Cell phone chargers and house fires
edwardh1
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
A Neighbor told me cell phone chargers (even when not charging a cell phone, but plugged in) have been the cause of home fires. Is that just the latest urban rumor?
Replies
I think urban rumor but I do make it a point to unplug mine at the other house when I leave to return home as I do with the toaster over and cordless tool chargers. Only the kitchen stuff gets unplugged when we go north for any amount of time.
I would be amazed with the billions of cell phone chargers and other "wall warts" that are plugged in all the time that they haven't cause a few fires. I think you will be hard pressed to find any kind of electrical device that hasn't caused a fire so you can unplug your cell phone charger, and your computer, and your toaster, and your washing machine, and your drier, and your electric blanket, and your lamps. Now what do you do about with the furnace that is hard wired along with all the switches, outlets, and wire buried in the walls. You can turn off the main breaker but what if there is a defect in the electrical service entrance? You can have the electric company disconnect your service at the pole and take down the wires so they can't be struck by lightening.
Now that you are sitting in the cold and dark, don't even think of lighting a candle, a lantern or starting a fire in the fire place as they are all much, much more likely to start a fire than all the electrical devices that you got rid of. By the way, don't try to sneak over to your neighbor's to charge your laptop and bring it back to check for answers to your post as those lithium batteries catch fire too.
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KURT, I needed a good hearty laugh after this long holiday week and you provided it with your reply. It's amazing how many people worry about rumors that are patently untrue. The same people will hear a new one( usually on the internet)
and then forward it on to everyone on his contact list who then, forward the same crappola on to new willing believers The jokes are on all of them, as scammers collect all those posted e mail addresses and then load (our) inboxes with spurious schemes to get our Visa Numbers Anyone want to purchase land in Nairobi? I have a connection to a guy who sells unclaimed winning lottery tickets worth millions, but you first have to convert the Nairobi Rupee into US money orders and transfer the the money orders to The Cayman Islands where your funds are deposited in a non taxable offshore accountSincerely, Crown Prince PONZI 111
Edited 12/28/2008 7:07 pm ET by Steinmetz
I dunno, but after that fire in Philly the other day ( 7 dead) I think there should be a bounty on Kerosene heaters, turn em all into scrap and pay the person bringing them in.
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As was stated, just about every electrical device made in quantity has probably started a fire at one time or another. Cell phone chargers themselves are pretty safe, but the batteries (especially LiIon) have well-known tendency to catch fire or explode. Moreso with laptop batteries. [And note that most newer cellphones use LiIon batteries, not NiCad or NiMH.][And note that LiIon is a "lithium" battery.]
I generally unplug my cell charger when not using it, but leave plenty of other wall warts plugged in -- laptop, printers, radios, digital converters, etc. All are designed with a built-in thermal fuse that SHOULD disconnect them if an internal short develops or they're overloaded, but fuses can fail. It's a chance I take.
My wife insists on unplugging the toaster when not in use. It's something her mother did, I think.
Edited 12/28/2008 5:23 pm by DanH
Edited 12/28/2008 7:05 pm by DanH
but the batteries (especially LiIon) have well-known tendency to catch fire or explode.
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I think you are thinking of lithium batteries - they will explode, particularly if you try to charge them. The batteries in cell phones, etc are typically nicad or other rechargable chemistries, and they really don't explode or catch fire, under normal use. They certainly don't have a "well known tendency" - only lithium batteries fall into that category.
I had a thermal runaway of a ni-cad in a UH-1M about 30 yrs ago over Atlanta at night. Noticed the loadmeter on main generator was pegged, took battery off-line. Had asked for a practice radar approach to find the airport and was denied, told them I had a problem and they steered me to it.
When we landed the battery vent looked like a portabello mushroom and the paint was eaten up all down the tailboom. Especially puckering since we had the battery in the aft location right next to large fuel cell. The inside was jelly when they opened it up. The approximately 1 cuft stainless steel case was bowed like crazy.
We went and drank large amounts of adult beverages immediately. We were taking the bird from Lakehurst, NJ to Corpus Christi, TX for overhaul.
By the way my cell batts are Li-Ion.
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Edited 12/28/2008 6:17 pm ET by rasconc
When we landed the battery vent looked like a portabello mushroom and the paint was eaten up all down the tailboom.
======================That would be an exciting experience :-)I suppose any battery chemistry can cause exothermic reactions under the right condition. However, lithium batteries are the "poster child" for this kind of thing. Li-Ion, in theory, don't have this susceptibility, and it's unusual (but obviously not impossible, as your experience demonstrates) for nicads to heat up, unless they are improperly charged.
Also to keep in mind this was probably at least 40-50 yr old technology. IIRC the batteries were pretty much the same type ones we had when I was in flight school in '68. The things were considerably changed over the years as were monitoring and maintenance proceedures.For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Thermal runaway on NICAD's where a serious problem. I think that there where some AD's out on them.And a google indicates while maybe not as serious that it still happens. Saw some military references from 2004..
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