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Toddler burned by USB cable
Longmont Times-Call ^ | 1/9/2010 | Scott Rochat

Posted on 01/11/2010 6:26:02 AM PST by pelicandriver

Trinity Anderson, the Longmont toddler who suffered severe burns after sticking a USB cable in her mouth, is in critical but stable condition after a surgery Friday morning. ... Trinity received third-degree burns to the right side of her tongue, her hard and soft palates, and both of her lips on the right side. ... Doctors managed to restart the child’s heart, and later that night, Trinity was flown to The Children’s Hospital.

Jeff Anderson said the doctors told him these sort of accidents weren’t unheard of, though this was the first one they knew of involving a USB cable.

(Excerpt) Read more at timescall.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: burn; toddler; usb
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A USB cable puts out 5 volts. Since current = voltage / resistance, I don't see how you could get enough current to do that much damage. Comments on the article suggested a power supply malfunction.
1 posted on 01/11/2010 6:26:03 AM PST by pelicandriver
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To: pelicandriver

Wouldn’t it be determined by the resistance of saliva? 5a=5v/1ohm


2 posted on 01/11/2010 6:29:24 AM PST by stuartcr (If we are truly made in the image of God, why do we have faults?)
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To: pelicandriver

This raised my eyebrow as well because the voltage can also be 12vdc at very low amperage and I can’t see how it can do any damage unless the child had one end in her mounth and tried to plug the other end into a 120vac wall socket.


3 posted on 01/11/2010 6:29:34 AM PST by mazda77 (Rubio for US Senate - West FL22nd - Dockery for Gov.)
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To: pelicandriver

Helluva lot more than 5 volts involved here I would imagine.


4 posted on 01/11/2010 6:30:07 AM PST by headstamp 2
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To: pelicandriver
“We have other people’s children in that house,” Jeff Anderson said. “We’ve got to make sure the house is safe for kids.”

Step one ... don't leave things on the floor that are plugged into the wall.

Sad case ... I hope the child recovers completely.

5 posted on 01/11/2010 6:30:31 AM PST by al_c (http://www.blowoutcongress.com)
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To: pelicandriver

I was thinking the child’s weight could also have been a factor. But I don’t know....


6 posted on 01/11/2010 6:30:45 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
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To: pelicandriver

My little ones can’t get enough of the computer peripheral cords. We promptly take them away but they are fascinated by them for some reason. Hard to blame someone for a kid getting a usb cord.

That said, this story has to be total fluke, bs, or both. It’s not too far flung to think someone else has gotten liquid (coffee, soda, etc.) onto a desk and usb cable. No way this “danger” is possible in today’s hyper-litigious society.


7 posted on 01/11/2010 6:35:29 AM PST by sbMKE
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To: pelicandriver
I am calling BS on this story.

The USB controlling specification defines the limits put in place on the USB interface, for reasons having to do with this exact scenario.

The USB 1.x and 2.0 specifications provide a 5 V supply on a single wire from which connected USB devices may draw power. The specification provides for no more than 5.25 V and no less than 4.75 V (5 V±5%) between the positive and negative bus power lines. For USB 2.0 the voltage supplied by low-powered hub ports is 4.4 V to 5.25 V.[30]

A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and was raised to 150 mA in USB 3.0. A maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) can be drawn from a port in USB 2.0, which was raised to 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0. There are two types of devices: low-power and high-power. Low-power devices draw at most 1 unit load, with minimum operating voltage of 4.4 V in USB 2.0, and 4 V in USB 3.0. High-power devices draw the maximum number of unit loads supported by the standard. All devices default as low-power but the device's software may request high-power as long as the power is available on the providing bus.[31]

Souce

So, lets put some numbers to this. The default starting point is 5.25 Volts (maximum) with a limit of no more than 500mA (unless the child's mouth perfectly micked a USB 3.0 interface and communicated a software packet requesting additional power (sorry, no human's mouth will do that).

Power equals voltage multiplied by current. Thus, 5.25 Volts x .05 Amps = 2.625 Watts.

2.625 Watts is NOT going to do the damage to an infant that this article states. It's far more likely the infant stuck an extension cord in his mouth - I believe the parents are lying about the USB cable, as the math just doesn't work.

