Electrical problem

[Joe O'Connor]

This morning my son unplugged an I phone charger from an outlet in his room, there was a loud pop and sparks. The face of the charger and the outlet are blackened and the charger even looks a bit melted. It did not trip the breaker and I still show power to both plugs. He was using the charger brick for his USB powered headphones, I'm not sure that makes a difference. Do you think it's the charger or the outlet? The outlet is less than two years old and the house was built in the late seventies or early eighties. I'm assuming I should replace the outlet but I'm a bit worried that I don't really know what happened. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Joe.

[Dan Hintz]

The charger is toast.

[Chris Padilla]

Since the breaker didn't trip, the outlet is 'probably' fine but kill the circuit and take it out and look at it to be sure. But the charger is mostly like done.

[Lee Schierer]

Any chance a paper clip dropped at some earlier time was lodged against the wall and shorted the prongs when he pulled the power supply out?

[Malcolm McLeod]

My guess would be the charger was/is root cause...

Was the iPhn wired to the charger when he pulled the charger out of the wall? If the charger and phone battery circuit have no diodes to prevent 'back flow' of energy, could this have caused the arc? (again, just speculation)

FWIW, my new house (4 yrs old) is the first I've lived in to have code-required AFCI circuit breakers in all living spaces, plus old requirement for GFCI (@ wet). The AFCI CBs trip instantly if I plug in a cheap/faulty/bad/ugly appliance, or sometimes if the appliance is already 'on'. It was annoying for the first 3 months, until I realized why it was happening. Might have prevented your situation?

Speaking of bldg. code that might make for interesting thread...? I have heard that 2015 national code release will advocate fire sprinklers in US single family residences. Municipalities usually adopt codes 3 years after release and may 'cherry pick' the national code (and so exempt themselves from sprinkler requirements, etc.). Our city was early adopter of such, so I have them. I get big insurance discount, and stats say most fires are out before fire department arrives. With one head tripped. (Movies make people think all the heads release at same time. NOT!)

[Von Bickley]

Normally when you see a burnt receptacle, the device that you plugged into the receptacle usually has a short in it. I would trash the charger, replace the receptacle, and make sure I have good tight connections on the receptacle.

Retired electrician.....

[Jim Becker]

These small chargers have specific power draw limitations on the USB side and if one exceeds that, they can fail, including catastrophically. The headphones may have been drawing more power than the charger can provide. Also, if it was a 'knock-off' charger, there's plenty of examples out there of them failing, too, although occasionally, a real Apple charger can go "poof".

I agree with Von...replace the charger for sure and I'd check that outlet very carefully and most likely replace it. They are not expensive.

[Dan Hintz]

These small chargers have specific power draw limitations on the USB side and if one exceeds that, they can fail, including catastrophically. The headphones may have been drawing more power than the charger can provide. Also, if it was a 'knock-off' charger, there's plenty of examples out there of them failing, too, although occasionally, a real Apple charger can go "poof".

If a device attempts to pull more current than it is registered for, the USB port will shut it down (or current-limit)... it won't blow up. If something blows up, it's because there is a short.