Can a short circuit ruin your phone?

[Chris Russu]

Recently i got a bit scared when i saw that, once i put my charger into the rosette and saw a spark of light from it as i put it in, and today when i put the charger into the rosette and put my phone into it, suddenly the phone screen went black and when i would hit the light up button, only buttons would light up but screen would stay dead...

That scared the crap out of me and i panicked, pulled out the plug and opened the phone up and removed the battery forcefully to reset it, gladly tho it helped and the phone turned on after that....

But this has been bothering me..can you actually ruin your android phone like that?

My rosette might be a bit unstable because my PC and other things are connected to it, like my heater, ect, but its connected with one of those safe multi rossets for PC's that prevent that kind of sparks usually...so , can i burn my phone like that incidently?

What steps should i take to avoid that kind of thing happening again?

 

[Haalcyon]

Welcome to the forums!

I'm no electrical engineer so please forgive me that. I think a surge or short circuit can ruin your phone like any other electrical device so it's best to be careful. I'm glad your phone seems to be okay. Hopefully, you'll get some other perspectives as well.

 

[Fairclough]

The PX circuit should help protect it and I believe phones have circuit breakers in them (too high volts/currents melts to break the circuit/minimise damage) which would be a small repair if it occurred but not as badly as if it didn't have one.

- Android Central App. Remember courage is contagious.

 

[Chris Russu]

Yes, i was wondering if phones have a protective mechanism, i mean atleast the new models should have one right?

 

[garublador]

It probably won't hurt it. The phones are designed to not get damaged by those types of faults. My guess is that there was actually an under voltage event caused by the heater dragging down the AC circuit and it put your phone in a weird state. If you can avoid putting you phone on the same circuit as the heater it might help prevent it. However, that's pure speculation so YMMV.

The arc you saw before that might not have anything to do with it. The charger almost certainly protects against those types of event.

Also, FWIW, what you saw wasn't really a short circuit. A short circuit is when two circuits that aren't meant to be connected get connected. That can happen if you get your phone wet or somehow have metal touch two contacts that aren't meant to touch. It's not a big deal, many electrical terms are confusing, I just thought I'd point that out for some additional education.

 

[josearmz10789]

I'm not aware of phones having that type of protection, but the only thing that can happen is causing the breaker to trip as you mentioned you had several things connected to the receptacle. Receptacles only support 15 amps in total so in an overload they will trip the breaker. Might wanna check it as it may have a loose wire causing the sparks.

Sent from my N9500 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Web_Paige]

Most phone manufacturers suggest that you charge your phone while it is turned off. I'd try plugging it into a top quality surge protector and charge it while it's off.

 

[garublador]

Most phone manufacturers suggest that you charge your phone while it is turned off.

Do you have any sources for that? I haven't heard that recommendation and I have verified that for my Galaxy S4 the manual specifically says the phone can be used while charging.

 

[icebike]

Most phone manufacturers suggest that you charge your phone while it is turned off. I'd try plugging it into a top quality surge protector and charge it while it's off.

No they don't recommend that, nor would it provide any protection.

Just plug your charger in first, then plug in your phone.

Surge protectors are also mostly a joke. Surges virtually never happen, and even when they do you never see any damage to cellphones.

There is nothing that will protect you from a lightning strike.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[Web_Paige]

Do you have any sources for that? I haven't heard that recommendation and I have verified that for my Galaxy S4 the manual specifically says the phone can be used while charging.

Sorry, should have said most BATTERY manufacturers, and even though the manual states that it CAN be used while charging, that isn't the same as recommending that the phone be used while charging. It's kind of like trying to charge the batteries in your car while you're driving down the road. When the battery is charging and discharging at the same time, problems can arise. Click on link below. The Battery University website is a great resource. Ninety percent of the time I charge my phone while it's off. My boyfriend charges it while it's on, uses it while he charges it, etc. I have far fewer problems with my phone, though. He has an LG and I have a Motorola. Most of the problems that he has can be fixed by pulling the battery for 60 seconds, but I'm still convinced that it's best to charge it when the phone is turned off.

Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries – Battery University

 

[garublador]

It's kind of like trying to charge the batteries in your car while you're driving down the road.

Your car's alternator literally does exactly that. That's why you leave your car on for a while after you jump start it, so the alternator can charge the battery back up.

When the battery is charging and discharging at the same time, problems can arise. Click on link below. The Battery University website is a great resource. Ninety percent of the time I charge my phone while it's off. My boyfriend charges it while it's on, uses it while he charges it, etc. I have far fewer problems with my phone, though. He has an LG and I have a Motorola. Most of the problems that he has can be fixed by pulling the battery for 60 seconds, but I'm still convinced that it's best to charge it when the phone is turned off.

Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries ?€“ Battery University

I don't think you understand that article as well as you think. They're saying to maximize battery longevity you should avoid as much stress on the battery as possible. Charging the battery to full and then letting it go down a bit, then trickle charging and repeating adds a bit of stress to the battery. It will have a minor effect on how long the battery will hold its charge but it doesn't cause your phone to lock up. I've been ignoring that advice for the past decade, am on my 7th phone, have had two iPods and my wife has gone through about the same number of devices and we've had to swap out one battery in that time. If that type of charging totally ruined batteries like you're claiming then we've have had to replace way more batteries than that. Being that crazy about minimizing stress on batteries is much more important in devices where you're expecting more than a two year life cycle and/or the battery is much more expensive to replace (e.g. a car or airplane).

FWIW, I design mobile devices that use Li-Ion batteries and have done stress tests. We have devices that are over three years old that use Li-Ion batteries the "wrong" way and we have never sold a replacement battery.

 

[Cibhi Adhinath]

In some android phone there are some circuits to ensure safety. The circuits are designed to cut off if it gets shorted and again switch on when connected to a new proper charger .