This has to be the stupidest most asinine invention ever. A travel charger with fold up prongs. As if that tiny 3/4 inch protrusion made a damn bit of difference in my suitcase. Its in a zip lock bag and couldn’t snag my clothes.
Just spent 10 minutes trying to plug this POS in. SOB kept folding up on me. :mad: Damn near electrocuted myself twice when the prongs folded back and hit my finger.
I hate wasting power leaving zombie chargers plugged in. This one will stay plugged in until we check out of the hotel. It’s going straight into the trash when I get home.
Who the hell would approve such a stupid design and manufacture it? They could kill somebody. When those prongs fold back and hit your finger its scary. I was praying the other prong hadn’t partially inserted into the wall outlet.
The product would be fine if it locked the prongs into place for use.
Seriously, chill out. The prongs don’t move independently. If it folded up, that means neither prong was in the outlet.
Also, why the hell were you holding it by the top, especially after you were already scared to death once by the folding prongs? Hold the damn thing by its side. Even if the prongs fold up and remain hot anyway, your fingers aren’t in the way.
Note: I used to have the same model of charger, which did not lock the prongs in place, and was not challenging to use. If yours actually does have independently moving prongs, then I retract my first paragraph and agree that that’s stupidly dangerous. The second paragraph stands, though.
That’s all too true. Any charger you buy is cheap and from China.
I will order a new charger when I get home. A standard mini USB. No more folding travel chargers for me unless they specifically mention a locking feature.
I just checked the five chargers on my desk, from different sources and for different battery sizes/shapes, and none of them lock the prongs in place. One sort of clicks, but it’s not a solid lock. That’s just the way they are made.
It converts from almost any plug on earth to almost any socket on earth, and has a USB charger. The pins slide in and out of the body and lock into place, to be released by a button, and it makes up a robust block of plastic when everything is retracted.
Seriously clever piece of design.
Minor complaints: unnecessary bright LED on the USB charger; though using one USB socket works as expected, the double USB doesn’t actually supply simultaneous power to both sockets when two devices are connected - it switches between the two, which irritating when your iPhone bleeps to tell you it’s connected every two seconds; my girlfriend managed to blow the fuse when she plugged in her hair dryer.
More pricey than the alternatives, but as a frequent traveler I guarantee it’s very worth it indeed.
Well, heck, if we are looking for alternatives, here is what I carry. As in all I carry. No individual chargers for my phone or tablet, just the usb cables. Also provides surge protection for your laptop. And a damn handy thing to have at the airport.
Step 1. Fold out prongs.
Step 2. Insert just the very tip of the prongs into an outlet.
Step 3. While pushing the adapter in, also press in at a very slight incline (say, 5-10 degrees) upwards.
Step 3a. Do not press the adapter downwards while pushing it in.
If you actually follow these directions, is it absolutely impossible for the prongs to fold up. It should be more difficult to insert a filling station nozzle into your car than getting those prongs to work properly.
They are worthless if the blades fold up when you try to plug it in. Every time I applied any pressure to plug it in they just folded up. Lots of fun when I’m on my knees underneath a hotel table trying to reach the outlet.
I’ll never buy another charger with that fold up design.
I’ll give Ravenman’s instructions a try next time I plug in the adapter. I probably was pushing down and making it fold. Pushing up should keep that from happening.