S4 melting while charging

[AC Question]

Anyone experience this problem. I charged my phone overnight, woke up in the morning to find a overheat error and the charger and the usb part of the phone melted.

My phone is over a year so warranty is done. I've googled it and it seems this is a common problem on a lot of S4 phones. Called Samsung and waiting on word from them to see if they will replace it as it is a defect with the phone.

Just wanted to know if anyone else had this problem and had luck with Samsung.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Yikes. I'm glad nothing more serious happened! Were you using the original charger? If Samsung doesn't do anything, it might be worth contacting Consumers Union (who publishes Consumer Reports): https://consumersunion.org/share-your-story/

 

[Rukbat]

Take a look at the battery. If it appears to be heat damaged (bulged, bubbled), it's a bad battery and can not only cause a fire, it can explode (lithium is explosive under the right conditions). If you're in the US, this is covered under several federal laws, and Samsung is required to address the situation, whether or not there's a warranty. (They can't waive warranties of safety.) Sony found this out to the discomfort to their bottom line a few years ago, when some of their batteries burst into flame.

If it's not the battery, good luck, but your chances of getting the phone replaced are about 50/50. There's obviously a short in the phone somewhere (including the battery), but if it's not in the battery it would be covered by the normal manufacturing defect warranty - which ran out.

 

[camilleri]

yeah everything was original, battery and charger.

 

[camilleri]

battery is fine, so not the battery.

 

[B. Diddy]

If you bought your phone with a credit card, you might want to check with them if they automatically extend warranties. American Express does this, supposedly without having to fill any paperwork out. But I'm not sure if this kind of warranty extension applies to cellphones.

 

[camilleri]

That's a great idea. I'll give that a try if Samsung fails.