24YO Man Found Dead on Bed When Using Pirated Charger On His Phone

2019-02-08 , 11:00 am

Singaporeans are fans of getting things cheap. And if possible, good. Although we’re not able to get that most of the time, we’ll settle for adequate when it comes to most things.

And you’ve got to admit, given how expensive it is to stay here on the sunny island, this kind of outlook is pretty much justified.

For example, phone chargers.

Hands up if you’ve used (or you’re still using) pirated phone chargers.

Don’t lie, most, if not all of us have done this at one point in time.

Well, after reading this article, you might just find yourself buying a $40+ dollar charger from Samsung instead of an $8 charger from Taobao.

24YO Man Electrocuted From Pirated Phone Charger

According to World of Buzz, a 24-year-old man, Kritsada Supol, was found dead at his rented house in Chonburi, Thailand.

He was found lying on his bed with his ears fried by the house owner.

He Was Believed To Have Died Because Of A Faulty Phone Charger

The Thai police released a statement regarding the incident:

“People can be exposed to dangers when using cheap chargers, which are normally produced by uncertified companies.”

Investigations in the case are still ongoing but they believed that Kritsada died in an explosion caused by the faulty charger.

His body has been sent for post-mortem autopsy to find out the cause of the incident.

Pirated Phone Chargers Are Made By Uncertified Companies

To be honest, real and fake chargers looks pretty similar and legitimate.

But if you’re able to take it apart, and understand what you’re looking at, you’ll come to understand the difference pretty easily.

Here’s how your smartphone charger typically works:

P/S: Things are going to take a bit of a tech turn here.

The phone charger takes in Alternating Current (AC) from the power point and converts it into a high-voltage Direct Current (DC).

Then, the DC is chopped up tens of thousands of times a second and fed into a transformer.

Which then transforms it into a low-voltage DC and fed into your phone.

And That’s The Key Difference Between Authentic And Pirated Chargers

If you don’t understand the science-y part above, don’t worry. That’s not the key issue here.

What you really need to know, is that a feedback mechanism is required to regulate the frequency of “chopping” and to keep the output voltage stable.

Authentic chargers use a specialised control IC to run the charger.

Pirated chargers, on the other hand, cut corners and replace the IC with a cheap, low-quality feedback circuit.

What’s The Worst That Could Happen?

So what’s the worse that could happen with a pirated charger?

Here’s what could happen to your phone:

The touchscreen does not work while your phone is charging.
Output voltage could be affected by the AC input.
Your phone can take longer to charge.
The charger could explode.

Chargers process hundred of volts of electricity internally, and if you’re unlucky to purchase and use one that isn’t insulated properly, a fire could be caused.

So Just Buy Legitimate Chargers

After all, what’s worth more? Tens of dollars or your life?

And remember, don’t use your earphones while charging your phone.

Because there are cases of people who’ve died while listening to music on earphones on charging smartphones.

In fact, if Kritsada had not been listening to his earphones, he could’ve been alive right now. Probably.