Blackberry Charger - Loud Bang and Cut off Mains Supply to the house!

Hi, I am new to this forum, and I have joined to voice my concern on a Blackberry Charger. I was on my computer while my Blackberry Q10 was on charge, and I head a loud bang and I lost all power to my PC. So at first I thought it was the big power supply for my Lenovo Desktop PC (the power supply is pretty hefty looking and heavy on this PC). To my surprise the circuit breaker for the entire house (sockets only) went off, rather than blowing the fuse on the plug of the power cord. I then smelt a strong burning smell which was like plastic / capacitors burning, and at this point I was almost certain in my head that it is definitely the PC Power supply, so I went near it to smell it (while the power to the sockets was still off from the mains of course) and it smelt fine, so I went to the Blackberry charger and to my shock it was actually the charger, and it absolutely stank :eek:

Has anyone else had this problem with their Blackberry charger? I usually keep my phone on charge over night (as I have one of these chargers upstairs too), but last night I just felt very uneasy about doing this, as i'm pretty worried the same thing might happen again, and it could even explode or catch fire?!!!!

I will attempt to attach a picture of the charger (new to site), I wonder if you guys could check to see if it is genuine and also if anybody knows of a recall or something on this charger?
Many Thanks,
Steve

That appears to be an OEM wall charger for BlackBerry. Unfortunately electronics fail. I personally have never had an issue with BlackBerry chargers but have had a similar issue with another manufacturers charger.

Something caused the overload and caused the circuit breaker to shut off as it is supposed to.

I say buy a new charger and keep going, however if it happens again in the same wall socket call an electrician.

Posted via CB10

From what I can see, it's entirely unlike my two functioning Z10 chargers in appearance.
Having never seen one, I don't know if the Q10 is a single unit as opposed to the Z10s charger and cable combo.
I've not heard of a similar issue such as yours in the short time I've been here either, I should add.

Z10 via CB10

Originally Posted by bennelong

From what I can see, it's entirely unlike my two functioning Z10 chargers in appearance.

That's because it's the old style travel charger from the pre OS 6 days. Storm 2, 9700, etc. It shouldn't really cause any harm, though -- the problem with using it is that it's underpowered and won't charge the Q10's more powerful battery very fast.

Originally Posted by JasW

That's because it's the old style travel charger from the pre OS 6 days. Storm 2, 9700, etc. It shouldn't really cause any harm, though -- the problem with using it is that it's underpowered and won't charge the Q10's more powerful battery very fast.

In that case I would say it just wore out with age and just blew. I would replace it with one made by BlackBerry for bb10.

Posted via CB10

I think you may have a faulty charger - it may have worn out with time..?

I had an OEM Dell XPS 17 charger fail on me. That said, it blew the socket circuit rather than the main circuit for the house.

I'm actually using the charger that came with the Bold 9780 with my Q10 - not experienced any issues and it charges plenty fast - and the Q10 battery is good to go for nearly two days!

I don't know why yours went... I hope mine don't go: I use them with EVERYTHING!!!

Best of luck!

Posted via CB10 on my BlackBerry Q10

Originally Posted by Stevo_118

...To my surprise the circuit breaker for the entire house (sockets only) went off, rather than blowing the fuse on the plug of the power cord....
Steve

First I am not an electrician.
Are you saying that all the sockets in your house are on one breaker?
I hope you mean that there is a master breaker for all the sockets and and least some of the sockets have a dedicated breaker.

What country is your house in?

MY WASHING MACHINE DOES THIS!!!!

BlackBerry Bold 9900; Q10; Z10

I had a macbook charger heat up on me. A lot. To a point I couldn't touch it with my hands. I bought a new one from the Apple store before I did any real damage. I recommend a power strip with its own circuit breaker to keep away from the rest of the house. All my electronics are on power strips rather than directly to an outlet.

Posted via CB10

As an electrician, it sounds more like a surge than a device since the whole house went. I would call your local electrician and have a qualified professional assess the situation as the device is not likely to have caused what you have described. If it wasn't what you are assuming, would you really want to have you and your family sleeping there?

Not meant as a scare tactic, just pointing out some possible flaws in your analogy.

Also consider having a whole home surge protector installed by a qualified electrician.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by Brutal Efficiency

MY WASHING MACHINE DOES THIS!!!!

BlackBerry Bold 9900; Q10; Z10

Attachment 209013