www.thesun.co.uk/news/3111249/man-dies-after-charging-iphone-while-lying-in-a-bath-with-the-mobile-resting-on-his-chest/
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Dr Sean Cummings said: “These seem like innocuous devices but 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.â€
His brother Andrew said: “We can all be careless at times. You don’t think there is enough electricity to do this, but there is.
Judging by his brothers comments.......what are doing re education? The guy was 32 not a child.
I am also not very impressed with the comments ( above) from Dr Cummings.
More warnings etc.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39307418
Assistant coroner Dr Sean Cummings, who conducted the inquest at West London Coroner's Court on Wednesday, is to write a prevention of future death report to send to Apple.
Not a lot of used if they have no nous or do not RTFM.
A sad loss of life in unbelievable circumstances.
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He was 35 and was sharing his bath with a charger connected directly to the mains ?
I knew at a wee bit over a tenth his age that electricity and water don't mix.
There's no cure for utter stupidity......
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Fri 17 Mar 17 at 20:19
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Someone should be charged.
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>>There's no cure for utter stupidity......<<
There is! - he found it!
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Maybe Apple should fit a moisture detector which is activated by a charging device which then displays a message stating "Dangerous Do Not Charge in the Bath".
Err is he going to write to every phone manufacturer or just Apple?
For goodness sake! They let these people vote for Brexit. (People who take mains electric into the bath that is).
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>>For goodness sake! They let these people vote for Brexit. (People who take mains electric into the bath that is).>>
More likely those who voted to Remain.....;-) ;-)
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WHAT is so important that you have to have your phone in the bath with you?
Updating emails?
Checking facebook?
Viewing some sordid videos, whilst...?
The mind boggles.
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Nice to see a British candidate for this year's Darwin Awards.
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>> Nice to see a British candidate for this year's Darwin Awards.
>>
Indeed
Sadly in a totally diffent situation yet another one, who did survive a far lesser happening.
Warning - the headline includes the word "gruesome" hence tinyurl
tinyurl.com/mybmxwn
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>> WHAT is so important that you have to have your phone in the bath with
>> you?
....last-minute online payment of the electricity bill.....
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Only yesterday, a young woman walked straight in front of my moving car while she was peering at her phone instead of looking where she was going. I stopped abruptly and without hitting her and I'm fairly sure she still doesn't realise she did it. I'm disinclined to retrospectively sound the horn at stupid people. Never seems all that useful.
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Not 100% clear from reports whether it was charger in bath or just the nominally low power output connected to the i-phone.
Looks as though the coroner has made/will make a 'Prevention of Future Deaths' report which will go to Apple and to Chief Coroner. These reports are published but cannot find this one yet.
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>> Looks as though the coroner has made/will make a 'Prevention of Future Deaths' report which
>> will go to Apple and to Chief Coroner.
>>
I suspect this is a normal procedure but in reality apart from a CYA exercise a total waste of resources.
Only a brain transplant would have improved things. :-(
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>> Not 100% clear from reports whether it was charger in bath or just the nominally
>> low power output connected to the i-phone.
There's a bloke on youtube (bigclive.com) who has quite a few vids where he's done tests on USB chargers and found several that are very shoddy to say the least. One that he does rate however is a Poundland charger.
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At least one report that I read said that he had the mains charger on his chest (and therefore, presumably, whatever it was plugged into).
I had been thinking he had been very unlucky up to that point. Whilst I wouldn't do it with the 5V connector either, I wouldn't expect it to kill me.
For that matter I wouldn't take a mains extension into a bathroom, at least not while it was being used as such.
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>>
>> There's a bloke on youtube (bigclive.com) who has quite a few vids where he's done
>> tests on USB chargers and found several that are very shoddy to say the least.
>> One that he does rate however is a Poundland charger.
>>
Just reading up thread on this.
Big Clive is brilliant, tests and (and tastes) some odd items. Well worth a look at his videos.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, you have Photonic Induction who is a nutter when it comes to electric, although I do think he knows what he is doing.
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"WHAT is so important that you have to have your phone in the bath with you?"
That's what I would have said. But people cannot bear to be separated from their phones. My step-daughter has dropped her mobile down the loo at least once. (I find it hard to imagine how that came about. Actually, I try hard NOT to imagine how it came about.)
And there is at least one commercial (the ClearScore one) that shows a man in the bath checking his phone AND having a conversation with his dog at the same time. It seems a small step from that to attaching a charger from the mains to said phone, stupid though that is to any person with common sense.
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The headline is misleading. It wasn't the mobile phone which. Was on his chest but the mains powered charger as stated in the actual article. Using a a phone in the bath would not kill you.
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The linked article (Sun) says charger was on his chest and intuitively it has to be mains voltage to kill.
Another report though, tinyurl.com/llzfws8 (Guardian), is less clear.
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I probably saved the life of my then 13-year-old son when I heard music from the bathroom and spotted and disconnected an extension line running into it. He was in the bath listening to his mains radio.
Was I to blame for not warning him of the danger?
