Accessories Rapid Adaptive Charger - Arcing

[cj10]

About two weeks ago, while plugging in the charger into a 120 volt receptacle, for some reason, a bright electrical spark happened which caused a blackout in my hotel room. It appeared that a breaker had to be reset. The adapter seems to working although there is a black flash spot on only one of the prongs towards the backend, the other prong was sparkling clean. Don't know what really happened but I'm lucky I came out of it unhurt. I do notice that I was generating static electricity while staying in that hotel room. Climate was cold and dry. Wonder at the time of the incident I was a ground to the hot side of the plug? That's not the case right or else I would have felt a shock. Vaguely recall the arc originating somewhere above the holes in the receptacle and terminating at one of the prongs in the charger. Strange. Anyway one experienced something similar? Again charger seemed okay.

 

[johnpjackson]

Well, clearly you're describing a short circuit occurring. It's up to you to figure out how you're ending up with the hot side of the outlet coming directly into contact with the other side or ground. If it's happened in different outlets then it's probably something physically wrong/broken/loose on your charger. If it's the same outlet, check to make sure the outlet itself doesn't looked cracked or broken, or loose in the wall, etc. Also, make sure a metallic, foreign object of any kind hasn't fallen into it in some way, etc.

 

[mikedt]

About two weeks ago, while plugging in the charger into a 120 volt receptacle, for some reason, a bright electrical spark happened which caused a blackout in my hotel room. It appeared that a breaker had to be reset. The adapter seems to working although there is black flash spot on only one of the prong towards the backend, the other prong was sparkling clean. Don't know what really happened but I'm lucky I came out of it unhurt. I do notice that I was generating static electricity while staying in that room. Climate was cold and dry. wonder at the time of the incident I was a ground to the hot side of the plug? That's not the case right or else I would have felt a shock. Vaguely recall the arc originating sommewhere above the holes in the receptacle and terminating at one of the prongs in the charger. Strange. Anyway experience something similar. Again. Charger seem okay.

That sounds like the sort of thing that might happen here in China. ...plug something in, ...flash!...BANG!...and the lights go out.

What country are you actually in, maybe electrical wiring regulations and standards are not too good or safe there.

 

[cj10]

Chicago. USA

 

[cj10]

Well, clearly you're describing a short circuit occurring. It's up to you to figure out how you're ending up with the hot side of the outlet coming directly into contact with the other side or ground. If it's happened in different outlets then it's probably something physically wrong/broken/loose on your charger. If it's the same outlet, check to make sure the outlet itself doesn't looked cracked or broken, or loose in the wall, etc. Also, make sure a metallic, foreign object of any kind hasn't fallen into it in some way, etc.

It's probably something wrong with the individual outlet. Hopefully being that the hotel staff was aware of the incident, someone will investigate. After all it's one of the Hyatt Regency hotels.

 

[mikedt]

It's probably something wrong with the individual outlet. Hopefully being that the hotel staff was aware of the incident, someone will investigate. After all it's one of the Hyatt Regency hotels.

I would kick up a stink about that, especially in the US. Here we just get on with it, and repair the outlet yourself, or just don't use it, even in a Hyatt Regency. Been there, done that.