Recently, I was on a road trip to see some national parks. In a few small town gift shops along the way, I saw some small fans that you plug into your phone. The fan draws current from your phone's battery and puts out a steady breeze. A little gimmicky in my opinion, but for those seeking a little cool breeze, it's a neat idea. And, neat idea is where the concept should have ended under the current design.
Today, I had a customer who used one of these fans on an iPhone 5S and 6S. Both phones stopped charging all together. The customer stated this occurred after using a fan plugged into the lightning port. A detailed explanation of why iPhones with lightning ports (can) stop charging is outlined in a previous blog post (click here). In summary, a tiny 2.2mm x 2.2mm microchip known as Tristar, but more commonly called the, "U2 IC" acts as a gateway of sorts for all USB I/O, including charging. If the Tristar is damaged, then your phone will not charge, or may display odd charging-related symptoms (see article in link above). So why would these colorful, seemingly harmless fans cause such significant problems?
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In truth, I don't have one of these fans (yet) for testing to make some bonafide conclusions over what's happening. I plan on buying two the next time I'm in a store that sells them. Of course, I could order some online, but this doesn't guarantee that they will arrive on working order. As I was playing with them in the last gift shop I saw them in, I noticed some worked and some didn't. Thankfully, my phone still works. ;)
But, we can draw some reasonable conclusions based on what we know so far. The Tristar controls USB functions, including data transfer and charging. The Tristar can be damaged by using non-Apple certified lightning cords because cheap cords lack a voltage regulator found genuine Apple cords or Apple certified cords, thereby potentially exposing the Tristar chip to voltage spikes and subsequent damage. Now plug the fan in, what's occurring? Instead of the phone pulling current from a charge cord, the fan is pulling current from the phone. This current passes through the Tristar the same as if you were charging the phone. Hypothesizing, can the Tristar handle current passing through it in reverse? Is the fan pulling more current than the Tristar can handle? Further testing once we have some fans is needed.
In the meantime, sitting on my desk is an iPhone 5S with a bad Tristar chip after using one of these fans. Similar events have been reported around the United States and the world. Lenny Jenkins of The Gadget Lab in Ohio said that he's, "I heard the same thing, those things are killing devices" when it comes to fans ruining cell phones. James Worrall of Technology Repair in the UK says he's, "heard the same story here" (in the UK). And in Australia, Ben Duffy of Geelong Microsoldering is predicting that micro-solderers like us will see a bump in Tristar failure when, "fake lighting headphones flood the market" - referencing the rumor that Apple is removing the standard 1/8" headphone jack in favor of a lightning port headphone and China's penchant for counterfeiting popular consumer goods.
In short, unless Apple has produced, or authorized the production of lightning port accessories, no matter the attraction, you put your device at risk by using them.
But, we can draw some reasonable conclusions based on what we know so far. The Tristar controls USB functions, including data transfer and charging. The Tristar can be damaged by using non-Apple certified lightning cords because cheap cords lack a voltage regulator found genuine Apple cords or Apple certified cords, thereby potentially exposing the Tristar chip to voltage spikes and subsequent damage. Now plug the fan in, what's occurring? Instead of the phone pulling current from a charge cord, the fan is pulling current from the phone. This current passes through the Tristar the same as if you were charging the phone. Hypothesizing, can the Tristar handle current passing through it in reverse? Is the fan pulling more current than the Tristar can handle? Further testing once we have some fans is needed.
In the meantime, sitting on my desk is an iPhone 5S with a bad Tristar chip after using one of these fans. Similar events have been reported around the United States and the world. Lenny Jenkins of The Gadget Lab in Ohio said that he's, "I heard the same thing, those things are killing devices" when it comes to fans ruining cell phones. James Worrall of Technology Repair in the UK says he's, "heard the same story here" (in the UK). And in Australia, Ben Duffy of Geelong Microsoldering is predicting that micro-solderers like us will see a bump in Tristar failure when, "fake lighting headphones flood the market" - referencing the rumor that Apple is removing the standard 1/8" headphone jack in favor of a lightning port headphone and China's penchant for counterfeiting popular consumer goods.
In short, unless Apple has produced, or authorized the production of lightning port accessories, no matter the attraction, you put your device at risk by using them.
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