Posted on 03/20/2017 11:59:13 AM PDT by Swordmaker
A coroner is to warn Apple that iPhone chargers can be potentially lethal after a man was electrocuted in the bath.
Richard Bull from Ealing in west London was pronounced dead by paramedics in his home on December 11.
The 32-year-old was found by his wife Tanya, who thought her husband had been attacked because his burns were so severe.
At an inquest into his death the coroner issued a warning about using the 'innocuous devices' which can be 'as dangerous as a hairdryer in a bathroom.' Recording a verdict of accidental death, Dr Sean Cummings said: 'These seem like innocuous devices but can be as dangerous as a hairdryer in a bathroom. 'They should attach warnings. I intend to write a report later to the makers of the phone.'
Mr Bull was getting ready to go out meet family members to exchange Christmas presents when the tragedy happened.
His mother Carole said: 'I have worried that so many people and especially teenagers, that can't be separated from their phones, don't know how dangerous it is.'
PC Craig Pattison told the inquest at West London Coroner's Court how he found the extension lead running from the hallway outside into the bathroom.' 'We found an iPhone plugged into the extension cable and then the charger element in the bath,' he explained
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yeah, I lived in England and "Mr. Fork and Miss Electrical outlet" REALLY don't get along there.
I always make sure my hands are dry to this day!”
Good idea. I always make sure I’m not standing in a puddle of water or on a wet floor when I turn on anything electric.
We were playing golf last week when it started lightning which is another bad situation/place to be in under those conditions. One of the guys in our group yelled “Everybody grab your One Iron. Even God can’t hit that.” LOL.
What idiot crawls in a tub of water with an eltronics device plugged into the mains!?
Idiot got what he deserved
Obviously a lot dumber than you and I.
If a 240/110 V outlet is required in the bathroom a special Earth isolating transformer socket can be fitted.
It has a different socket from the standard UK 3pin plug.
There are strict guidelines on what can be fitted electricity within the bathroom. This is divided into three zones out to a distance of three meters from the source of water.
Every time I attempted to violate Ohm's Law, all the smoke was let out of my devices.
Yep, in the category of legislating risk into people’s lives. If there were outlets in the bathroom, they’d have to have GFI, and that would protect him. But instead we “protect” him by not having an outlet at all, so he plugs into an unprotected outlet with an extension cord.
Circuit breaker or fuse box, both are designed to immediately halt the transfer of electricity once a surge is detected...........
With that being said, Apple iPhone chargers are specifically designed to shut off when a surge such as being dropped into a bath tub should occur.......
Be that as it may, any time I read of an individual who decides to run an extension cord from his hallway into the bathroom and plug it into his iPhone charger then set it onto his chest while he sits in the bath tub, I'm immediately suspicious of any claim that it was merely an accident..........
Thanks for the smoke picture. I went through a lot of that while rebuilding a TR-6 many years ago. ;-)
Or dentistry.
Correct, many non-Apple chargers run way out of spec.
220V would probably be a bad thing.
The Indian accent is peculiar. Even tho they know English and can write it with no trouble, they clip their words when speaking, leaving off whole syllables. That makes understanding them a nightmare, especially if one is hard of hearing,as I am. When dealing with them I prefer written computer chat to verbal chat. I fully understand your colleague’s screaming rages, be he a lib. Or not.
One ring-dingy, two ringy-dingies. . .
Had a Morgan with Lucas Electrics, whether or not anything would work depended on how the car felt from day to day.
Usually, the electrical liked to act up when I was getting my safety inspection, especially the turn signals which would refuse to work (as opposed to when I was driving the car, when they usually were ok). However, I did discover that if I was in my car and had the turn signal indicator on, I could sometimes make them work by quickly revving up the engine for a second. However, I had to do it in a way that I did not arouse the suspicion of the safety inspector.
Many will be dead b4 for the breaker/fuse/surge device trips.
Also riginal poster was only referring to GF outlet
Are you kidding? The British still haven't discovered bathroom shower technology yet. They hook up one of those goofy hose attachments to the tub faucet to spray off after they bathe.
Most of the houses I saw when I was there, still had the plumbing run on the outside walls of the house, which is really great in freezing winters.
I had a Matchless G-80 (a 500cc single cylinder thumper) many, many years ago. It was stripped down for desert riding. The ENTIRE electrical system was the magneto, an 18” length of wire, and a spark plug. It still had problems — and not in the magneto, either.
The wire was some kind of carbon paste with plastic/rubber over it. Turns out that it had 4 breaks in it because of age, drying, and shrinkage. Replacing it with a copper wire made all the difference in the world. Of course, anyone in a car with the radio on within 100 feet would hear nothing by static. Not that I cared since it started so much easier.
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I’d like to think of this as strictly an “across the pond” level of stupidity.
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What's the problem? We are finding out our government and schools can't find gender agreement in a restroom, school locker, or a women's competition program.
The USB charger plugs directly into the wall. It does not have what the Brits call a "mains lead" to go to the wall plug. It would have had to have been plugged into the extension cord directly. If the USB charger was on his chest, it stands to reason that the extension cord was also on his chest.
The Coroner report claims that the burns were high voltage burns, ergo the damage came from high voltage from either the USB charger or the 240 V. extension cord. . . not the iPhone. Since it was a device that requires being plugged directly into the wall or the extension cord, it was in the bath with him. Obvious on its face.
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