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iPhone 3G a fire hazard?

Anuba

Anuba

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 9, 2005
3,792
394
Yeah, there was a MR member that posted the US version.... Can't remember the thread, but I remember seeing it. Have the responses were flames though -- questioning why the OP was charging it on the floor and such.
 
brn2ski00 said:
Yeah, there was a MR member that posted the US version.... Can't remember the thread, but I remember seeing it. Have the responses were flames though -- questioning why the OP was charging it on the floor and such.
Click to expand...
Well, the cable is so damn short I think I lot of people have to resort to charging it on the floor. And besides I don't see what that has to do with anything. As long as he's not charging it in a filled bathtub it should be OK...
 
Heck, my PowerBook's PowerBrick gets way too hot for my comfort.

Likely this occurred because of an overload, and I doubt it would happen if this was connected to power through a surge protector.

TEG
 
Anuba said:
Well, the cable is so damn short I think I lot of people have to resort to charging it on the floor. And besides I don't see what that has to do with anything. As long as he's not charging it in a filled bathtub it should be OK...
Click to expand...

Right, and I wasn't defending anyone, just pointing out another thread. :eek:
 
Anuba said:
Well, the cable is so damn short I think I lot of people have to resort to charging it on the floor. And besides I don't see what that has to do with anything.
Click to expand...


It has a lot to do with everything actually. First off, the guy wasn't charging his phone, he claimed he stepped on the connector and that's when it got hot. Chances are he crushed/bent/shorted parts of the connector and that caused the plug to melt. The photos also show he's got a bottle cap and who knows what other metallic debris laying around on the floor.

The same thing could happen with much lower voltage, if you happen to put a battery (even a AA) in your pocket with your keys, or smash one on the floor somehow. It'll short, and it'll burn.

I don't know about you, but if I'm going to leave my charger connectors laying on the floor, I'm going to avoid stepping on them, and will definitely take care to avoid any metallic crap getting in and potentially shorting the connector. Or better yet, I'm just not going to leave an open connector plugged to a wall and laying on the floor. If you step on it, chances are good it might break, and when it's plugged into a power outlet, the result isn't going to be very good.

Edit: By the way: a translation of the swedish article indicates a very similar story there too.
 
scaredpoet said:
It has a lot to do with everything actually. First off, the guy wasn't charging his phone, he claimed he stepped on the connector and that's when it got hot. Chances are he crushed/bent/shorted parts of the connector and that caused the plug to melt. The photos also show he's got a bottle cap and who knows what other metallic debris laying around on the floor.
Click to expand...
That's one possibility, certainly, but there could be a million other explanations. I dunno, maybe some people manage to get a lot of spit into the connector (it's pretty close to the microphone after all) and that this will cause it to short-circuit. I have no idea. Either way, after two very similar but unrelated cases of iPhone fires I think they should at least look into it. A few years ago, Microsoft replaced all power cables to all Xbox units because there had been one or two incidents of Xbox power cables starting fires. After investigaton they found that the current cables were all faulty so they sent out new ones to every single customer.
 
It seems to be the same as the magsafe connectors that melt and burn. I have seen it on other devices as well. Where the wire comes out of the plastic connector, it flexes. Eventually the insulation cracks, or wears away, or the solder joint to the physical connector breaks.

After that, all it takes is for the wire to touch something that is grounded, and you have a short. Little while longer and you have a melted plug.
 
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