Engineer found dead with earphones in and phone plugged into the mains

[gk10002000]

Target in the USA just recalled 90000 USB chargers that had reports of catching fire, heating up, electrically shocking people, etc.  Allegedly were made in China

[Guitar God]

6 hours ago, lonewolf99 said:

I am sure most Engineers study Electrical theory during their training.....

But LoS has a system where professions and qualifications are bought.

 

However in his defence - if it were a cheap Chinese copy charger they can from personal experience catch fire - it would not be beyond the realm of possibility to electrucute someone.

The charger I had was for a flashlight with rechargeable battery and I also had for a few seconds a Chinese multimeter that blew up and caught fire when measuring power from a socket in a Thai condo ...!!!

How would a short in a charger transfer current through the audio amp circuitry in the phone and flow through the headphone wires , through the insulated plastic ear buds and electrocute someone lying (ungrounded) on a foam and fabric mattress? 

 

Lightning strike that hit the mains is a possibility but the wire from the phone to the charger and the wires from the phone to the earphones would be vaporized. So would the charger and phone too probably but that wasn’t mentioned. 

 

I think the autopsy will explain the cause of death better than blaming it on headphones. 

[mikebell]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

There were no suspicious circumstances. 

Pattaya Plod's usual response; Suicide by using Chinese charger.

[steven100]

I believe there's more to this story than was is being reported ....

 

This story sounds extraordinary and I really think something more was at play here.

He may very well have met his untimely death by electrocution, however did this happen prior to him being placed on the bed to make it look accidental.  imo

[RocketDog]

On 5/31/2019 at 11:46 AM, Basil B said:

Insulation breakdown...

Made in China Charger with all the endorsements: TUV, UL, BS & CE(China Export). 

More than likely you are correct.

I posted this in a forum a few months ago and got into a discussion with an obviously very young and ignorant female engineer who works for a company making such junk.

 

As an electronic engineer with 50 years of design experience I explained that cheap chargers have improper electrical isolation from mains power. She disputed it saying that cheap Chinese junk and more expensive chargers are all the same.

 

They are not. I won't even buy from Amazon anymore as most of the 'authentic' Samsung chargers for sale are fake crap.

 

Look, they can and do self-destruct and melt even when not charging. Also, they NEVER deliver the power that they specify. So they are cheap junk which can't charge your phone but can quite handily kill you and burn your house down. If you watch for such news like I do you will find these things happen several times a year.

 

Do yourself a favor and buy good chargers from the official Anker store on Lazada. I called Anker to confirm the store was real. I own several Anker chargers, a USB speaker, and power bank as well as USB cables of very high quality. I won't buy anything else now. Their car charger is also truly great.

[BritManToo]

16 hours ago, Guitar God said:

How would a short in a charger transfer current through the audio amp circuitry in the phone and flow through the headphone wires , through the insulated plastic ear buds and electrocute someone lying (ungrounded) on a foam and fabric mattress? 

Sounds unlikely he was killed by the headphones.

More likely he had his hands on the charger and a foot on the floor.

 

Edited June 1, 2019 by BritManToo

[myjawe]

6 hours ago, RocketDog said:

More than likely you are correct.

I posted this in a forum a few months ago and got into a discussion with an obviously very young and ignorant female engineer who works for a company making such junk.

 

As an electronic engineer with 50 years of design experience I explained that cheap chargers have improper electrical isolation from mains power. She disputed it saying that cheap Chinese junk and more expensive chargers are all the same.

 

They are not. I won't even buy from Amazon anymore as most of the 'authentic' Samsung chargers for sale are fake crap.

 

Look, they can and do self-destruct and melt even when not charging. Also, they NEVER deliver the power that they specify. So they are cheap junk which can't charge your phone but can quite handily kill you and burn your house down. If you watch for such news like I do you will find these things happen several times a year.

 

Do yourself a favor and buy good chargers from the official Anker store on Lazada. I called Anker to confirm the store was real. I own several Anker chargers, a USB speaker, and power bank as well as USB cables of very high quality. I won't buy anything else now. Their car charger is also truly great.

 

 

Do you really consider that someone who pretend to sell for 175thb a 50000 mha powerbank is an honest and intelligent person ?

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/eloop-50000-mah-power-bank-100-2-port-notebook-5-i331482358-s637242961.html

 

if it's what you think, your global opinion must be so wrong !

 

 

[RocketDog]

11 hours ago, myjawe said:

 

 

Do you really consider that someone who pretend to sell for 175thb a 50000 mha powerbank is an honest and intelligent person ?

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/eloop-50000-mah-power-bank-100-2-port-notebook-5-i331482358-s637242961.html

 

if it's what you think, your global opinion must be so wrong !

 

 

OK. You got tricked by not persisting in your search and in your haste to brand me a liar and a fool.

 

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.zUmt.

 

Here is the link to the official store showing a representative power bank from anker.

 

Please search for

 

ANKER OFFICIAL STORE or ANKER FLAGSHIP STORE.

 

what you link to is called 'anker shop' and you fell for the ruse as the perpetrator intended you to.

 

The link you posted is, once again I'll say it, selling cheap Chinese junk. You are right to be dubious about the price.

 

You can now publicly apologize for your brash innuendo or just follow my link, understand you made a mistake, and stop your insults on my intelligence and veracity without further comment. Up to you.

 

When you do shopping searches in the future put some thought to how vendors might deceive lazy shoppers with poor search skills.

 

[RocketDog]

17 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Sounds unlikely he was killed by the headphones.

More likely he had his hands on the charger and a foot on the floor.

