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iPhone 3G charger burnt and melted!

B

BlueSkyBlueWind

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 10, 2009
23
0
2 days ago when I came back from work, I was almost shocked to find that the connector part of the usb cable plugged into the wall charger was burnt and melted! Thankfully, the damage was only to the connector part, but not sure what could have happened if something nearby caught the fire from the heat!

I have no idea what happened. My wife didn't even notice it (who was at home the whole day) until I showed it to her. It wasn't connected (other than to the power plug) to anything so not sure what have caused the burn and melt :confused:

I thought all the explosions and melt-down of iPhone/iPods were the stories from another land, but I guess I am a victim myself although the damage wasn't as bad as others, but if my iphone had been hooked up to the usb cable, I am sure the phone itself might have been also severely damaged.

After taking the photo, I am thinking about contacting Apple about this, but what do you guys think? Any idea why this happened?
 
iphone.aggie said:
Just a manufacturing defect. You're actually not to keep chargers connected, but people always do. Most don't have a problem.
Click to expand...

Really? That's a pretty serious manufacturing defect. You're acting like he's complaining about light leakage or a crooked screen. I think this is much more than "just" a manufacturing defect.:rolleyes:




OP, how about posting that pic you have?
 
Surely said:
Really? That's a pretty serious manufacturing defect. You're acting like he's complaining about light leakage or a crooked screen. I think this is much more than "just" a manufacturing defect.:rolleyes:

OP, how about posting that pic you have?
Click to expand...

Jeez, don't be such a wordsmith. :)

I wasn't saying it was nothing. He asked what caused it. Obviously something inside shorted out or the transformer failed, but it was a defect of some kind.

How about if Isay it was a MAJOR manufacturing defect. Better? :)
 
iphone.aggie said:
Jeez, don't be such a wordsmith. :)

I wasn't saying it was nothing. He asked what caused it. Obviously something inside shorted out or the transformer failed, but it was a defect of some kind.

How about if Isay it was a MAJOR manufacturing defect. Better? :)
Click to expand...

Yes.:)

Call it like it is.

I wasn't being a "wordsmith". Your post made it seem like you were making excuses for Apple and blaming the OP for misuse.
 
Surely said:
Your post made it seem like you were making excuses for Apple and blaming the OP for misuse.
Click to expand...

That's not what I read in his post.


But that's neither here nor there. How 'bout the OP show us some photographs so we know what to look for?
 
iphone.aggie said:
You're actually not to keep chargers connected, but people always do.
Click to expand...

This is the part where you made excuses for Apple and blamed the OP for misuse.



scaredpoet said:
But that's neither here nor there. How 'bout the OP show us some photographs so we know what to look for?
Click to expand...

I'd say melted plastic and perhaps the smell of melted plastic.

I'd like to see them though.... I'm curious. I don't think it will provide us with clues though.
 
wow, could this really happen? Were you using all Apple products or using a ebay charger maybe?

Id love to see it, maybe it was caused by something around the plug, or maybe a animal/pet?

Id love to see a pic of it too, could for sure tell where it started and should give you a clue. If you get a big enough pic, ill show my brother (Fire fighter/fire investigator) and he can normally tell where the ignition came from from the flash marks on the burnt item.
 
Surely said:
This is the part where you made excuses for Apple and blamed the OP for misuse.
Click to expand...

That was not my intent, and I know what my intent was when I wrote what I wrote. I was simply putting out the information that it is said you shouldn't leave the chargers plugged in, since they can prematurely fail from doing that. I've never heard of one doing what the OP said from just being plugged in though.

I'm moving on. You like to argue. I don't.
 
I am at the hospital right now and was writing the first post while waiting for the doctor. (these days hospitals have wireless connections, very nice :D)

Will post the picture once I go home, but it won't be until late tonight. It looks like the connector part was burnt by a cigarette lighter... but of course we don't have such a thing at home... The USB cable and the wall charger are the ones came with my iPhone. No eBay cheapo charger - although I have one as my car charger. No pets. I have a young son, but the cable was on the counter where he can't reach.

This is not a fake story of some sort. What would I gain by posting a fabricated story here?

Anyways, picture coming up later today.
 
iphone.aggie said:
That was not my intent, and I know what my intent was when I wrote what I wrote. I was simply putting out the information that it is said you shouldn't leave the chargers plugged in, since they can prematurely fail from doing that. I've never heard of one doing what the OP said from just being plugged in though.

I'm moving on. You like to argue. I don't.
Click to expand...



I thought these were discussion boards...... I don't like to argue, I like to discuss. Maybe you don't like being called out on your comments? :)

How can I know what your intent is? All I see is what you type.

Please feel free to post a link to Apple's website that instructs us not to leave our iPhone chargers plugged in and that they will prematurely fail if we do.

Maybe you're getting post burn-out?
 
It's never a good idea to leave a charger connected with nothing attached. It continues to use (waste) energy, creating heat, and over the (very) long run it will degrade components and cause earlier failures. However, it shouldn't melt....
 
where on it did it burn?


are the prongs still connected? loose?


I remember there was a recall along time ago with the iphone AC adapters, the prongs would break off into the socket...

I believe there was a green dot placed on the adapter somewhere to show it wasnt the defective one.

I dunno if this applies to your problem...maybe one of the prongs broke loose inside...

However, electronic devices like this go all the time, hope it didnt damage your phone in the process. If its a apple product, i would ask for a replacement and send them the burned one...maybe they can tell you what happened. Im sure they would rather just replace it rather than have it turn up on CNET or some web site heehe.
 
Yeah, there was a recall... A while ago. People without iPhones found out serial numbers by using the 3g's at the Apple Store to get free chargers. All you needed was a serial and an address.
 
iphone.aggie said:
A MAJOR manufacturing defect. You're actually not supposed to keep chargers connected, but people always do. Most don't have a problem.
Click to expand...

wow... i didn't know that... but i do unplug my charger that i have at work unless i'm using it (however i do keep the iGo plugged into the socket within the center console of our prius all the time :eek:)
 
caligurl said:
wow... i didn't know that... but i do unplug my charger that i have at work unless i'm using it (however i do keep the iGo plugged into the socket within the center console of our prius all the time :eek:)
Click to expand...

It's not unsafe to leave the charger plugged in. However, it does drains a very very small amount of electricity while it's plugged in, even though your iPhone isn't attached.
 
Pictures

Here are the promised photos of the connector:

p1000638t.jpg


p1000637a.jpg


p1000636o.jpg


p1000634y.jpg
 
i bet anything its a frayed wire or a bent pin...

i was thinking on the adapter itself...the AC plug that you plug that cable into.

You burned up the sync cable at the 30pin end. Something had to cross the pins inside or maybe a worn wire.

WOW, im surprised it didnt take out your phone with it.
 
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