By 
Note to self: Never leave a device charging while unattended. Why, you ask? Because there’s always the off chance that something like this could happen.
What you’re looking at are images of one user’s Nexus 7 after it was left charging — unattended — for a good couple of hours. When the owner returned to where the Nexus 7 should have been sleeping peacefully, she was greeted with a room with smoke and the Nexus 7 melted to a toasty Pop-Tart.
According to the Chinese forum where the images were posted, the user was using the factory OEM charger and the device was only left charging for a total of 3 hours before spontaneously combusting. We’ve seen cases in the past where shady characters have attempted to pass off exploding devices as a manufacturer defect, only to later find out the cause was owner misuse. This doesn’t appear to be indication of foul play and apparently ASUS has already dealt with the matter, sending off a shiny new replacement. Let’s hope the new one has better luck.
I know it’s unlikely, but I have to ask. Any Nexus 7 owners out there ever have their tabby explode on them? Does seeing this make you a little more cautious about leaving your Nexus 7 charging for long periods of time?
Thanks, Ash!
[via TheAndroidSoul | MobileGeeks | Baidu]
Asus quality control at its finest. One of the many reasons I will never even think about giving them another cent of my hard earned money
I mean, this is 1 out of the how many millions that were sold? Still not good enough?
Come on Chris, don’t pretend like there aren’t other issues with a lot of their products
I like how everyone down-votes simply because they think that Asus makes the greatest products, because they make the Nexus 7. C’mon people. I own Asus products and I can admit they have quality control issues. Denying that they don’t when it is a fact is sheep like behavior methinks. Look @ the Zenbook prime and Transformer line issues and it becomes evident…
I for one, have bought countless motherboards from Asus along with 3 netbooks. No issues with any of them except 1 motherboard, in which they replaced no questions asked. I have dealt with other companies and had a much harder time getting things taken care of. QC may not be the best, but at least they back their products.
I am not implying they’re a bad company. They have the best warrenty in the biz in regards to PC notebooks. I mean 2 years WITH accidental damage!? Who does that? Asus is an innovator when it comes to technology and I buy they’re products. The only thing I said is they have poor quality control and because people don’t want to acknowledge it, they say my opinion is bad.
“People disagree with my opinion; therefore, they are stupid and brainwashed, because my opinion reigns supreme!”
At least you didn’t call these people a troll and imply that they hold differing opinions intentionally, just to make you mad.
Are there really? I bought an Asus laptop and my biggest complaint is the sea of bloatware on it. I am not sure what I can and cannot uninstall but if I could find out for sure easily it would all be gone as soon as I have time to sit down and click through the uninstall screens.
I’m talking about their android products, I don’t know anything about their computers
Asus has been known to have pretty poor QC. Don’t get me wrong; I know this is a VERY rare occurrence and a totally different category than laptops, but my Asus Zenbook Prime has a few QC issues as well.
Did anyone confirm It’s a real article?
I was hesitant before buying mine due to my past experiences with asus motherboards then got mine while I love the device the build quality does feel chep with the way the screen creaks. I wish google would uave contracted sammy or htc. On a plus note mine slashed a huge hole in an unopened red bull can as when boarding a bus my bag with my beakfast hit the corner of my 7. I was amazed I could do that.
Everyone downranking you obviously doesn’t have a transformer, either that or they have their head burried in the sand humming loudly.
While this is a one in a million and likely not related to QC, Asus quality control on ALL their tablets is beyond subpar.
Yeah I had the TF Prime so I know all about it. Never again
I call BS.
Yep.
This is why I don’t get cheap hardware even though its a Nexus. Samsung only for me.
ASUS usually has much better build quality than SAMSUNG.
Nonsense. Asus’ choice of materials may be more to your liking than Samsung’s, but that doesn’t mean they’re of better build quality. I’ve read many more complaints, for example, of light bleeding from Asus tablets than Samsung ones on xda. The earlier batches of Nexus 7 tablets were also riddled with problems including uneven screens.
It gets my goat when people complain about build quality when they don’t even know what that term means.
Could be due to the fact that ASUS is still pretty new to the tablet market, they’re well regarded for their other products though.
In any case, if the 32GB 3G version ever makes it to my country I’m still buying one, but I’ll probably also invest in one of those fireproof charging bags.
There have been problems that have been mentioned for ALL OEMs, but lets not forget who the current tablet champ is when it comes to both DROP and SOAK tests. This Nexus is a BEAST when it comes to rough handling.
