Wrecked phone chargers

Discussion in Computers, Electronics & Gadgets started by TPhoenix • Oct 29, 2014.

  1. TPhoenix

    TPhoenixActive Member

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    Am I in the minority here or can some of you share in on this matter? Do you often try to protect your phone charger from damage and impairment to its appearance and function, only to eventually find the string of your charger coming part, making you beg to know how it happened? Do you go through this frequently too?
     
  2. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    I have had several phones over the years and never lost or had to replace any of my chargers. As my job takes me all over the world, I have various adapters which I use in case I don't have my computer with me, as I usually recharge my phone via my laptop. I noticed that it doesn't get as hot as when I charge it up that way. Another point is that I am always very careful when I plug the charger or USB cable into my phone. I do it very gently as those delicate metal bits have a tendency to get warped if I am not careful.
     
  3. Squigly

    SquiglyActive Member

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    While the charger is more durable than the phone by far, there are certainly some simple things you can do to take care of your charger. It is fairly expensive to get a branded replacement (I do not recommend brandless chargers, as they might be faulty and can lead to electrical fires/battery explosions)

    1. Make sure that you connect the charging unit firmly into the phone. A loose connection can generate a lot of heat and burn out the wires, or your phone.

    2. Don't tangle up the cables. Use a neat cable tie if the cables are too long.

    3. Keep your cables when not in use, in a cool place, to prevent rusting or melting of the cable coating.
     
  4. clairebeautiful

    clairebeautifulActive Member

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    We pretty much keep our chargers tucked into the charging dock all the time, so they tend to last and not get lost. Definitely the phone dies long before the charger... though I recently noticed one charger is getting a bit "threadbare" near the plug in. That's probably the one I've had in my car for a while.

    I'm about to (finally) upgrade to the iPhone 5, which means new chargers anyway. I think because of the abundance of iPhone upgrades, old chargers are pretty easy to find, used, in good condition and cheap.
     
  5. DesignerMum

    DesignerMumActive Member

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    Phone chargers were very delicate and a number of them were needed for a busy lifestyle. I had to get one of the phone chargers that can be used in the vehicle. A separate battery that needs to be charged fully as a spare battery. A home phone charger that works with the regular power sockets. One for traveling, which would come with extra cord, in case the old one needs replacement. And then comes the power bank. They all need to be kept safe in comfortable temperature, yet I needed to carry them around when going places.
     
  6. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    I have had my Nokia c7 for going on seven years now. It is seven or six - around the time I moved into my new house. The charger that came with the phone stopped working earlier this year. I kept it still, needing to fiddle with it and hold the phone a certain way to get it to actually charge. But after a while it stopped charging completely. I was glad because not being able to move whilst charging my phone was a pain in the ass. I bought a new charger from ebay for a very cheap price and it works great. I am very cautious about how I bend it even now. I hope it lasts.
     
  7. troutski

    troutskiWell-Known Member

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    I've never had any issues with chargers getting damaged or crapping out unexpectedly. I don't necessarily exercise caution while using them, either. It's hit and miss with such devices, though. I've found that device chargers for the car aren't always that great and can break or fray pretty easily. It never hurts to keep a backup around.
     
  8. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    I have never had a phone charger. Hell, I have never had a car lol. But I think that it is the conditions that your phone charger stays in that determines whether or not it lasts a long time??? I don't go out much, and when I do I leave my charger at home. My charger gets used mostly when I am in bed, or sitting on my bed, because there is a mains socket just behind my headboard, and the charger wire is threaded through between the mattress and the headboard so that I can plug the charger into my phone. I try to move the wire when I sleep to avoid damage, but it doesn't always work out how I want it to. When I wake up in the morning, sometimes it is bent.
     
  9. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    I've had numerous problems with chargers over the years, going back to my first Motorola Droid back in 2009. I was always forgetting my charger either at home or at work so I picked up an aftermarket charger to keep one at work and one at home. Over time I started noticing that my phone screen would sometimes behave very erratically and select stuff that was way different than what I was clicking on. Eventually I realized that every time the phone was plugged into the aftermarket charger this problem was happening consistently until I unplugged it. So I had to stop using that charger, but the damage apparently was already done.

