Sunday, March 01, 2009
Yesterday I connected my iPhone 3G to my computer's USB port and left it to charge. Three hours later it caught fire. Here's a picture of the aftermath:
The fire started in the space between the lead and the phone, and resulted in a couple of pins fusing together. Although the main functions of the phone are apparently unaffected, the device won't connect to the PC which means I can neither charge it nor transfer data. Result: one dead iPhone.
This seems to be an extremely rare occurrence. I've found one other account, on a Swedish website in August 2008. In that instance Apple dragged their feet about replacing the handset: I'm taking it back to the store tomorrow, so it remains to be seen what they'll say in my case.
There is clearly a major safety issue here. There are many accounts of iPhones getting hot when charging, and it now appears that they can get hot enough to ignite the plastic surrounding the data cable. It may be that the heat from the port pins initially ignited the small bits of fluff which can gather in the recesses of the phone and the charger: I don't know. Even if that is the case, it is something consumers should be warned about. Perhaps iPhones in future should be sold with a little brush for cleaning out these recesses. Or perhaps the hardware needs to be modified to prevent the phone from getting so hot in the first place.
*UPDATE* Apple called yesterday (4th March) to say their engineers are keen to examine the phone to find out exactly what went wrong. They're sending me a replacement in the meantime. More news when I get it.
*UPDATE* A new handset finally arrived on 18th March. I won't say it was the easiest process. Apple's Europe HQ in Ireland explained that ordinarily this would be classed as 'accidental damage', and would not be covered under warranty. Apparently, iPhone fire are so rare that the company assumes that faulty parts are not to blame, and that it must be in some way connected to user error. Thanks, guys. In my case I was lucky that the Apple engineers had seen the story, checked out the photo, and wanted to get their hands on the phone in return for a new one.
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20 comments:
Let me get this straight. Two iPhones (out of 20 million) have caught fire in nearly two years and you think this is "clearly a major safety issue"? You've got to be joking.
It is concerning Apple isn't brave enough to shout two free phones for these unlucky people and then look at those phones in detail to see if any lessons can be learnt.
How many people are like me who charge their phones next to them in bed overnight?
Not a major issue, but a shame that Apple who has produced millions of them can't be willing to loose two to further their knowledge of potential issues.
Maybe such action could suggest some liability on their part, if that was the case what a shame.
A similar thing happened to a friend with a 3G. It didn't happen randomly though. It happened because his baby put the connector in her mouth before he plugged it in. I suppose the wet contacts flipped out. Not sure if he plugged it in knowing it was wet or how he worked out she did that if he didn't know it was wet...
...and if the fire had spread, burned the house down and killed a few people would it then become a major safety issue?
Nothing should catch fire when you charge it, even if it's wet - there should be safety cutouts in place (fuse, thermal switch, etc) to prevent this from happening.
Ok but is this on the picture Iphone 3G... I am a owner of an Iphone 3G and it dosent look nearly the same as this on the picture. It might be some chinise version that you have problem with...
You can compare the photos from the apple website: http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/ at this link observe the diference in the round button!!!
And if this is not the real picture of your phone you have my apologies...
Have a nice day...
It's a screen protector - a layer of film which I've applied to the face of the phone to protect it from scratches. The iPhone was bought from an O2 store, and given that they are the official retailer for the iPhone in the UK I should bloody hope it's genuine.
I'm wondering if this phone as the recalled AC plug. Also, that would appear to be a resistance build-up, which makes me wonder if the cable was damaged in some way.
It seems a lot more likely to me that a couple guys damaged their cables than there being a latent design flaw.
As I read the title, I wondered about a battery-related issue, but that appears to be an electrical connection problem.
No fire on iphone? Only the connector? Strange...
