A warning, cheap tut.

[doctor Bob]

Bought a spare laptop charger from ebay about 12months ago.
Last night it blew (big sparks / bang) and caught fire right in front of me, luckily just blew it out but how often are they just sat there on a sofa, cushion etc unattended.
No more saving £10 on a looky likey electrical item for me!!!

 

[Doug B]

That doesn’t sound ideal Bob.

 

[whatknot]

The same can be said of mobile phone chargers, there have been plenty of stories of the cheapies catching fire or worse

 

[AJB Temple]

Such stories have been around for years. I have never bought cheap copy products for this reason: it's an unsafe false economy. Glad you caught it Bob and that no harm was done.

 

[hog&bodge]

That was a close call, have you reported it to ebay as a dangerous product, not that it will make them do anything, but at least you have warned them.
I bought a sd card reader from aria.co.uk, left it plugged in while I was at shops came back to a hole in my desk.
They insisted I had used the wrong power cable I ask what power cable it is usb charged.
Anyway it was like a broken record with them, all I could do was walk away, did notice they had took the product of their site.

 

[Duncan A]

This is precisely why I've never bought a very cheap Chinese inverter.
Although they would normally be run attended in a workshop environment, with the relatively high power and voltages involved, the risks are really not worth saving a few quid.
Someone in the industry (possibly biased) told me that they should come with a free fire extinguisher!
Duncan

 

[TRITON]

This is reported all the time and yet some still think it a great idea to buy cheap non branded chargers off ebay and other sites.
I reckon you're very lucky it didnt burn your house down.
Lesson learned I suppose, but these lessons appear to be hard ones.

 

[doctor Bob]

This is reported all the time and yet some still think it a great idea to buy cheap non branded chargers off ebay and other sites.
I reckon you're very lucky it didnt burn your house down.
Lesson learned I suppose, but these lessons appear to be hard ones.

Indeed, I got lucky and feel a bit of a fool now.

 

[TRITON]

Indeed, I got lucky and feel a bit of a fool now.

We've all done the daftest of daft, but the important thing is we learn from these lessons.

I once tried to saw open a nailgun cartridge(using a junior hacksaw). Not realizing the heat would set it off. Boy that was a surprise when it exploded in my face sending me tumbling backwards in my chain. I lay on the floor laughing my 4r5e off at my own stupidity.

 

[D_W]

I buy the cheapies, but I keep two at a time if I have one (even if you have an OEM adapter, how long can you go without your laptop if you use it for work - I always have two that work so that I can afford to wait for another).

As an example, HP here decides something like $79 is a good suggested retail price. Sometimes branded versions appear on amazon or ebay for $15 - suspicious whether these are actually branded versions or counterfeits - entirely possible that actual adapters were leaked from the factory in china and then sold gray market (I don't think anyone believes HP pays more than about $5 each for these).

BUT, here's the catch. Even if I buy them totally el-generico with nothing on but the voltage and current ratings, I always check them a couple of times the first few days. If they run hot or stink, they usually do it from the start (mine always have). If they do, I toss them and get another. The ones that run cool have not gone kaput for me in the last decade. The ones that run hot don't usually last that long, anyway. A few months to a year.

 

[Spectric]

Look on these forums and many times there have been warnings about cheap invertors and power supplies, I have even seen what appeared to be a decent UPS go up with a bang and catch fire just because dodgy fake components have got into the supply chain so it is a real minefield and best solution is to only buy known brands and through a reputable outlet, the bay does not count as it is an outlet for every backstreet cowboy in asia to sell their goods.

 

[Oraclebhoy]

Scary stuff, glad you caught it in time.

 

[Chris_Pallet]

It's amazing how many house fires are cause by cheap market / ebay mobile phone and laptop chargers.
Recently went to a completely gutted house, the fire investigation team located a corner of the house where a cheap laptop imac charger was. Something to do with the magnet connection etc.

Rather than own brand I use 'Anker' which seems okay
If you register with them now and again they send you voucher codes and special deals.

 

[HOJ]

I've been mindful about anything that needs a charger ever since a pal of mine left one on in his workshop over night, well not quite, he was woken by the fire brigade.

Lost everything, Lotus Esprit JPS (same as Dr Bobs) Mk2 V8 Daimler, Austin Healey Sprite, Fordson Dexta tractor, and the list goes on, no insurance.

 

[Fergie 307]

Other thing to watch out for are cheap products like power banks that contain lithium batteries. The cheapest often don't have any circuitry to protect them from overcharging and so on, so they too can catch fire or explode.

 

[Bristol_Rob]

It's amazing how many house fires are cause by cheap market / ebay mobile phone and laptop chargers.
Recently went to a completely gutted house, the fire investigation team located a corner of the house where a cheap laptop imac charger was. Something to do with the magnet connection etc.

Rather than own brand I use 'Anker' which seems okay
If you register with them now and again they send you voucher codes and special deals.

+1 for Anker brand.
I buy these and I've never had a problem.
I wouldn't call them cheap thou

 

[Duncan A]

Amazon have just announced that they'll pay compensation for defective third-party goods sold through them. Only in the US at present but planned for other countries.
Progress of a sort.
Duncan

 

[nickds1]

Anker are generally excellent. Used them for years. I've taken their power bricks apart and they are well made IMHO with the correct protection (I'm an electronics engineer by degree).

They are Chinese too...

 

[Spectric]

The problem with wall chargers is that some do not have the right protection, unlike a plug top that is fitted with a fuse these often have nothing. Now a fuse would in some instances provide a level of protection, a residual current device likewise but in an overload situation you need some form of electronic protection which the cheap unbranded ones often do not implement even though it would not be a high cost but to these people every penny counts when it comes to profit. Fully agree with " Anker are excellent" and the only issues I have had have been a failsafe failure where it could no longer be charged.