Why Charging Your Phone on Your Bed is a Fire Risk!

3/16/2022 (Permalink)

Charging cables sometimes cannot handle the current flowing through them, so it has to let off heat and damage the wire. When you have your bed and pillow trapping the heat, allowing it to build up, it gives the energy necessary to ignite combustible material. Fire risks from wires are common for households since 53% of teenagers charge their phones on their bed or under their pillow, and electrical failures cause 13% of home fires. 

Causes for phone charger fires 

Bad cables 

Wire tears  

• There are two main ways of how a charger could start a fire with torn wires. One way is when some of the internal strands of wires are disconnected. The wire then relies on a smaller number of copper strands to pass the current through the full wire, putting more strain on the strands, deteriorating them further, and causing a need for heat to dissipate the overflow of energy. As this heat builds up, it can be trapped by the bed and the pillow, igniting combustible cotton. Another way the wire tear can catch fire is if the wires are close enough but torn, they can create a free spark as a short circuit and ignite any combustible cotton in its path. 

Kinks and tangles 

• Kinks and tangles can make it harder for the direct current to flow through, creating heat dissipation and further deteriorating the wires. Most kinks and tangles do not cause enough heat to ignite the cotton. However, it adds to the heat when it occurs alongside other electrical malfunctions. 

Poor current rating 

• There can be too much current flowing through a wire. Having a current exchange mitch match happens when you put a heavy-duty charging brick with a low-quality wire or vice versa. It also happens with extremely long wires, where the gauge of the wire cannot handle the current flowing through, or the wire is simply too thin, and the electricity is too much for it.  

Bad charging brick 

A charging brick can have multiple reasons for causing a fire. Some of the main reasons are a bad resistor or a bad capacitor inside of the charging brick. If a resistor is bad, it cannot properly reduce the voltage, so the wires will take on more current than they can handle. 

Capacitors are like little batteries inside of the charging brick. They are used to store energy and release that energy at a steady current so the rest of the components and your phone can handle the currents. Capacitors are only rated to handle a certain voltage. It is similar to if there is too much pressure in a water balloon, it will pop. When there is too much voltage, this can release energy abruptly, break other internal parts, create a short circuit, and create a loose spark. 

Combustible materials 

Being near a bed and curtains can give ample fuel for a spark to cause a flame. The heat and material used can affect the likelihood or danger of a flame. Insulating a wire with a heat-trapping material like a pillow lowers the energy needed to start a flame by a wire.  

Phone malfunctions 

Phone batteries can cause a fire, especially when overheated or damaged. If the material that separates the chemicals in the battery is broken down, damaged from a drop, or deteriorated over time, then the chemicals that are used to slowly produce power will come in contact and have a harsh reaction. This process can be accelerated by the phone being too hot, like when you see a phone explode from a microwave. It can also be accelerated from critical damage to the battery, damaging its critical safety components.