8 posted on 01/11/2010 6:35:55 AM PST by Hodar (Who needs laws .... when this "feels" so right?)
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To: Admin Moderator; pelicandriver

Actual title is: “Shocked toddler is now stable”

I think pelicandriver’s title should be kept in brackets for explanation, though...

“Shocked toddler is now stable [Toddler burned by USB cable]”


9 posted on 01/11/2010 6:36:00 AM PST by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: pelicandriver

I’m fairly sure that if this sort of damage was done the power supply failed... My phone is connected via a micro usb charger which is plugged right into the wall.

Yes, the output should only be a few volts on the USB connector end, but if the converter failed for some reason, it certainly could deliver far more.

This child’s heart stopped, that’s not remotely possible with proper output on a USB delivering proper juice.


10 posted on 01/11/2010 6:42:38 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: pelicandriver

A properly functioning USB port/cable should not deliver that sort of power. It seems that either 1)The cable in question was a ground path, and the child touched some electrical source. Or, 2) A failure caused the USB cable to be energized at line voltage, and the child touched some grounded object.


11 posted on 01/11/2010 6:44:21 AM PST by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: pelicandriver
Best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery for Miss Anderson...

12 posted on 01/11/2010 6:45:54 AM PST by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: pelicandriver

Ummm...was the other end of the USB cable inserted in a computer or a 120VAC outlet....?


13 posted on 01/11/2010 6:46:24 AM PST by Victor (If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert." -David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister)
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To: jan in Colorado; george76

ping


14 posted on 01/11/2010 6:47:06 AM PST by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: pelicandriver

There’s too much circuitry between the power supply and the USB bus for a malfunction to create that much juice without frying the rest of the motherboard first. I can’t think of any peripheral cable on a PC that could do that much damage, except maybe an ethernet cable plugged into a Power-over-Ethernet switch that also runs a phone, but then you’d only get a big shock like that if ringer voltage were sent, and PoE is rare in private homes.


15 posted on 01/11/2010 6:48:16 AM PST by Little Pig (Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
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To: stuartcr
Wouldn’t it be determined by the resistance of saliva? 5a=5v/1ohm

Yes, you are correct - Ohm's Law applies.

However, the USB has LIMITED power output to no more than 0.5 Amps; thus the absolute maximum power the infant could be exposed to is no more than 2.625 Watts (5.25 Volts x 0.5 Amps).

2.625 Watts will NOT do this kind of damage.

16 posted on 01/11/2010 6:57:41 AM PST by Hodar (Who needs laws .... when this "feels" so right?)
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To: Hodar

Like you said, must be a malfunction.


17 posted on 01/11/2010 7:03:24 AM PST by stuartcr (If we are truly made in the image of God, why do we have faults?)
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To: stuartcr

No, very likely not a malfuction. Very likely a false accusation and an outright lie.

The USB power is carefully monitored by several chips, and the USB hub is directly connected to the South Bridge chip. There is practically no way that this sort of power could possibly make it through to the USB connector, as there are power regulation circuitry that is in place SPECIFICALLY designed to prevent this exact scenario.

This case was definitely not only considered in the USB spec, it’s also a key component to the motherboard designers. The power supply makes 5 Volts, and then several other devices are in circuit that are in charge of monitoring and shutting down the power if the power demand is above expected levels. A maximum expected level would be 500 mA. At this point a circuit would detect that maximum power has been exceeded and the port would be shut off, with a critical power draw note in the system log.

Unless the parents can provide a motherboard that beats every concieveable failure analysis scenario, I cannot see how this is remotely possible.

To put this in laymans terms, this is like a mid-air collision between a Boeing 747 and a VW Mini-bus. It just aint’ gonna happen.


18 posted on 01/11/2010 7:11:33 AM PST by Hodar (Who needs laws .... when this "feels" so right?)
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To: pelicandriver
I have my doubts on this one too. From the article:

The USB was plugged into a laptop computer on the floor that had been turned off and was plugged into the wall socket to recharge.

19 posted on 01/11/2010 7:21:42 AM PST by SouthTexas (Exterminate the rats!)
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To: SouthTexas

I’d betcha the toddler stuck the CHARGER plug into her mouth. 100W of DC power.

No way a USB did this. IMHO.


20 posted on 01/11/2010 7:37:51 AM PST by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur)
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