When comparisons have been done, Asus gets extremely good scores when it comes to hardware failure rates
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/17/reliability.study.has.apple.4th.place/
Hi eccles (and the 3 other guys above you),
I have nothing against ASUS. In fact I love my 16GB Nexus 7 and think it’s perfect – except for some occasional niggles with Wi-fi connectivity.
I just cannot abide someone saying that OEM A’s devices have “better build quality” than OEM B’s when it’s quite clear that’s not true. Sammy has often been on the receiving end of such comments because they like to use plastic instead of aluminum, but honestly their build quality has always been superb.
that’s why there are hundreds of pages of complaints about wifi/gps failure on the GSIII and screen separation on the Galaxy Tab. Not to mention cracked screens because people foolishly used the official keyboard dock as intended.
Oh wait. Those were all Asus defects. My bad.
Samsung built that new cheap nexus 10, will you be buying it then?
When it happened to an Apple II, it not only wasn’t BS, but Cupertino made a “Baked Apple” print ad out of it.
Does the Nexus owner have a cat? Maybe it sat on the warm tablet and helped it overheat while charging…
From: http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads/applebaked.gif
completely different situation.
that apple computer happened to be near a fire, this nexus was the cause of a fire.
Yessir. IF this did actually happen you can almost guarantee it was environment related and not directly related to the device.
Are you sure she didn’t think it was a pop-tart and put in the toaster oven?
I leave my tablet plugged in for about 9 hours a day while I’m at work and I’ve had no problem. This is all BS. I bought my tablet since they first came out and not a single problem.
One day, that tablet you leave charging in your house unattended is gonna bang your wife then set the place on fire.
Don’t worry I bang her enough. You should be careful cause I might be banging your wife and you not knowing it jijiji
Oh, now, see? I KNEW that whole story about my tablet being “JUST friends” with my wife was BS…Sonovabitch!!!!
I reckon its just a rare occurence. Probably a failure of the charging circuitry causing the battery to be overcharged and overheat. This has happened with numerous other devices that have rechargeable batteries.
Ah!! So the device didn’t know that it was fully charged and kept pulling in energy as if it needed to charge?
Yep
Oh so you mean it overcharged? gotcha
I agree. I built my own fast charger for Lithium Ion batteries and saw flames at least once, LOL.
The “test lab” for my app has 14 phones almost always left on chargers and I’d hate for one of them to start a fire. Maybe I need a metal table.
Or build a robotic assistant with a fire extinguisher attachment. ;)
Hum … I think this is BS and cheating. The person who took the photos went to the troubles of showing the inside of the device. And didn’t have time to show the melt micro-USB connector and the charger? I think the owner had fiddled with the device using a fast charging contraption which had failed. I would believe this story if the device and all the accessories are examined by a 3rd party.
Theres no BSing the idiot left it on charge for 7 hours more than what was required, this is what happens from over charging.
It’s incredibly hard to overcharge devices with the battery technology utilized nowadays.
That kind of thinking is so naive its unbelievable. Either way batteries don’t last forever the more you overcharge the more you are taking away from the batteries life span.
Modern lithium batteries have a circuit that prevents overcharging and makes it so you can, in fact, leave a device on the charger.
It’s been like this for some years now.
Please don’t spread hysterical misinformation.
Its not misinformation.
So then you’re just an idiot? Gotcha. Keep up with current battery technology before you waste your time with another response.
Nope not an idiot, because I’m not stupid enough to leave my electronics on and charging unattended but looks like the majority of you believe that technology is somehow perfect when all technology has its kinks that need ironing out.
Um… My Nexus stays at about 80 degrees once it’s finished charging. Oh and if you didn’t know, this is the average temperature of a device when it’s sleeping off the charger I might add. What I’m saying is that the device is quite cool even though it’s still on the charger.
And what about apps like Dock Clock. It’s a clock you use when you dock your device. And when your device is docked it’s charging.
You can’t “overcharge” these batteries. They know how to stop charging, unless you do some type of modifications to them.
Can’t overcharge? bull crap anything electronic can be overcharged or even short circuited.
Why not read up on the subject?
I have read up on the subject thats why I am saying what I’m saying but sure whatever.
You clearly haven’t.
Modern lithium batteries have overcharge protection.They cannot be overcharged.
The article specifically says it was only charging for about 3 hours. In any case if the circuitry in the battery and charger are working properly you should have no problem leaving a modern device on the charger indefinitely.