    With my Droid Bionic, the charger that came with it had a versatile plugin unit - I could either unplug the wire from it and use it like a standard USB connection, or I could plug it into the wall unit which would allow me to plug it into a standard electrical outlet. The bad thing was over time the USB connection became loose and was constantly falling out of the wall charger device. Eventually this charger wouldn't work at all so I had to get a new one.

    The other thing I dislike about the Micro USB connector that goes into most smart phones these days is that it's too fragile. Even the pressure from the wire hanging off of your desk while plugged into your phone can cause the connector to become bent/warped over time.
     
  10. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    The original phone chargers that I had lasted for a long time, and with the exception of those that were damaged intentionally, the only one that conked out on it's own was the replacement charger that I bought. A little tip: Never bring your charger in your bag without it being inside something hard like a Tupperware, because from my experience, the wires can get damaged by being squished inside the bag.

    @ Dreek, maybe the charger is ok, but the port is faulty? If you shake each part of the wire and the charging interrupts only when the socket of the charger gets moved when it's plugged to the port, then the charger is still ok.
     
  11. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    Sidney, I bought a new charger of of Ebay for a sinfully cheap price up to two or three months ago. It works fabulously, especially for the price. But I am now overly cautious about it getting damaged like the last one did. I have had problems with charging, and I put that down to the old charger being broken. My battery has now swollen. I don't think that the port is the problem. But you never know. It very well could be. My mother and sister have had problems with their charger ports.
     
  12. chiofthenorns

    chiofthenornsActive Member

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    Yes! As a matter of fact, my phone charger almost got torn apart just a few weeks ago. My dad repaired it by covering the torn part with an electrical tape. I don't even know why chargers become like this.
     
  13. pennylane

    pennylaneActive Member

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    I have no idea what I do to mine but my phone chargers wear out pretty regularly. I don't carry them around, they just stay plugged in at my home. I find myself having to replace them ever 6 or 7 months. The outer lining starts to wear off and the inside cords get exposed. I've tried different brands but have the same issue.
     
  14. TheViper

    TheViperActive Member

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    The struggle is real on this issue pertaining phone chargers in my life. I make sure to hang them on a little hook by themselves with nothing hampering it. Thinking that everything is good and that I finally will have a charger that will last longer than one month. Then I find out that it is just coming apart all over the place. Then the phone charger randomly quits at doing its job and wants to take a permanent vacation. Needless to say I always buy extra chargers while hoping that one of them last longer than the warranty of 30 days it comes with.
     
  15. Tellyv

    TellyvMember

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    unfortunately yes, this is the worse. I feel like the companies make cell phone charges so cheap so people can buy them over and over because they know they will. There should no reason why after using my charger for 2 weeks it should break when I was taking the upmost care of it, it gets very frustrating.
     
  16. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    It is not as though the people who make phones and their chargers do not know that these chargers are going to be used daily. Smartphones these days have batteries that need to be charged every five minutes. Not ever smart phone but many. So if the makers of the technology know this the then surely they would and should design these chargers with the ability to withstand a little more wear and tear, especially when people are carting their chargers to and from place to place and such. Even when you take the utmost care, they still seem to break on you.
     
  17. jackslivi

    jacksliviMember

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    I thought it was always just me. I usually have the problem that the chargers just stop charging. I have even unplugged them as soon as they are done charging. I think it's dumb how crappy chargers are made. And usually if you buy the cheap ones at Walmart then they always break within a day. It's just a rough life for chargers.
     
  18. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    The problem with phones and chargers is that it is hard to figure out which part of the chain is the broken link. Most people do not know whether the charger is the problem, or if it is the phone's charging port, or if the battery is the problem instead. One way to test and make sure it isn't the port is to hook your phone up to your computer and try to see if it charges that way. If it charges, it most likely isn't the port that is the issue.