BEWARE - Penney's Power Bank melted !

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768186#Comment_122768186

My work laptop is plugged in all day when I am working on it. In the evening, I put it away until the next morning. On my personal laptop I flip the switch on the socket so it's off.

My mother drilled it into us as kids to always turn off / unplug / switch off everything possible a night - she used to do a circuit (no pun intended) around the house every night before bed turning stuff off, and it stuck with me.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768200#Comment_122768200

You do what now????

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768181#Comment_122768181

I agree on cheap chinese stuff, and I personally would never buy a cheap powerbank, or charging cables.

But any product can develop a fault, so there is no way I would leave one charging overnight - and on a bed or sofa is crazy, in my view.

My phone is on my bedside locker at night, and I charge it before I go to bed. It's just a good habit to get into.

JVince

The power came from the charger/ socket.

That will be the cause of the issue.

Just because a charging cable is "branded", does not mean it can be faulty or unsuitable for the item you are charging. Ideally you should use the cable it came with as it will be designed for correct speed of charging.

A power bank will usually fully charge in 2 hours or so. Leaving it charging with a 3rd party cable that probably is not matched to the input levels is asking for issues

But to leave any chargeable item actively charging on a couch or other flammable surface overnight and unattended is just ridiculous.

I'd fully agree with Penney's and I suspect any sensible professional person would do the same.

And a wild guess is the op did not read the instructions.

Kaisr Sose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122767897#Comment_122767897

Please explain how charging on a hard or soft surface or leaving it unattended would make any difference to how hot this unit would get.

There are not insignificant problems with cheap or poorly made batteries (or products with internal batteries) coming from China. These products are the problem, not the person charging them.

There is a massive red flag here for Penneys. They should not be dismissing this as inappropriate use. No charger or battery should get hot enough to combust/melt.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768338#Comment_122768338

The power came from the charger/ socket.

That will be the cause of the issue.

so all other devices the OP plugs into that charger would likewise come close to self-combusting? why so quick to rule out a badly made battery pack?

JVince

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768440#Comment_122768440

Power banks are different to phones.

Phones trickle charge, power banks fast charge.

So a cheap charging wire will have no issue with any phone or other trickle charging item, it is not ideal for power banks that take a fair punch of power.

The power draw is simply too high. Note how the burn marks are at the charging point.

User567363

......

User567363

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768200#Comment_122768200

Username checks out

User567363

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768192#Comment_122768192

I totally disagree, I hate to see a battery being used unnecessarily, and have always kept all my devices as close to 100% as possible, never had a battery give problems

My laptop is about 10 years old and will drop to about 80% if used for an hour unplugged, but it's slower and screen is darker unplugged and there is sockets in my house, so why bother

My pet hate is a low battery

People need to move on from the ni cad battery rules

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122769127#Comment_122769127

How dark your screen, is simply your laptops power settings when on battery. You can set it to be full brightness on battery if you want.

Most batteries are not designed to sit recharging constantly, never being discharged. It creates heat, and batteries and electronics don't like being hot.

You don't want to leave a heat source unmonitored for long periods of time and especially not on a bed or a couch. It's asking for trouble. You only have to be unlucky once.

User567363

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122769330#Comment_122769330

It darkens the screen to reduce the drain in the battery so it last longers and reduces wear on battery, so cranking that up is bad for the battery

It only charges when it below 100%, so plugging in 24x7 it will always be full, so no heat

I use old laptops as budget domain servers as the battery works as a free ups during power cuts, some have been running for years

But yeah, sitting on a thermal insulator while charging is madness

endacl

….

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122769637#Comment_122769637

It's darkens the screen so the battery lasts longer for portability.... because it's a laptop.

If you are running as APC and it's always at 100% then it's being charged. Because a battery that's never being charged won't stay at 100%. Any way. It's off topic.

We've become careless with batteries because they are ubiquitous. They are also being made very cheaply and often without the necessary quality control and safety circuits.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122767897#Comment_122767897

Victim blaming.

Pennies should recall this product and refund their customers if it's likely to melt down and burn their homes down

Next time, they should choose suppliers that have safety standards and quality control

con747

….

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768338#Comment_122768338

"I'd fully agree with Penney's and I suspect any sensible professional person would do the same." OK then, so the rest of the non "professional" people are just what? Non relevant?. Never leave anything charging overnight simply as that for every person Professional or not…

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122767962#Comment_122767962

You couldn't be more wrong

Lets say you live in an apartment complex. A fire in your neighbours flat can burn down the entire building. Do you want your safety to be dependent, not just on your neighbours ability to read, remember and follow safety instructions, but also their children, or anyone who buys this product 2nd hand without access to the safety instructions?

The sellers of these products have a responsibility to ensure that they are safe. Not the consumer.

Pennies are a terrible company and I hope they go bankrupt.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768278#Comment_122768278

This is true, but also, those cheap charging cables should not be allowed to be sold in the EU if they're a fire hazard.

2 euro shops, Temu, pennies and other irresponsible retailers should be regulated out of business.

Disposable, dangerous, single use tat should not be on sale. Its wasteful, dangerous and the fact that the owners of these retailers are multi millionaires is a disgrace.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122768318#Comment_122768318

The vast majority of people charge their phones when they're asleep

Sonic the Shaghog

Its one thing if the OP bought this from Temu or if they were using a cheap cable, which the OP said that weren't.

If Penny's who are massive international company, with all supposed regulations etc being followed and are selling tat like this then they need pulling up on it.

You don't get to just blame the customer on this. It would be one thing if it was wrapped in a blanket and set on the couch but leaving it on the arm of a sofa and leaving it unattended while silly from a common sense point of view, doesn't excuse this.

OP I'd be reporting this to that safety crowd mentioned above. Not only that but I'd reach out to whatever media outlets are interested and make sure Penny's are dragged through the coals publicly given their flippant attitude.

What happens to the family one catches fire and burns down the house FFS.

Flinty997

Lpll

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770846#Comment_122770846

And it's a bad idea...

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/dublin-firefighters-issue-warning-as-phone-charger-catches-fire-overnight/41966437.html

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770872#Comment_122770872

They should have been warning shops and corporations like 'Pennies' to not sell dangerous chargers

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770866#Comment_122770866

Exactly

You think you're sensible and safe from these dangerous products because you can follow the safety instructions?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770910#Comment_122770910

You should get on the firefighters and tell them they are wrong about phone chargers.

Might also mention Power Banks at the same time.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770925#Comment_122770925

Look, back in the early days of electricity and gas, there were loads of fires. The number of fires didn't reduce because people became better informed, they reduced due to regulations on the sale and installation of electrical products

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770925#Comment_122770925

How does that change my point?

We have a CE mark for a good reason. Most of the fire hazard stuff is because the CE standard is being sidestepped. Primark/pennies should be enforcing these standards in their supply chain. Not end users

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770929#Comment_122770929

This isn't the early days of electricity.

Electric items even those adhering to regulations fail, can become faulty. It not good idea to be stubbornly ignorant of that and do stupid things with them.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770946#Comment_122770946

Whats your point?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122770947#Comment_122770947

It wasn't "my point" it was the fire fighters point you're disagreeing with.

From Apple…"…don’t sleep on a device, power adapter, or wireless charger, or place them under a blanket, pillow, or your body, when it’s connected to a power source…"