaptor to make it work on the Chinese electrical grid, that could have cause a failure.
* It's not the phone itself, it has to be the charger.
* The Chinese electrical grid could have caused the failure as well.
Yes, this is sad, but I honestly don't see Apple being much at fault here. . . but who cares, sue Apple, they have money.
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VERY possible, maybe it was low on battery. If she was in the bathroom, it is good to note that many Bathrooms with showers have a drain in the middle of the room. This is because they often don't use shower doors / curtains, just let the water flow to the middle of the room and down the drain (the whole room is often tiled). Thus she could have been standing in a puddle of water. The drain could have been connected to ground somewhere. Thus poof, one minor mistake and blink, you're dead.
The phone isn't the issue, it is DC and while it could burn, it wouldn't be able to arc across a vital organ and thus do any real damage. While, in theory, the battery could discharge and if she is grounded somewhere else pass the current through her body, the battery would discharge quite rapidly and thus likely not kill her. Maybe injure and / or burn, but not likely to kill. Thus the phone is really NOT the cause.
The charging cable is likely not the cause either, for when it is in working order it just produces power to the phone. Even if the lines shorted together, they would blow the fuse of the house, at best.
Charger seems to be the most likely culprit. If there is a failure in the coils, or wiring, it could cause the primary power to arc across the inductors and supply a large mount of current down the wire (plenty to kill someone). BUT the terminals on the end are too close together to kill anyone, it would burn their hand at best and give them a decent shock to where it is touched (finger, hand, face, etc). But it can't arc across the body. BUT now if she was grounded some other way, maybe via wet pipes in the house (building) then yes, current could flow down her phone charging cable, into her, out through the ground point and thus frying her.
So what could cause the charger to fail? Poor design (I don't think anyone would argue that with Apple). Bad Quality (again not likely with an Apple product, they have very high quality standards). Water. If she had water travel down the charging cable into the charger it could easily short it out, no matter who manufactured it. This would also supply an additional conduit for the current to travel back up the wire. Or a 3rd party charger that doesn't meet the quality and design standards needed.
China is also not known for their safety codes of their houses and their build quality. (Yes, I've been there many times). Any outlet near water should be GFI, thus even if shorted, it will immediately pop and usually prevent death. Likely this wasn't installed since I don't think it is a build requirement. Additionally their power is VERY unpredictable. Last time I was there, we had brown outs and power glitches all the time. We had to run all of our computers through power conditioners to make sure that they weren't damaged. A surge on the power line could have caused the charger to fail.
Main points :
* She had to be grounded somewhere else, most likely her feet.
* Very probable but not necessarily true, that she was using a knockoff charger. But if she was using a genuine Apple charger, it would have to be done in an unsafe way.
* If she purchased an adaptor to make it work on the Chinese electrical grid, that could have cause a failure.
* It's not the phone itself, it has to be the charger.
* The Chinese electrical grid could have caused the failure as well.
Yes, this is sad, but I honestly don't see Apple being much at fault here. . . but who cares, sue Apple, they have money.
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VERY possible, maybe it was low on battery. If she was in the bathroom, it is good to note that many Bathrooms with showers have a drain in the middle of the room. This is because they often don't use shower doors / curtains, just let the water flow to the middle of the room and down the drain (the whole room is often tiled). Thus she could have been standing in a puddle of water. The drain could have been connected to ground somewhere. Thus poof, one minor mistake and blink, you're dead.
Apple daily is a known HK tabloid. No reason to believe everyhting you read in the tabloids.
Unless you're in an upscale hotel with specially designed bathrooms or live in a country where this is common, I've never seen anyone's home (including my own) with a shower designed this way with drainage in the middle of the floor.
Actually, AC is more dangerous in regards to muscle seizing. Weird as this might sound, a DC current will force your muscles to jerk before it seizes up, which means you could possibly drop or knock yourself away from whatever's electrocuting you. AC forces contractions, which means you're more likely to grip whatever you're holding onto harder.
Hell, everything about this story is freakishly weird.
All three of my in-laws houses are this way. To clarify this is for China, not the US.
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From the other day. http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/51e077f069beddc355000005/tv-station-makes-excruciating-error-reads-4-wrong-names-of-asiana-crash-pilots-including-sum-ting-wong-and-ho-lee-***.jpg
Yes. but you forget Ohm's law i = v/r
The current equals volts over resistance. In other words while it is true the current is what kills, that amount of current is directly proportional to the voltage.
The mount of current has NOTHING to do with the maximum possible current that is printed on the back of the device. It is determined solely by the voltage and whatever resistance there happens to be. the 2.1 amp figure means nothing here.
Next we reduce the resistance by adding some water and soap and the current goes up some more.
What exactly did he/she say? I'm not seeing anything inappropriate.
The OP is suggesting that this woman deserved to die through natural selection because she was obviously so stupid. We don't know the full facts here and we don't know if she was to blame or if it was a faulty device, etc. However that is immaterial, like some else said earlier show some respect someone died here.