OnePlus One melted while charging

We have heard many cases of smartphones having issues such as exploding batteries, bending and overheating. Most of these cases are usually reported by users as a cause of damage during charging. Well, this time, one more gets added to the list.

‘hoopsbwc34’, a member on the XDA forums, reported yesterday that his OnePlus One simply melted while he had left it to charge overnight. “I've noticed that periodically it was getting very hot when I was charging it, both when using a car and wall charger and multiple different cables. On Saturday night I left it on the charger overnight and in the morning the phone was melted around the charger cable!,” he wrote on the post.

What is worse, he reported, is that OnePlus says that the warranty voids if a third-party charger or cable is used. In his case, he was using the original charging cable from a Samsung Galaxy S3. So OnePlus will not replace or refund the amount to him, but will repair it for a cost. He would have to shell out a whopping $350 for a new motherboard.

While most people on the forum replied to his woes and also showed anger towards OnePlus not replacing the handset, many also pointed out his fault for not using the original cable and charger supplied with the handset.

All smartphone manufacturers supply a charger and cable with the handset to meet the standards of the device. While some smartphones require a 1A charger, there are many high-end smartphones that require 2A chargers. In the case of OnePlus One, the charger required is a 2A rating, and a Samsung Galaxy S3 requires a lower rated charger. The reason could be that the handset draws 2A of power for charging and the Galaxy S3 cable could not support the 2A current passing through it. This could be one reason for the cable and the phone to get damaged due to overheating. For example, when you run a toaster or a microwave using a conventional cheap power strip, the cables and plugs get hot and can damage the equipment too.