Cheap Apple charger cashes it's chips.

[Kibi]

This was found in one of the buildings at work, luckily nobody was hurt.
It took out a 32A circuit.

[SeanB]

Clean the soot off the faceplate and it will work.........

Copper plating as a shield for RFI, very inventive, though it probably would have been better to apply it at production rather than during end consumer use.

Important, was the fondleslab connected during this incident, and if so did it survive ( brown trousers excepted).

[Kibi]

Clean the soot off the faceplate and it will work.........

Sounds easy doesn't it. I can only imagine the amount of paperwork to be filled in and meetings to take place before this is sorted out.

Important, was the fondleslab connected during this incident, and if so did it survive ( brown trousers excepted).

Ja, I don't know if the telephone or whatever was connected up to this death trap or not. I doubt it will have survived if it had been charging.

[SeanB]

Depends, if it is government it will take at least until next election is over, in a big company at least 3 weeks. In a small place one hour..........

[IanB]

Was that thing real or fake? There are many "look alike" counterfeits around, as per other threads on this forum.

To comply with UK standards it surely should have had a fuse inside it, even if it was a one time non-replaceable fuse. Is there evidence of such, and how did it not prevent the bang?

[SeanB]

Genuine Fong Kong one for sure, UK pattern socket which is only used on 240VAC 50Hz countries, yet marked as 100-240VAC 50/60Hz, with all fake safety marks added to it ( put the mark on and it is magically safe) and a genuine fusible lead inside.

[Kibi]

One sure fire way of telling a fake is the plastic earth pin. Even double insulated Class II devices must have a metal earth pin. The Woo Hong Fong manufacturing company don't like spending the extra cash on a metal earth pin.
A genuine Apple charger has a metal earth pin.

[Monkeh]

UK pattern socket which is only used on 240VAC 50Hz countries, yet marked as 100-240VAC 50/60Hz

That's very common, actually. It allows operation with a suitable adaptor in other countries.

One sure fire way of telling a fake is the plastic earth pin. Even double insulated Class II devices must have a metal earth pin.

Myth.

Insulated Shutter Opening Device (ISOD)
protrusion from the engagement surface of the plug, in place of a brass earth pin, made of insulating material having dimensions similar to those of a brass earth pin

What fucking imbecile put in a C32 for three sockets, though?

[Kibi]

I suppose it's a ringmain circuit to justify a 32A breaker. You can't put a 16A breaker in if it's wired as a ringmain, can you?

[Monkeh]

I suppose it's a ringmain circuit to justify a 32A breaker. You can't put a 16A breaker in if it's wired as a ringmain, can you?

No. And there's no point in a 32A ring final for three sockets (nor a 32A radial). And absolutely no point in a type C breaker!

[Kibi]

True, and to be fair, the breaker is labelled as "Pattress No. 2", insinuating that each pattress in the cubicle is served from it's own breaker.
C curve may not be necessary in the cubicle, but would be a requirement in the studio. The electrician should have been able to discern between the two. Any lighting would have to be connected to a 32A outlet anyway, so I apologise, I get your point.

[Monkeh]

True, and to be fair, the breaker is labelled as "Pattress No. 2", insinuating that each pattress in the cubicle is served from it's own breaker.
C curve may not be necessary in the cubicle, but would be a requirement in the studio. The electrician should have been able to discern between the two. Any lighting would have to be connected to a 32A outlet anyway, so I apologise, I get your point.

And yet the studio sockets are clearly on B32s.

[Kibi]

I didn't look that closely.
On closer inspection, it turns out that the apps room's ceiling outlets (the ones that serve broadcast equipment) are on a B curve breker and the dado (where the knobby engineer plugs his laptop into) is on a C breaker.

So,

What fucking imbecile put in a C32 for three sockets, though?

and the rest.

[justanothercanuck]

Dang, that's creepy.  Luckily it didn't catch on fire.

Any idea why/how it failed?

[Kibi]

It's what happens when you build something based on components' maximum spec. to save money.
The almost immediate sublimation and subsequent condensation of copper on the inside of the casing only added to the problem.
I am almost impressed that such an amount of copper is actually condensed on the inside of the case, I'd have thought they'd have gone for far less copper than that in the design.

[chickenHeadKnob]

It's what happens when you build something based on components' maximum spec. to save money.
The almost immediate sublimation and subsequent condensation of copper on the inside of the casing only added to the problem.
I am almost impressed that such an amount of copper is actually condensed on the inside of the case, I'd have thought they'd have gone for far less copper than that in the design.

It looks like the internal wire gave its "all". We should hold a minute of silence.

[SeanB]

You need at least 3 strands to solder it quickly. Smaller wires are going to take longer to solder ( more fiddly) and will be more expensive from being less common.