Do you leave your Chargers plugged in?

Good discussion. What is a surge protected power strip?

Only one left plugged in is on USB charge from desktop. It's off when I shut down every nite and go to bed though.

However, I do leave Iphone charging over nite.

Since about four weeks ago, I always unplug or power off any chargers.

My brother lives on a grid where there are too many people connected with solar panels on their roofs. He had a Nitecore i4 plugged in but empty of batteries.
He and his wife were eating lunch one day, and they heard a loud “pop” in the next room. He investigated and smelled acrid electrical smoke.
His nitecore was dead!

A nice bright sunny day and with all those solar panels producing extra power, seems their grid voltage gets up over 255v when it should be ~240v.

His TV went out another day (a small power board fried) . His neighbours have reported similar issues with over-voltage in the area.

My son, on the other side of the country, has some gadget on his computer, modem etc that trips when voltage gets too high, and it records the time and over-voltage. This happens occasionally in the middle of hot sunny days here in Queensland. His analysis is that it is the over input to the grid by solar panels controlled by cheap Chinese controllers.

Keep ’em off when not in use, or protect them with something.

thats odd, bad design or something, solar power is low voltage D/C that has to be converted to A/C, so it should not be the panels but something wrong with the inverters.

Thanks, this is why i can’t see li ion flashlights becoming mainstream, the chargers are not there yet and the batteries need special care (some of mine are now overheating when i charge so i toss them, the chargers don’t have temperature protection, and non enthusiasts would just ignore it).
I wish 4AA was mainstream, eneloops are safe, chargers are plentiful, it could run XP-L chips at 3A without trouble, but would need temperature protection in the light, tailstanding at high amps, or the light in a blanket or drawer or duffel bag for example could cause big problems.

This country has switches on all (240V) powerpoints, so I leave chargers plugged in but flick the switch off.

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laptop/phone chargers are always plugged in. 18650/etc chargers get unplugged mainly because I need use of that outlet.

We got the notebook chargers plugged in and connected to the notebooks all the time until I started reading about the cells. Now I turn the block with outlets they are connected to off in the evening and switch it back on as the first notebook is about to shut itself down because of low battery.

Cellphones I used to let them drain the battery and then recharge to full and kept the adapters plugged in. Now I recharge them when at 20-30% and unplug when 80-90 using 1 adapter for all the rest unplugged and not used anymore.

It is a version of this, with surge protection added.

Here is one with American plugs.

Phone chargers: IN

All others: OUT

I leave them plugged in but they’re individually switched so I always switch them off.

Yes, I should have said the problem is with the inverters. Thanks for the heads-up.

thats odd, bad design or something, solar power is low voltage D/C that has to be converted to A/C, so it should not be the panels but something wrong with the inverters.
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I believe that the voltage put out by the inverter would have to be slightly higher than grid voltage, otherwise it would not flow(bit like water,air or hydraulics )my 03

just had a look at our inverter presently 10 am putting 245v out

I used to live in the Gladstone area (qld) for 15yrs and never had so much trouble with power ,brown outs load shedding ect.not to mention storm dammage
but I guess qal comalco and the smelter all came first…

My old NiMh charger stays plugged in as it’s very inconvenient to get at it’s wall-wart but otherwise everything else is on surge/power strips, sometimes with a downstream strip for lesser-used stuff at that location.

My desk has a main strip (all PC gadgets and usual lighting) then goes to a radio strip (ham gear and chargers, brighter work-light) so that for almost every use I just hit one or two switches. My old workbench was the similar and when I’m done the new one will be too.

I’m not as worried about “vampire power” as I am fire hazards and damaged equipment from surges/spikes/brownouts. The MOV’s in strips wear out so over time I add a new “main”, downstream ones are usually safe to use longer so I replace them occasionally. I learned from a lightning strike to not leave anything I value plugged in directly when I’m not here to monitor things.

Phil

Only when charging something up.

Or when I forget it there. It happens…

I always disconnect unused devices.
Mike

The chargers are only plugged in when they are in use.

I have a cellphone that needs to be charged only once a week (just a simple 6 year old Nokia with the Original battery).

I tested everything in my house back when I got a kill-a-watt and the phone chargers and other wall warts didn’t even register a decimal when not in use. I do unplug most things when I leave on a trip and nobody is home. But otherwise they stay plugged in. Unplugging and plugging everyday can lead to wear on the outlet and stress on the internals of a wall wart as you pry it free.

No.
I only plug my charger when i need it, just for saving electricity and avoiding me to buy a new house

If you want to save enough power actually see a difference on your bill, here are the real power eaters. Use these less:

Microwave
Oven
Stove
Refigerator/Freezer
Chest Freezer
Home Heater Fan
Kitchen food prep devices
Incandescent bulbs
Internet router
Internet modem
Laptop