Phone charger rant. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2012, 07:09:06 pm
content: I'm am sick and tired of my phone telling me to unplug the damn charger from the wall outlet when the phone is charged up. Not only is this offensive to me to be told that, I don't trust their cheap arse fire risk charger in my wall, unmonitored while I'm at work.But the real piss off is the fact that my phone vendor seems to be suddenly concerned with the number of plugged in yet non-charging chargers sucking up unnecessary power. Apparently it is easier to drop a line of code in the phone's OS to appease a bunch of tree huggers rather than design a charger that can disconnect itself from the mains when not in use.It's all bullshit anyway.

author: Short Circuit
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2012, 07:45:32 pm
content: A simple charger and a phone trying to be helpful making you sick and tired...Sure hope you won't be facing any serious discomforts in your life

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 19, 2012, 08:09:15 pm
content: Mine has the same message, but generally I canot see it, as the screen is normally locked and blank while charging. I anyway charge via USB lead and have made a special one from a OHL wart that had 12 leads but now has only 4 to do the devices i have.

author: PChi
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2012, 03:30:55 pm
content: Don't necessarily blame the phone vendor.A while ago the good old EU produced some spurious calculation about how much power all the wall outlet chargers were using hence the concern of the phone vendor.So blame the EU and Green tree huggers.I wouldn't say it's easy to design a charger that could disconnect itself from the mains when not in use. How would it be able to detect that the phone was plugged in and needed charging without some circuit powered up. Also the chargers have to be designed down to minimum cost to compete.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2012, 03:41:49 pm
content: Mr Clipsal & Mr HPM have gone to a lot of trouble so you don't have to unplug your charger.They have installed a little item called a switch,which makes it unnecessary.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2012, 04:41:27 pm
content: When the charger is not feeding power into the phone it should be drawing almost no power from the outlet. If it's a well designed charger, that is.This would be an interesting test for someone to do who is set up to measure power consumption. I know my iPhone charger remains very cool when it is not charging and gets warm when it is charging, but I have no easy way to measure the current unless I rig something up with a multimeter.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2012, 08:14:39 pm
content: Most of these modern chargers consume essentially zero power in standby.Was quite surprised when I cracked open a cheap Samsung phone charger. They'd gone for a LinkZero (Power Integrations) IC. Rated at some 5mW in standby, not too shabby. I reckon the electric meter running 24/7 will consume 1,000x that.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2012, 09:14:49 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on July 20, 2012, 03:41:49 pmI'm using Mr. One Hung Low's power strip board. Can't switch that off because of other things plugged in also.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2012, 09:26:54 am
content: And by the way, speaking of Mr Clipsal and Mr HPM, don't buy any switch plate or power point outlet from Mr Arlec. You'll find him at Bunnings where lower prices are clearly not just the beginning.Paid $32 cos I was in a bind on a Sunday and needed a replacement double GPO with the switch in the middle for the bathroom heater. Old switch lasted 20 years for the old chook who used it. New one felt dodgey when I connected it, and a week later I was told the switch mech had fallen out onto the vanity and live contacts were exposed.Arlec POS!

author: buxtronix
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2012, 11:12:23 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on July 20, 2012, 03:41:49 pmWhich is kind of pointless for these EU regulations and findings. Australian and British power points are amongst the few in the world where switches are near universal. Europeans, Americans, etc tend to have unswitched outlets (and often unearthed). Many countries have unpolarised and unearthed GPOs as standard.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2012, 11:30:07 am
content: Just replaced a new ( under 2 years old ) socket at work, that had burnt itself solidly to the multiplug that was plugged into it. Took 10 minutes of gentle work with a big screwdriver to "persuade" the burnt brass to part company with the plated pin. Took it off and replaced it with another, made by Mr Claptlee ( he moved to OHL a while ago, QC is now debatable) and, after replacing the switch again it worked.Tossed the plastic in the bin, and the brass into the pile for the scrappie. 2 of the terminals I did repurpose as lamp holders for the worktable I am building up.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 22, 2012, 01:31:36 pm
content: I don't know how well designed these things are but i guess having millions of them plugged in does mount up. The cheap variety can also be considered a fire hazard, never mind what it says on them. Unfortunately we have lost the good old common sense to be conservative of our resources and think it's good to burn them up for the fun of it. It's like the victorian nobles having huge feasts and throwing loads of food away, it proved to themselves they were rich. We all do the same today with anything. I have to resist the urge of walking over to cars left with their engines running and turn them off, particularly with young children left in the car too.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2012, 07:35:14 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on July 22, 2012, 01:31:36 pmInteresting about the engines running thing... My physics teacher did a study on it in university after his experience working at Ford; he'd found that it was only economical to turn the engine off if stopped for more than 2 minutes, because of wear and tear, fuel required to start, power used by the starter etc... I remain sceptical.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 22, 2012, 07:39:53 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on July 22, 2012, 07:35:14 pmI think modern engines are not quite that bad, but your gonna be over two minutes if your going into a shop. Apart of course from the fact that is is illegal for a very good reason.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2012, 04:43:36 am
content: Quote from: buxtronix on July 22, 2012, 11:12:23 amThe OP is in Australia.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 23, 2012, 05:17:17 am
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on July 21, 2012, 09:26:54 amI little reality check here with both Clipsal and HPM bought out by multinationals we are seeing two trends, the low priced Asian sourced stuff is getting better, and the established brands are slipping. A few years ago the quality difference was massive now it's not so clear.Given the huge price differentials (the trade don't shop at Bunnings) we are seeing more and more of the better Asian sourced stuff used by reputable Electrical contractors.For low current use such as multiple data outlets the better Asian stuff is perfectly adequate. For applications such as kitchens where the duty in terms of current and plug/unplug cycles is high I'd probably still select HPM. The quality difference is however quickly disappearing.I've had brand new lightly loaded Clipsal circuit breakers fail to open the circuit despite the toggle clicking to off, which draws quite a lot of attention at a TV station when the inevitable flash occurs while they are broadcasting the evening news. Brand names are not always a guarantee of quality.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2012, 03:43:36 pm
content: Leave a car running while going into the shops here means it will be gone before you reach the door...........Though most wall sockets do have switches, you will find most power strips do not, only switch is the one on the wall, to switch the whole lot on or off.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2012, 04:02:37 pm
content: One question : Does anyone use ABB?My entire house's replaced sockets 5 years ago are all ABBABB's switches really are top notch, i have some that are from 13 years ago and still work great