The Danger Of Using Third-Party Laptop Chargers

Counterfeit Laptop Chargers Are Bad for Your Box

Rob Beschizza | March 21, 2016

[Blogger's note: This is something that I have personally experienced on several occasions. Apple prices for chargers and lightning cables may seem high until you find yourself with a overheating wire in a hotel room at midnight with no place to find a replacement. I have had Chinese made iPad chargers and iPad lightning cables overheat and pose dangerous risks apart for nuisance of being without a replacement. This is far too real of an issue. It is tempting to save $20-$25 off of genuine Apple products until they cause a disturbance and breakdown when you are traveling. What are the odds that two knock-off products from separate manufacturers would overheat to dangerous levels? Apparently it is 100%. Frankly I never heard of an Apple lightning cable overheating and stopping working until my experience with a knockoff brand. I would caution you not to make this mistake and avoid the danger. Buy genuine Apple cables and chargers. They are far less likely to break down. You don't want to be in a hotel room at midnight without your charger or cable.]
Ken Shirriff embarked upon a teardown of counterfeit Apple laptop chargers. On the outside, they're typo-free and very convincing. Inside, though, they're a dangerous mangle of cheap parts and inexplicably bad decisions.
The most important feature of a charger is the isolation between the potentially-dangerous AC input and the low-voltage output.

Inside a counterfeit iPad charger. Source: http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html

<more at https://boingboing.net/2016/03/21/counterfeit-laptop-chargers-ar.html; related links and articles: http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html (iPad charger teardown: inside Apple's charger and a risky phony. May 2014) and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2406185/Fake-Apple-Cheap-phone-chargers-burn-house.html (Could a cheap phone charger burn your house down? How to spot the fake Apple products... and the dangers of penny-pinching on your iPhone plug. Cheap chargers go for £5 online compared with official £15. Apple running worldwide programme to replace counterfeit USB chargers. Devices can take around five hours to charge with authentic chargers but more than 19 hours with a fake
Man from Cheshire electrocuted in most recent case of Apple gadget malfunctioning. August 29, 2013)>