“the idiot left it on charge for 7 hours more than what was required”
“… the device was only left charging for a total of 3 hours before spontaneously combusting”
So you’re only supposed to charge the Nexus 7 for -4 hours??
Ash, please. Anyway, I’ll think twice about charging next to that pile of oily rags.
I can believe this story if the person was so foolish to leave it charging on top of some sort of fabric with it on…. Not only that it was charging for 9 HOURS im pretty sure it should have finished charging no longer than 2 hours. That means its been over charging for 7 hours straight its not uncommon for any electronics to get hot on the charger especially with them on thats why laptops have cooling pads…. The fact of the matter is the device was probably already hot from charging over the course of 2 hours and the constant voltage to the thing eventually it got too hot too handle and busted. Moral of the story? DON’T LEAVE YOUR ELECTRONICS ON AND CHARGING UNATTENDED!
Its a waste of energy, and stuff like this can happen. This could have happened to any apple product any phone any device that uses a battery. Its not uncommon for batteries to combust. Ever touch a AA battery after using it? it gets hot. This is NOT unheard of. This is not a testament to quality its a example of what happens when you are careless!
arnt todays devices meant to STOP charging and just keep the thing topped up to full charge ? I wouldn’t call this careless – how many people have their laptop on permanent charge ? [plugged in] nearly all I would expect.
Not me. I mean, I used to, but I would get a short in the A/C adapter connector(s) and so I am not charging and using until it needs charging again.
Thats naive thinking. So because something is supposed to do something means you shouldn’t take precautions? that careless thinking.
My phone and Nexus battery stays around 80 degrees Farenheit when it’s through charging. I don’t know what you’re talking about. The battery should have known it was fully charged. There’s the issue there. The device heats up while charging, but once it’s finished, it starts to cool down and only uses the energy it needs. If it’s sleeping, it’s probably pulling lyk 20mA or less. I don’t think 20mA is going to blow up a tablet.
You guys don’t leave your stuff charging overnight while you sleep? I always do. Uh oh.
I installed two fire alarms just for this reason!
umm i’m not even sure if the fan still runs when you leave your laptop on charge..
Some do just depends on the software. and so on.
Could be the outlet. I blew up an outlet in a hotel once while charging my 5″archos tablet. Lucky for me I had it plugged into a portable surge protector. Tablet lived. Surge protector blew a fuse. Wall outlet was blackened. Tv in the hotel was toast. It all went up in a flash, pop and smoke.
Snap, Crackle, Pop.
Hence the age old saying-A Watched Nexus never boils
I have Dock Clock. I left my Nexus 7 on the charger over the night with the screen on.
I also didn’t have the wall adapter before, so I’ve left my Nexus charging 9+ hours on my computer, over night of course.
Why would this happen? Because she was pulling in lyk 5A instead of the standard 2.1A. LoL!! 3 hours would NOT do this. There just isn’t no way. The Nexus takes about 2 hours from empty to fully charge. Somebody is lying.
Defects happen…. can’t expect every device to be perfect
Bad battery
If any of you knew anything, you would know these batteries are meant to stay charged. Heavy discharges hurt them
Bad circuitry in the battery allowed the battery to overcharge, thus resulting in the overheating and containment failure. I’m not a noob, I know what I’m talking about.
Bs, if I can’t charge a Device unattended then I’m not buying it. Ain’t no one got time for all that!
I know it’s not a Nexus 7, but my Xoom stays on my charging dock for days on end. This is either
fowlfoul play, or an extremely isolated incident.Definitely fowl play. You can see the marks from where the rooster pecked at it for 20 minutes.
Derp. Nice catch.
I have to call bs it is a freak accident or the owner fiddled with it. mine charges all night most nights and I even play shadowgun while it charges, and it never even gets warm.
Really doubt this is from “over charging” as some are claiming. Most modern electronics stop charging when the battery is full. This seems more likely a rather bad but rare defect(we would’ve heard a lot more about it if not) or a problem with the outlet, most likely a power surge.
And i’m pretty sure apple will say they have a patent for this and sue lol
Crap, I hope that doesn’t happen to mine. I let it charge at night while I sleep 0.o
I call bs on every one of these. Just people that don’t like android or work for the competition trying to hurt android’s image
Android had nothing to do with it, but I get what youre saying.
where’s the ‘the display is still way better than the ipad mini’ comments?
The display is still way better than the ipad mini. ;P
I think it’s a bas relief of a swan.
This Nexus had top secret info on it and it was chosen for assasination.
