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You thought those cheap no-name USB/Phone charger were safe?

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mouser:
Here's confirmation of your worst fears: Those no-name generic usb/phone chargers really are inferior -- and sometimes unsafe.

In a lengthy and detailed blog article, Ken Shirriff compares a dozen usb chargers and finds some real differences in terms of electrical quality and safety.  his bottom line: "don't buy a counterfeit charger; the price is great, but it's not worth risking your expensive device or your safety."


http://www.arcfn.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-apple-is.html





from http://updates.lifehacker.com/post/34723084079/tests-show-why-you-should-stay-away-from-knockoff-usb

Stoic Joker:
Sounds more like they're not safe for (Princes and the Pea) iPhones. We've got 20+ cell phones at the office mostly Androids, 2 iPhones, and my Windows 7 phone. All of them charge daily on the $3 (wall and USB)chargers that I got from NewEgg at various points (depending on what was on sale), and none of them died from anything other than getting dropped one to many times.

Come to think of it I don't really know what the iPhones charge off of ... But the Androids and I are perfectly happy with the cheap stuff.

SeraphimLabs:
It's not so much an issue of if they work or not.

It's that a lot of the cheaper chargers are made out of low grade hardware, and in the past there have even been isolated incidents of poorly designed clone units outright catching fire due to serious flaws resulting from cost cutting by the manufacturer.

Tinman57:
It's not so much an issue of if they work or not.

It's that a lot of the cheaper chargers are made out of low grade hardware, and in the past there have even been isolated incidents of poorly designed clone units outright catching fire due to serious flaws resulting from cost cutting by the manufacturer.-SeraphimLabs (November 01, 2012, 03:49 PM)
--- End quote ---

  In other words, instead of using resistors and other electronic parts with a +- 1% variation, they use parts with +- 10% variations.  They're cheaper parts.

40hz:
I've found it a good rule of thumb to err on the side of caution and not be too frugal when it comes to AC current or anything that has enough electrical potential to kill or maim.

If it plugs into a wall, I generally stick with what the manufacturer recommends using. 8)

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