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>> WHAT is so important that you have to have your phone in the bath with
>> you?
I know people that take them into the bathroom to listen to music whilst having a bath.
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>> WHAT is so important that you have to have your phone in the bath with
>> you?
>> Updating emails?
>> Checking facebook?
>> Viewing some sordid videos, whilst...?
>>
>> The mind boggles.
>>
Mine is linked to a battery powered Bluetooth speaker. I have been known to drop it in the bath occasionally when changing tracks or sending texts, particularly after a beer or three.
I have never been moronic enough to try to use it while it's connected to a charger.
Aside: you could probably drop your phone in the bath while it's connected to a charger without issue. You're taking a risk, but a relatively small one. But to take the extension cord and plug socket into the water with you is such a stunningly moronic thing to do I'm struggling to believe it's true.
Element of Darwinism in action here, I think...
Last edited by: Fursty Ferret on Sat 18 Mar 17 at 11:31
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Oddly all the iPhones I've ever owned have a charger that plugs directly into a 13 amp socket and then an USB lead to the phone. Unless he had an extension lead from the socket,,,
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'But Steve Curtler, from safety charity Electrical Safety First, said people underestimate how powerful chargers can be.
'He told the BBC that a mobile phone or a laptop typically only has a low voltage of 5V to 20V and would not harm you if they made contact with water – but connecting them to the mains electricity supply carries a much greater risk.
'He said: "Although the cable that is plugged in to your phone is 5V, somewhere along the line it's plugged into the electricity supply and you're reliant on that cable and a transformer to make sure you don't get into contact with the main voltage.
"You're wet, which conducts electricity a lot better; you're in the bath with no clothes on, so skin resistance is less. You're vulnerable in the bathroom."'
Is any of this true?
A point of a transformer is that it makes sure you don't get into contact with the mains *current* (not 'main voltage' as described). An isolation transformer (such as you get in your shaver socket in the bathroom) has 1:1 windings.
It's not volts that kills you, it's amps.
But I don't believe that dropping a phone, attached to a charger, into the bath will kill you any more than dropping a 9 Volt battery into the bath will kill you. Either Electrical Safety First, or the journo, doesn't understand a word of it.
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>> A point of a transformer is that it makes sure you don't get into contact
>> with the mains *current* (not 'main voltage' as described). An isolation transformer (such as you
>> get in your shaver socket in the bathroom) has 1:1 windings.
AIUI an isolation transformer is a specific piece of kit for use (eg shaver sockets) where isolation is an absolute requirement.
Is a charger with USB outputs, whether Apple branded or generic, necessarily going to have an isolation transformer ?
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 21 Mar 17 at 10:52
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"The 32-year-old is believed to have plugged the charger into an extension cord from the hallway then rested it on his chest while using the phone."
Effectively its nothing to do with the charger. He had an extension lead pugged into the mains on his chest whilst lying in the bath.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Tue 21 Mar 17 at 11:00
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>> Effectively its nothing to do with the charger. He had an extension lead pugged into
>> the mains on his chest whilst lying in the bath.
Press reports do not give a consistent account. Some imply, or allow reader to infer, that the charger or extension lead were on victim's chest. Others that charger/extension were further away and only the USB charging lead, notionally a few amps at 5V, contacted the bathwater.
Mains all but in water is such gross stupidity I find it difficult to believe coroner would wish to raise formal concerns.
We'll know when the report is published.
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>> Mains all but in water is such gross stupidity I find it difficult to believe
>> coroner would wish to raise formal concerns.
Coroners can be just as stupid as the general public. This is quite likely one such example.
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Tangentially, no one in our house has had a bath for years. My wife and I have never had a bath in this house since we bought it in 2002 or indeed any of our previous houses. My son used to as a toddler until he was old enough to stand up in the shower, but never since.
We all prefer to shower. I'm not even slightly tempted to lie in a bath. Takes too long and sitting in my own gradually cooling dirty water doesn't hold any appeal. I suppose if I had a rubber duck I might try it but unless it could do amusing tricks I suspect I'd soon tire of it.
;-)
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>> I suppose if I had a rubber duck I might try it but unless
>> it could do amusing tricks I suspect I'd soon tire of it.
Well, rather neatly, I feel, let's combine the thoughts of this thread into this, Humph.
www.ohgizmo.com/2007/04/27/the-electric-bath-duck-cool-gift-or-suicide-helper/
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Brilliant !
Come to think, I'd been wondering what to get for my mother in law's birthday...
;-)
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Well, don't rubber up the wrong way.
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Stop ! I'm feeling nauseous now...
;-)
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>> sitting in my own gradually cooling dirty water doesn't hold any
>> appeal.
>>
But it doesn't gradually cool. Mine has a hot tap, which I operate at intervals with my toe.
Or do you still use a tub in front of the kitchen range, filled from jugs?
Last edited by: Cliff Pope on Tue 21 Mar 17 at 11:33
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Think of the polar bears Cliff. While you lie there recklessly topping up your bath, adding to global warming. ;-)
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>> Is a charger with USB outputs, whether Apple branded or generic, necessarily going to have
>> an isolation transformer ?