 

You underestimate the current flow from a 220 volt mains source to a moist and intrinsically conductive path in a person's ear through the ear buds. It is true that over the ear headphones don't represent such a direct path, but earbuds certainly do. I assume you won't argue that most people use earbuds, especially when sleeping. Some of these reports actually state that the earbuds were used and blackened.

 

Mains power leaked or direct shorted to a cell phone through a charger that fails is deadly. Cheap chargers use cheap transformers with cheap insulation and no overvoltage crowbar protection circuits. The cell phone is fried of course and all the circuitry becomes a direct path from your wall socket to your ear canal.

 

But death by cranial electrocution aside, cheap chargers fail in a variety of ways that can cause fires. Surely you have heard of charger melting, smoking, or spontaneous combustion; many people have witnessed it.

 

I won't comment any further on this topic.

 

Nobody will dissuade me from my premise: cheap wall chargers are dangerous to you, your house, and your phone or other device.

 

[tifino]

when the beat reached the climax, the electrolyte laden stream created an ecstatic bridge back to the source

 

 

p2p streaming can be deadly

 

 

an enginner should know, that mixing nuts and bolts and electicity, can be terminal

[Rimmer]

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[xtrnuno41]

On 6/2/2019 at 3:49 AM, RocketDog said:

OK. You got tricked by not persisting in your search and in your haste to brand me a liar and a fool.

 

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.zUmt.

 

Here is the link to the official store showing a representative power bank from anker.

 

Please search for

 

ANKER OFFICIAL STORE or ANKER FLAGSHIP STORE.

 

what you link to is called 'anker shop' and you fell for the ruse as the perpetrator intended you to.

 

The link you posted is, once again I'll say it, selling cheap Chinese junk. You are right to be dubious about the price.

 

You can now publicly apologize for your brash innuendo or just follow my link, understand you made a mistake, and stop your insults on my intelligence and veracity without further comment. Up to you.

 

When you do shopping searches in the future put some thought to how vendors might deceive lazy shoppers with poor search skills.

 

ANd you believe your ANker is doing all itself? I think they order from China and put a sticker on it.

For instance they sell jeans in China, 20 dollar, ship it to USA. There they put a label on it, like LEVI's, and the they sell it for 300 dollar in shops ! And that happens with ALL products. China is cheap to produce, so bigger profit. ANd that is whats all about, big profit.

[RocketDog]

ANd you believe your ANker is doing all itself? I think they order from China and put a sticker on it.
For instance they sell jeans in China, 20 dollar, ship it to USA. There they put a label on it, like LEVI's, and the they sell it for 300 dollar in shops ! And that happens with ALL products. China is cheap to produce, so bigger profit. ANd that is whats all about, big profit.

You are wrong about Anker. Maybe it's built in China but designed in America with production supervised. It most certainly is not cheap chines junk.

But I won't argue with somebody who does not understand the product or know anything about electronic design.

You apparently believe that China is the source of creation for the whole world. In reality they are simply not that talented although they have a long history of stealing technology and making cheap versions of everything. As with all products, some are good and some bad.

Are you aware that many electronic products are also manufactured in a variety of SE Asian countries?

But believe what you will.
I'm done with this thread.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[balo]

On 5/31/2019 at 6:19 AM, webfact said:

Daily News reported that the zip on the victim's trousers was undone and you could see his genitals. 

They said there was an unusual swelling in that area, without explaining further.

 

Weird, I am trying to imagine what happened to him but as this is Thailand I have to widen my imagination to something extraordinary.  

 

Maybe he was having a pee at the same time as being electrocuted? That would cause a swelling for sure......
 

[Just Weird]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 2:18 PM, Bob12345 said:

Maybe not report this as it adds nothing to the story and might be quite shameful for his relatives?

Just a suggestion...

You're so concerned for his relatives feelings that at the same time as complaining about the specifics you're re-posting them!

[rickudon]

Strange that you never hear of people being electrocuted by their earphones in other western countries. I always find this a little bit suspicious. Yes a charger failing, yes a phone shorting out. But a short circuit in a plastic earpiece of a headphone?

[myjawe]

21 hours ago, rickudon said:

Strange that you never hear of people being electrocuted by their earphones in other western countries. I always find this a little bit suspicious. Yes a charger failing, yes a phone shorting out. But a short circuit in a plastic earpiece of a headphone?

 

yes i cannot find any info on google but this way of death is very famous in Thai and all Thai believe in this BS, so ?!

 

 

[Bob12345]

On 6/3/2019 at 8:29 PM, Just Weird said:

You're so concerned for his relatives feelings that at the same time as complaining about the specifics you're re-posting them!

So true. I think my comment will be at the top of the google searches and will be copied by media around the world as "expert opinion". If only I hadn't said it, nobody would have noticed that one sentence.

Its very hard to point out something could better be left out without mentioning it, don't you think?

[Just Weird]

15 hours ago, Bob12345 said:

So true. I think my comment will be at the top of the google searches and will be copied by media around the world as "expert opinion". If only I hadn't said it, nobody would have noticed that one sentence.

Its very hard to point out something could better be left out without mentioning it, don't you think?

You don't know the difference between just mentioning something and re-publishing the same thing that you suggested was offensive to publish in the first place?

[Bob12345]

19 hours ago, Just Weird said:

You don't know the difference between just mentioning something and re-publishing the same thing that you suggested was offensive to publish in the first place?

You lost the plot, i wont spend time on your nonsense anymore.

[Smc75]

On 5/31/2019 at 11:36 AM, Justgrazing said:

Maybe a bit of AC/DC ..

A dark sense of humor can get anyone through hard times.