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Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

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Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#51

Post by tedmiston »

caf wrote: post #38
johnthedebs wrote: post #21

This failed on me recently (a couple weeks ago) and I was very surprised when it happened. It was a US 10-watt(?) adapter that came with a 3rd-gen iPad I bought a while back. The adapter is two pieces that fit together (like Apple's macbook adapters), and the piece that inserts into the outlet broke into two pieces when I tried pulling it out one day. The way it split, half was stuck in the wall and half was still co…

I've never understood why it seems to be popular for US wall sockets not to have switches.

I just returned from Australia and New Zealand where every outlet has a built-in power switch. I would really like to have them in the states too.

I can't seem to find a real reason why we don't. Perhaps the usage cost of electricity is less expensive in the U.S., or it's something Americans are just less conscientious about.

There is a lot of speculative discussion in this thread http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/why-dont-us-outlets-have-bui....

Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#52

Post by rangibaby »

m_mueller wrote: post #48
rangibaby wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

JP here too. This was in ~2011, the staff then Really Liked Macs. Now it's the "my iPhone screen broke" bar, and they have way more staff. The service for my Mac last time was actually pretty hideous. I can't remember what he said, but he used some amazing jargon to explain the difficult act of booting off an OS on a USB hard disk. Then tried to say that the broken hinge (the hinge part of the stand on 2014 skinny iM…

I also had very mixed experience. In Switzerland I now avoid them like the plague and I go to certified service partners instead. Problem there is that there's always an issue, like screws not sitting tight and falling out after service, or some non essential component not being reconnected again, like keyboard backlight. Lately my position on Apple is: I buy their iPhones and their iMacs. One has comparatively good…

I have been dual booting Ubuntu for awhile now on my Macbook.

Unless Apple comes out with something really special this year (early 2011 13" MBP →　late 2013 13" Retina MBP was an impressive upgrade), I am considering building a Linux desktop and a pairing it with a really nice monitor. 1TB SSD is only $400 now, which seems like a really nice deal compared to even last year.

I'll keep my Macbook around for using Adobe apps, I guess. Other than that I can't think of a pressing reason to stay on OSX.

Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#53

Post by martiuk »

orbitur wrote: post #32

This is interesting. I bought the World Adapter Kit for our trip through Germany/France, and nearly every hotel/B&B we stopped at, I could literally feel a gentle vibration/shock coming from MBP's case whenever it was plugged in to the two-prong outlets. I don't know if that's poor grounding or something else, but it was definitely unnerving and I didn't feel comfortable using my laptop when it was plugged in. But it…

In the UK both of the BS 1363 plugs have metal earth pins yet only the extended cable version connects to earth on the adapter. I have definitely felt a small vibration/shock from my MBP's case when using the uncabled plug with disconnected earth.

Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#54

Post by digi_owl »

johnthedebs wrote: post #21

This failed on me recently (a couple weeks ago) and I was very surprised when it happened. It was a US 10-watt(?) adapter that came with a 3rd-gen iPad I bought a while back. The adapter is two pieces that fit together (like Apple's macbook adapters), and the piece that inserts into the outlet broke into two pieces when I tried pulling it out one day. The way it split, half was stuck in the wall and half was still co…

Same thing happened in Norway a while back, but to a school kid that seemed to have impulsively reached for the part that was lodged in the socket. Best i could tell the kid survived.

Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#55

Post by digi_owl »

blackguardx wrote: post #12

It looks like it is only the international adapter part. Everyone complains about Apple's strain relief, but a lot of engineering went into making that as good as it is (which is less than average). It is hard to make robust stuff look sleek and well designed. Some companies err on the side of robust. Apple goes the other way.

> Some companies err on the side of robust. Apple goes the other way.

And that is why, given the choice, i'll go with a Thinkpad over a Macbook.

Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#56

Post by digi_owl »

derefr wrote: post #35

I long ago stopped using the two-prong adapters; they're just a bad idea when you plug in at places that don't have particularly clean power. Where I used to live, my unibody Macbook would literally give me a little static shock whenever I touched it as long as it was plugged in with the adapter (or possibly it was a continuous current; running your palm along the metal felt a bit like rubbing a balloon.) Switching t…

And this perhaps a good reason why the whole metal case on mobile phones is a bad idea.

What you are describing is grounding problems of one for or another.

Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#57

Post by digi_owl »

steve19 wrote: post #6

I would love to know how they could possibly be a shock hazard. I have a piles of these (for travel) and they are solidly build and almost only plastic. The only way they could break, I think, is if they fell apart somehow.

There was an incident in Norway recently where a school kid was unplugging an iPad, and the prongs came loose from the charger. This left exposed metal bits protruding from the live socket, and the kid has apparently reached in to remove them. Kid survived, thankfully.

From the images i found it looked like the assembly was basically pushed into the charger. There seemed to be some notched on the metal bits that would be inside, likely supposed to latch together during assembly, but i guess they could come loose if there was enough insertions and removal.

Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#58

Post by derefr »

digi_owl wrote: post #56
derefr wrote: post #35

I long ago stopped using the two-prong adapters; they're just a bad idea when you plug in at places that don't have particularly clean power. Where I used to live, my unibody Macbook would literally give me a little static shock whenever I touched it as long as it was plugged in with the adapter (or possibly it was a continuous current; running your palm along the metal felt a bit like rubbing a balloon.) Switching t…

And this perhaps a good reason why the whole metal case on mobile phones is a bad idea. What you are describing is grounding problems of one for or another.

(I'm not an EE, so if anyone knows better?)

Oddly, never had the same problem with a phone USB charger. Which is the opposite of what you'd expect: the USB chargers seem to be entirely solid-state, using flyback transformers[1], while the larger power adapters have room for a real wire-wrapped ring transformer[2], which should be providing better electrical isolation. (I would never expect to be shocked by dirty power coming through an induction ring.)

[1] http://www.righto.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-teardown-...

[2] http://www.righto.com/2015/11/macbook-charger-teardown-surpr...

But if it is the device itself that was faulty, rather than the input power, it's a different story; in that case you want at least some valid ground path, and complete isolation is bad (because then the device will ground through you, obviously.)

Maybe it's just that the power adapter block has a separate ground path and expects to ground it into a dedicated ground pin (and, I guess, leaves the ground pin disconnected when a two-prong adapter is connected? That seems wrong-headed), while the USB chargers, made to assume two-prong usage, mix ground with positive.

Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard

#59

Post by jacknews »

sehugg wrote: post #27
tedmiston wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm the exception here, but in a decade of using MacBooks, I've never experienced the power adapter falling apart. I remember this a lot back in the PowerBook days, especially those clearish gray translucent adapters.

I've had frayed insulation with multiple MacBook adapters and Lightning cables. I wonder if it is climate related; I live in a hotter and more humid place than Cupertino. In any case there is no excuse for the insulation being so fragile when $5 USB cables never have this problem.

Yes, me too, I'm sure the heat and humidity is a factor, but for the insulation to actually decompose in this way just from the climate is absolutely unacceptable.
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