All transformers isolate. They also generally step-up or -down the voltage. In the absence of a step-up or -down you have a 1:1 transformer the only function of which is to isolate. Like the 240:240V shaver socket.
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But Steve Curtler, from safety charity Electrical Safety First, said people underestimate how powerful chargers can be.
'He told the BBC that a mobile phone or a laptop typically only has a low voltage of 5V to 20V and would not harm you if they made contact with water - but connecting them to the mains electricity supply carries a much greater risk.
'He said: "Although the cable that is plugged in to your phone is 5V, somewhere along the line it's plugged into the electricity supply and you're reliant on that cable and a transformer to make sure you don't get into contact with the main voltage.
"You're wet, which conducts electricity a lot better; you're in the bath with no clothes on, so skin resistance is less. You're vulnerable in the bathroom."'
and
Is any of this true?
A point of a transformer is that it makes sure you don't get into contact with the mains *current* (not 'main voltage' as described). An isolation transformer (such as you get in
your shaver socket in the bathroom) has 1:1 windings.
It's not volts that kills you, it's amps.
He's a twit, or misquoted. It is amps but it's essentially amps through a muscle beyond t he body's ability to overide it. 1mA could do it but there are well documented cases of much more.
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>>>But Steve Curtler, from safety charity Electrical Safety First, s.....
If this is the best a 'safety charity' can put out, they deserve to loose their tax exempt (charitable) status.
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>> >>>But Steve Curtler, from safety charity Electrical Safety First, s.....
>>
>>
>> If this is the best a 'safety charity' can put out, they deserve to loose
>> their tax exempt (charitable) status.
>>
I wonder if he is qualified to do a PAT ?
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 22 Mar 17 at 18:27
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I am soooo biting my tongue.
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>> I am soooo biting my tongue.
>>
....have you got a PAT you want doing.....?
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Have you any idea how upset a dog gets when you spray boiling hot tea on it through your nose?
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Hahahaha...I've just choked on a piece of apple..(not Apple - different beast)
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I am disappointed, no one tipped coffee in their keyboard yet? :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 22 Mar 17 at 19:19
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>> I wonder if he is qualified to do a PAT ?
You don't need to be qualified to operate a Portable Appliance Tester. Anyone can rock up with one and start testing equipment.
Although it does help if the brown stuff were ever to hit the fan.
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>> >> I wonder if he is qualified to do a PAT ?
>>
>> You don't need to be qualified to operate a Portable Appliance Tester. Anyone can rock
>> up with one and start testing equipment.
>>
>> Although it does help if the brown stuff were ever to hit the fan.
>>
I have been required to undertake C&G 2377 Inspection and Testing of Portable Equipment through work recently, as I routinely issue IT and handheld equipment. I have a duty to ensure that any equipment is tested/safe to use and marked to say so.
2 days course, lots of theory and surprisingly little practical, passed 96%.
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>>2 days course, lots of theory and surprisingly little practical, passed 96%.
Anything that A-level Physics didn't teach you? Doubt it.
HSE hedge their bets and don't ever say that you need a 'qualified electrician' to do the PAT testing. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrician#United_Kingdom
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>> 2 days course, lots of theory and surprisingly little practical, passed 96%.
Mine was a 1 day C&G course. Approx 2 thirds of the day was theory, an hour or so hands on using 4 or 5 different PA Test machines, and an hour for the open book exam (IET Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment). The pass mark was 24 out of 30 questions. IIRC, I got 28 or 29 correct.
Despite it being an open book exam, one guy failed the course, even with the tutor going round the class helping out anyone struggling by muttering the page number the answer to the question was on!
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Corners report now published:
www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Bull-2017-0154.pdf
the family expressed concern that phone chargers were not perceived to be risky items even in contact with water and that warnings should be hilighted in this respect
So it's Darwin stuff and he's saving the blushes of deceased and his family.
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In Canada at the moment. Bathrooms here all seem to have the normal power sockets, strictly against regs in the UK. I guess it's harder to electrocute yourself with a 120v supply.
Electric kettle takes ages though.
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>> In Canada at the moment. Bathrooms here all seem to have the normal power sockets,
>> strictly against regs in the UK. I guess it's harder to electrocute yourself with a
>> 120v supply.
We noticed same thing in USA.
>> Electric kettle takes ages though.
Don't think we saw a kettle as such though coffee makers were routine. Used to a low wattage kettle in the caravan though; long waits for tea are just part of life on site.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 10 Jul 17 at 21:40
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We just use a normal kitchen keckle in the caravan. No problem with heating up time and it will only trip the supply if there are more than three things on at once. Which is rarely.
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>>it will only trip the supply if there are more than three things
>> on at once. Which is rarely.
OK on 16 amps as is standard in UK. In lots of French sites 5 amps is standard and 10 premium :-)
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Death by charging an iphone in the bath. - Bromptonaut
