warning Anker charger possible fire hazard lol

[DatNapk1n47]

I was watching YouTube playing with my charging cable one hand and reaching for my keyboard to skip ahead with the other when I suddenly felt shocked by something. Quickly realized it was from my cable connected to an Anker Powerport Atom PD+ 4 and it happens on all metallic parts (or through my chest I guess) connected to my PC. None of my other AC adapters do this. Good thing Linus doesn't accept sponsorships from them anymore and thank God I don't have a pacemaker. I don't know much about them but I can't imagine this is good for them. Just thought I'd share with you guys so less people buy their products.

[JamesTheFolf]

8 minutes ago, DatNapk1n47 said:

I was watching YouTube playing with my charging cable one hand and reaching for my keyboard to skip ahead with the other when I suddenly felt shocked by something. Quickly realized it was from my cable connected to an Anker Powerport Atom PD+ 4 and it happens on all metallic parts (or through my chest I guess) connected to my PC. None of my other AC adapters do this. Good thing Linus doesn't accept sponsorships from them anymore and thank God I don't have a pacemaker. I don't know much about them but I can't imagine this is good for them. Just thought I'd share with you guys so less people buy their products.

Wow that's crazy. I've been considering one of their GAN laptop chargers, but my friend has had theirs die 3 times now. Thankfully Anker has good customer service for warranty claims. But that still sucks, definitely shouldn't be doing that lol.

[venomtail]

So what do you recommend? Was just considering their gan charger as well as extra soft c-c cable for charging. 

[Poinkachu]

44 minutes ago, DatNapk1n47 said:

I was watching YouTube playing with my charging cable one hand and reaching for my keyboard to skip ahead with the other when I suddenly felt shocked by something. Quickly realized it was from my cable connected to an Anker Powerport Atom PD+ 4 and it happens on all metallic parts (or through my chest I guess) connected to my PC. None of my other AC adapters do this. Good thing Linus doesn't accept sponsorships from them anymore and thank God I don't have a pacemaker. I don't know much about them but I can't imagine this is good for them. Just thought I'd share with you guys so less people buy their products.

Have you tried it with other cable ?

[lewdicrous]

Is the keyboard well grounded?

[DatNapk1n47]

8 hours ago, venomtail said:

So what do you recommend? Was just considering their gan charger as well as extra soft c-c cable for charging. 

Cables are pretty hard to mess up if you buy from any remotely reputable brand but I'd stick to plain manufacturer included cables. Haven't tried them all but I've liked Samsung and Google (Pixel) usb-C cables in the past. As for a charger, I'm looking into buying one from Ugreen. They have a pretty good looking desktop charger and while I haven't tried it yet I trust Linus if he accepted them as a replacement for Anker as a sponsor. Arstechica also recommends one from hyperjuice

 

8 hours ago, Poinkachu said:

Have you tried it with other cable ?

I've tried different ports, different cables, and that cable on other AC adapters. The only common factor is the Anker charger. 

[DatNapk1n47]

5 hours ago, lewdicrous said:

Is the keyboard well grounded?

It's only connected to my PC and my PC to the same extension cord, and my house is very recently built so legally they should be required to properly ground the place so I guess I'd say so. No other AC adapters do this though and it sparks on all metallic components touching the computer including the case so it can't be the keyboard.

[Fendrick]

Dude touches clearly ungrounded metal keyboard surface with the end of a charger which is designed correctly then says it is a fire hazard.... no that is not how it works.

I doubt you could generate even a quarter of the needed heat to truly set something alight unless you leave petrol next to the end of the charger then do what you did in the video.

 

Make sure to upload that to YT, I enjoy comedy.

[Roswell]

6 hours ago, Fendrick said:

Dude touches clearly ungrounded metal keyboard surface with the end of a charger which is designed correctly then says it is a fire hazard.... no that is not how it works.

I doubt you could generate even a quarter of the needed heat to truly set something alight unless you leave petrol next to the end of the charger then do what you did in the video.

 

Make sure to upload that to YT, I enjoy comedy.

To be fair, I don’t think the almost nonexistent amount of power going through that cable in handshake mode would be enough to generate that kind of arc. 
 

Something else seems to be amiss. That said, one bad cable out of millions is hardly anything to worry about,

[lewdicrous]

6 hours ago, DatNapk1n47 said:

It's only connected to my PC and my PC to the same extension cord, and my house is very recently built so legally they should be required to properly ground the place so I guess I'd say so. No other AC adapters do this though and it sparks on all metallic components touching the computer including the case so it can't be the keyboard.

What kind of power cable are you using on your computer? And is it the proper one for your outlet?

I've had a grounding issue in the past when I was using a type E or F plug on a type G outlet; while the outlet is properly grounded, the adapter wasn't and so the computer itself wasn't. This led to some shocks when touching the case or a cable connected to the computer.

[Levent]

Pretty sure its a grounding issue either on your keyboard, PC, charger or your entire house.

[Mark Kaine]

Cheapo chinese brands with "German" names and questionable history will do that. that said your video isnt really proof of anything regarding the culprit and also pro tip: don't do that you might be shorting out something. 

 

what keyboard is that, a metal frame ? oof.

[LogicalDrm]

Make complaint to Anker. Unless this can be proven to be on all cables of that same type/model, its just one-off and can happen to any cable or any manufacturer. Shit happens, only systematic errors and mistakes are what counts.