I CALL BULLSH¡T ON THAT!
im not surprised. since my gnexus can heat up and hot to touch anyway.
Never had an issue. Had it since launch.
This is all an elaborate hoax engineered by Apple:)
Like the burnt S3?
Look there is approximately 100% chance there was something set on top of the device like a coat or hat. (no way to prove there was not) We have been pushing the heat loss numbers pretty close on the tiny devices that are mostly battery… The slow heat buildup leads to the cascade failure even if the protection circuit shuts things down. IMHO.
This happen to me with my device I left it charging for two and half hours and the battery exploded. Thank god Asus replaced my Nexus 7 with a brand new one after I got in contact with them. I thought I was the only with this issue but look it here ..
I own an ASUS Tranformer pad and I can only say great things about it….. high quality engineering ….. same for their other products….. keep in mind this meltdown happen in China… flip a coin as to whether it happen as stated.
Most likely the wall charger failed first by over volting the battery. Also, China uses 230V at their receptacles.
230, 231…whatever it takes.
LOL someone’s been watching Mr Mom
;)
Available on Netflix
Why is this article even posted? One in a million Nexus explodes and its in China of all places and its news. My cousin’s ipad heated up and a small part melted. He just got it replaced. It never became news.
Putting something like this up can make people think Nexus 7 is faulty and stop buying it. I got a Nexus 7 last week. It works fine.
in China anything can explode.
I’ve heard stuff about exploding toilets, coins, chairs, etc.
My Sprint GS3 just got the OTA Jelly Bean update! Nice.
How could it be called a spontaneous combustion when it’s been left charging during 3 hours unattended?
Nobody knows what happened, but I’d have only called it a spontaneous combustion if it hadn’t been plugged in.
Exactly. The title and the story are at opposites. Either it combust spontaneously or was left on charge to long.
When I first got my N7 I tried to charge it at work. It heated up. That was due to faulty wiring. Never had heat issues any where else.
I left many times my Nexus 7 charging all night and still nothing has occurred
Maybe someone could deliberately cause this to happen by wrapping the device they are charging tightly in a blanket, so that heat can’t escape.
It looks more like it has been done with a welding torch to me, but whatever, it’s certainly not newsworthy.
I left my nexus 7 off the charger last night, only used 1% battery.
My brother’s cousin who lives in China said you would be a fool to put too much stock in a story like this coming from China just in time for Christmas. He said if a company is capable of bribing the US patent office to get rounded corner rectangle screens patented after such a device had clearly been on the market, the they are capable of selling their mother and sister for cheap love and paying someone in China to post this picture of a fabricated failure.
The same thing happened with the S3 before the iPhone 5 was out, they put the phone in a microwave, nuked it and ran to the presses saying the phone exploded while charging.
That was Ethan Hunt’s table shortly after he received a very important message. :-)
No problems whatsoever with my N7 32GB. Been using it and charging it every day for the past few weeks.
“I don’t understand, I used the factory OEM charger…”
LOL that is one bad daisy chain
How many tens of thousands or millions out there? How many are melted?
Hey anyone know if the wifi experience with a regular a/b/g/n router is any better for the Amazon tablet or do you need a special router to get faster data movement. I have a TF300 and great signal strength but the pauses on page load are kind of a bummer.
Any lithium-based battery will overheat or explode while charging if there is an internal short. Manufacturers have struggled with this for years, and have mostly eliminated the *likelihood*, but not the distinct possibility. Causes can be dropping the appliance, dropping an item on the appliance, extreme vibration, using the wrong charger, and (least likely) manufacturing defects. NO device should be left unattended while charging. Ever.
exactly right!
I’d like to see some more proof than “According to the Chinese website on which it was posted…..”
Ill bet Mulder & Scully could get to the bottom of this.
To me it looks like someone put it on a stove with a hot electric burner by accident.
I love the Nexus 7. She usually doesn’t over heat as such. I love her smooth leather backside, I talk to her from time to time, “what’s the weather like tonight, tomorrow”? She’s my first one, first tablet, and we sure hit it off well and things have been going great between us two.
Just realized she kinda sounds like “Christine”, and I am not just saying this but I want the Pad Infinity as well…
I think I see the problem. Some tried cooking a grilled cheese sandwich inside of it.
When I go to bed my nexus is at 90% it’ll take an hour if not less time to fully charge it then it will be sitting on the charger while charge for the remaining 8 hours or so. Been that way for months. No issues here
Who is the author of this article? It doesn’t say anywhere. O_O