General Chat

xxxxxxx died when his iPhone charger made contact with the water at his home in Ealing, west London.
(while in the bath)

A coroner ruled his death was accidental and plans to send a report to Apple about taking action to prevent future deaths.

Safety campaigners have warned about the dangers of charging mobiles near water following the inquest.

Mr xxxx is believed to have plugged his charger into an extension cord from the hallway and rested it on his chest while using the phone, the Sun reports.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

SHOCKING :-(

Was he checking his Expedia credit report at the time?

USB 2. Charge voltage. 5v USB 3 max 20v dc
This is not life threatening
Length of cable to phone max 1m
Ring main power sockets not permitted in bathrooms
So either the story is nonsense
or he had used A socket extension cable to a power socket ourside of the bathroom
Even then a genuine Apple charger would have cut out instantly
While the RCD for the power socket will have tripped that is what it is there for.
As reported something missing.
Dodgy wiring?

Yes, Bob DOES say the idiot had an extension from the hallway - if you bother to read it.

13 amp Fuse in the extension lead (why would it be a max of 1m, Rollo?)
Why would it be a genuine Apple charger? Even if it was, why do you 'state' it would cut out instantly? Apple chargers manage to explode even when they're nowhere near water, even with their inbuilt RCD plug.

Extension lead plugged into the mains.

Water in bath - job done!!

Rollo
as I read it.........

Its nothing to do with the "Apple" charger, OR the phone...as far as I can see

a live mains power socket balanced on ones chest while in the bath is utter stupidity...

BBC article is full of 'expert' opinion as to the safety or otherwise of phone chargers.

It matters not what voltage the charger puts out, nor the value of the fuse in the mains plug.

Bottom line is that the injuries described would have been caused by the bath water coming into contact with mains electricity.

A coroner is to warn Apple that iPhone chargers can be potentially lethal after a man was electrocuted in the bath.

Richard Bull, 32, was charging his phone next to the tub when it accidentally fell into the water.

He was found by his wife Tanya, who thought her husband had been attacked because his burns were so severe.

She made a distraught call to the police, who found that Mr Bull had used an extension lead from the hallway of his Ealing home so he could use the phone in the bath.

He was getting ready to go out meet family members to exchange Christmas presents when the tragedy happened on December 11.

Coroner Dr Sean Cummings said: "This was a tragic accident and I have no reason to believe at all that there anything other than it being completely accidental.

"These seem like innocuous devices, but they 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."

Richard's 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."

His brother Andrew said: "When you are younger you are taught about electricity and the bath, but you don't think about this.

"I still find it hard to believe that between the charger plug and the phone would be enough electricity to kill someone."

A keen rugby player, Richard captained amateur side Old Actonians RFC as well as playing for Ealing Exiles.

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.

From the Telegraph. So a mains cable in the bathroom run from outside the room (there is a reason why bathrooms do not have 240v sockets! Poor chap, just didn't think.

There is no case of a genuine Apple charger exploding. Fakes are much cheaper and have a sorry history same for Android fake chargers.
The whole point of the RCD is that in such a case as this the current will be tripped. for an adult male the shock would be painful but not fatal. However for this protection to work the ring main has to be correctly installed. That it delivers power is not proof it is OK. fuses in extensions do not provide the instantaneous protection of an RCD.
Due to the risk of this kind of accident the installation of ring mains is a criminal offence in most of Europe. radial are mandatory.
In France it is far from unusual for EDF to find ring circuits installed by Brits. Service is always terminated until a compliant system is installed.
The guy was silly for sure but he should not have died. Unlucky.
Hint: never connect a desktop pc directly to a wall socket. The majority have low cost budget power supplies which tend to fail suddenly taking the motherboard wiyh them and sometimes catching fire. An isolator is only £ 20.

It would have been better if the Coroner had warned that water & electricity do not mix.
It doesn't matter who the appliance manufacturer was. There'll always be someone who will do the same.

Sheesh, a person is dead :-(

Electricity and water do not mix, whether mains or low voltage.

Sooner or later complacency or circumstances will result in a tragedy

Well said Allan !

Did the article state the charger exploded?

Is there an inbuilt RCD in an Apple charger?

The only benefit of an RCD is when you actually plug an appliance into it.

None of the above apply in this tragic case.

A Darwin Award?

When we were younger, there were lots of deaths caused by electrical appliances in bathrooms, so everyone knew of the dangers.
Now, sockets are not allowed in bathrooms and I think the younger generation have not really thought about the danger as it is something they don't hear of

Unfortunately, all houses, at least in Western Australia, have sockets in the bathrooms.

It is now mandatory to have at least two RCD's fitted in new houses but not in older ones unless they are being sold.

It cost us $2000.00 a few years ago to have our power board modified so that we could install the RCD's

People (as a rule) don't tend to plug every appliance into an RCD.
I always use one when using the mower or chainsaw, or if I have anything electrical in the garden.
The outside light is permanently plugged in to one (though when the cable was cut so some bar stewards could steal bikes from next-doors shed, I sort of regretted it)
When charging my phone, or vacuuming, I don't use one, as there is little chance of the cable being cut/water intervention.
I've never found a need for any phone to be with me in the bathroom. I usually shower, and, quite frankly, a phone in the shower is just an impediment - the cats are problem enough!! :-S

I think all bathrooms over here have sockets, usually well away from the bathtub but near the vanity. They are however special ones that cut out immediately there is a problem ................. plus our voltages are much lower than yours (110-120 vs 220-240).


However, maybe cell phones and chargers, and elecrtic razors should come with the same warning attached to hair dryers ....................

don't use in the bath tub