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Yet another lightning connector dies from
Electrolysis. Been cold plugging this one; it’s a lightning to USB C adaptor, and I’m working on the basis that cold plugging will extend the life.

But it still has a life expectancy of only a few months. My phone charges inductively but the iPad needs this fucking cursed connector.

I hate it with a passion. Useless piece of shit that doesn’t do the goddam thing it’s fucking supposed to.

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in reply to Sarah Brown

I’ve got original lightning cables from my iPhone 8 here. I’ve no idea what people do to break them!
in reply to Rachel Lawson

@Rachel Lawson I plug it in and use it to stop the battery going flat.

If I’m very lucky, it will last 3 months before it starts doing the “bing bing bing” of death.

At that point, it cannot be salvaged and the only thing is to throw it away and get a new one. Even if you clean the gunk off, there is hardly any copper left underneath and it is in a death spiral.

in reply to Sarah Brown

@rachel_norfolk Could it be climate related? Any other connectors do the same? Only lightning issues I’ve had are bends that crack the cable (which means it’s my wife’s cable. No shade or hate, I’m just unusually careful with stuff). Which is a pretty generic cable issue.

Must be horribly frustrating to have to switch out cables that often:(

in reply to Gen X-Wing

@Breadbin @Rachel Lawson I can’t find any consistent link to climate.

No other connector does this to me. It’s just lightning cables that provide power, and only lightning. USB C doesn’t do it. The old iPod dock cables didn’t do it. It’s just lightning, and they will always do it.

in reply to Sarah Brown

@rachel_norfolk Damn, that’s such a shame:(

Also odd that the iPad doesn’t have wireless charging. Hmm.

in reply to Ted

@Ted At least it’s the male (cable) end that gets corroded away to nothing rather than the female (iPad) end. The former you can treat as consumables. The latter are expensive.
@Ted
in reply to Sarah Brown

Not just you: I’ve tried that same brand (and a few others); the premium-priced ones do seem to last a tad longer than the dirt-cheap ilk, but they all ‘fizzle out’ within weeks/months.

Never considered ‘cold plugging’ to rule out arcing/pitting but thanks to you I can see that’s extra effort that changes nothing.

Edited to include picture of my gently used adapter which isn’t working.

This entry was edited (1 year ago)
in reply to So‑Called Vaughn

@So‑Called Vaughn The most premium one I ever bought lasted eight hours, because I used it to keep my phone charged when hiking in the damp,

Eight hours.

Came to the conclusion that spending extra money was a fool’s errand. Just buy what’s cheap and replace them when they die. Double the money does not get you double the life.

in reply to Sarah Brown

Do you have the same experience with Apple branded cables? In my case the external white insulator starts breaking apart after some time (many months, more than a year, not sure exactly) but I haven’t seen the connectors themselves fail even once.
in reply to Miguel Arroz

@Miguel Arroz Yes to Apple branded cables. They all do it. Without exception. Every lightning connector that provides power to the phone (peripherals last longer).

The connectors undergo corrosion/electrolysis and die. Doesn’t matter who makes them.

I’ve pretty much never had one where the connector failed structurally. They simply never last that long.

in reply to Sarah Brown

Interesting. The ones I use most frequently have the typical burnt pin, but they all work fine. I only replace them when the cable itself is falling apart. Wondering if the difference in weather between here and there has anything to do with it.