I call shenanigans on that picture. If there was heat hot enough to melt the connector, it should have melted the plastic at the bottom of the iPhone also. I think someone used a lighter to torch their connector and is trying to get some free stuff out of Apple.
u idiots... if u click the photo and view a close up you can clearly see that the phone itself is burned. also, the plastic casing on the iphone is not actually "plastic", it is a harder different material. look for the people who blend phones to test the durability, they said its some weird new material.
perhaps the screen protector caused the temperature of your iPhone to raise slightly -- not very much, but just enough to start the fire.
I think you can see it well enough on the larger photo - the plastic (or whatever it is) on the phone is charred as well. The main damage is inside the port however, where the fire seems to have started. There is charring in several places and a grey deposit, which turned out to be two pins from the charging cable which had broken off and fused with the pins on the phone.
I'm glad the fire didn't cause issues beyond the iPhone.
I understand the internet and I understand anonymous postings. Still, I'm constantly surprised with the stupid, stupid postings people make. "Chinese phone"? "Fake picture"? Just plain stupid.
Anyway, hope Apple takes care of you with a new phone.
Thanks for the supportive comments (last anonymous in particular). I'm puzzled too by some people's reactions. I guess many assume the internet is full of con artists and therefore automatically doubt the truth of a story. In my experience most people are out there are honest and trustworthy, and genuinely interested in sharing information and ideas without assuming the worst about people's intentions.
My intention in publicising this case was not to embarrass Apple or get myself a new phone (the old one was only a few weeks old!), but to discover whether mine was an isolated experience, or part of a pattern of hardware failures. On that last point, it does seem that a handful of people have experienced the same thing, but the numbers are vanishingly small compared to the total number of phones sold. For me the really interesting question is whether there is a link to the widespread reports of phones overheating; at the moment I think the jury is still out.
I've switched off anonymous comments with some reluctance following a number of aggressive and unconstructive comments. If you haven't got anything intelligent to say, go and waste your time somewhere else.
I've noticed every single time a story comes out about an iPod catching on fire, people always post comments claiming it's a hoax. It just seems to come with the territory.
I have an iPod Touch, not an iPhone. I have noticed--and have seen concerned comments/questions online from others about this--that they get hot enough (especially near the bottom where the usb jack, and apparently the battery, is) for you to worry sometimes, particularly when they are plugged into a computer to charge. I would not be surprised if the iPhone is the same, and, accordingly, am not surprised to hear of any fires with either device.
Just because only two iPhones have caught on fire doesn't mean the potential isn't there in others just simply from trying to charge your device--especially if you're charging it and playing it at the same time (which is when my Touch is even too hot to touch at times--a problem I don't have at all with the Zune, i.e. playing while charging). With as hot as the Touch gets, I definitely think a major safety issue is involved.
For now, I think the only thing most of us can do is try to keep the iPhone or Touch plugged into the computer only as long as necessary. I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 3 hours or an entire night to charge either of those devices. And there have been times when I've left mine to charge for hours and touched the bottom back to find it pretty hot.
If you are in Italy, how can you have an O2 phone to use there? Or, have you jail broken it? If so, maybe something from the jail break has fucked the phone? If so, there is no warranty with Apple???
I divide my time between Italy and the UK, so effectively use it as an iPod Touch when I'm in Italy and as my primary phone in the UK.
Even if the phone had been jailbroken, an invalidated warranty wouldn't have made any difference in this case. Apple made it clear that the damage was not covered under warranty (it is so rare that it seems they automatically consider it to be 'accidental damage'). The handset was replaced as a courtesy after the Apple engineers requested I send it in for research purposes.
Interesting information about the Iphone on fire .i using i-phone & blackberry mobile My BB is locked mobile But my iphone is unlocked Mobile I found the Unlocking instructions in the site mobileunlockguideBut is there any site Providing the Free Unlocking Instruction for I-Phone
my iphone dock connector pins popped up n twisted themselves after a charge and my provider made me pay another 300 for a recon set. after which it has happened again! this time the pins were detached after charging and a small part came out together with the charger. iphone techs are still investigating...
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