Cable on FIRE...

[JohnnyUK]

Hi All

My daughter phoned to say that overnight she was woken by the smell of burning and sent these pictures.

It was a micro-USB that was trailing from a plugged in charger, but was NOT connected to any device.

Any ideas how this could have happened and how to avoid this in the future?

She's pretty worried now! (As am I!)

Thanks

John

[essayer]

Probably a loose connection inside allowing the power pins or perhaps wires in the plug to make contact and heat up

Phone charger cables do get a lot of abuse - especially when we use the phone with it plugged into a charger - the cables get pulled around inside the plug. Best inspect them occasionally and as soon as they look kinked or frayed bin them and replace with a quality brand (Amazon Basics or Anker usually OK)

[eeLee]

cheap dodgy Chinese cable and/or charger.

[Mr Pointy]

Nasty - there must be millions left plugged in. As said it's possibly a cheap cable that has developed a partial short so I'd start by sticking to good brands (Anker, Belkin, Apple) but these are a bit more expensive.

Of course unplugging or turning off when not is use is best but let's face it none of us are going to do that.

[JohnnyUK]

Thanks for the quick responses - the charger is an Anker, but I have now sent her the following to arrive today:

OK, am sending a smoke detector and a surge protected six way extension lead and a new micro USB cable (Amazon Basics) - arriving TODAY

[Mr Pointy]

It's a bit odd as it probably wans't a full short or the charger would (should) have shut down so maybe change the charger as well. But smoke detectors are always a good thing.

[JohnnyUK]

Mr Pointy said:

It's a bit odd as it probably wans't a full short or the charger would (should) have shut down so maybe change the charger as well. But smoke detectors are always a good thing.

Yup - she has one downstairs, but not upstairs - I have told her off!

[Zetec-S]

Thanks to the OP, it's reminded me we have a couple of slightly frayed charging cables, so will be binning them and ordering replacements today.

[JohnnyUK]

Zetec-S said:

Thanks to the OP, it's reminded me we have a couple of slightly frayed charging cables, so will be binning them and ordering replacements today.

Indeed - I had no idea there was this much current going through!

[Murph7355]

Cable left on the carpet?

Wouldn't surprise me if some ste got into the connector, enough to short the pins.

Unplug them when they're not being used. "Who does that?"... People who don't want their carpet setting on fire

[twing]

Murph7355 said:

Cable left on the carpet?

Wouldn't surprise me if some ste got into the connector, enough to short the pins.

Unplug them when they're not being used. "Who does that?"... People who don't want their carpet setting on fire

I feel a bit better about my OCD now, I don't leave a single charger plugged in if I'm not around. In fact the only thing plugged in is my fridge

[TonyRPH]

JohnnyUK said:

Thanks for the quick responses - the charger is an Anker, but I have now sent her the following to arrive today:

OK, am sending a smoke detector and a surge protected six way extension lead and a new micro USB cable (Amazon Basics) - arriving TODAY

A surge protected mains lead won't help in this scenario.

It looks as though there were wires touching in the cable (a dead short will shut a decent charger down - the ones I use have short circuit protection).

In any case, these things are better switched off when not in use - imagine if this had happened when the property was vacated?

I use wireless smart sockets which I can set schedules on, and also control from my phone (even when away from the property).

[i4got]

JohnnyUK said:

Thanks for the quick responses - the charger is an Anker, but I have now sent her the following to arrive today:

OK, am sending a smoke detector and a surge protected six way extension lead and a new micro USB cable (Amazon Basics) - arriving TODAY

Thats the difference between a dad present and a mum present. When my daughter moved into her flat my wife got her coasters - I got her a carbon monoxide monitor.

[NDA]

I found with my kids that they tugged cables out by just yanking the cable - rather than holding and pulling out the plug part... if that makes sense? Their cables lasted a fraction of the time that mine did.

Thankfully no fires.

[julian64]

Zetec-S said:

Thanks to the OP, it's reminded me we have a couple of slightly frayed charging cables, so will be binning them and ordering replacements today.

Alternatively you could put a meter between each contact and make sure there isn't a low resistance, job done, and planet saved