redryder Posted August 6, 2007 Posted August 6, 2007 Hi guys. I bought a new retractable usb cable to charge my pda phone on my office laptop. Plugged in the cable, but the pda would not charge. After 5 minutes, started to smell plastic burning. When I touched the cable it was very hot! Lucky my PDA wasn't damaged. When I pull out the retractable cable I can see some of the insulation has burned off. Obviously the cable is at fault, but I'm curious from an engineering standpoint what could be wrong with it? Any electrical guys here can enlighten me? What can make a cable burn like that?
Jag Posted August 6, 2007 Posted August 6, 2007 Its likely to be a short circuit between the 5V and the GROUND lines of the USB bus.
silencer13 Posted August 6, 2007 Posted August 6, 2007 Its likely to be a short circuit between the 5V and the GROUND lines of the USB bus. Spot on. Most likely cause is a short circuit.
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