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Potentially Lethal Clone Apple Charger

Charger
Charger

I received this USB supply with a laser module from China that I purchased on eBay. I have heard of these nasty copies of Apple chargers going around, but I’d never received one this bad with a piece of Chinese electronics.

Label
Label

Model No. A1265, so definitely an Apple clone. Apparently capable of +5v DC 1A output. Notice the American NEMA pins. This wouldn’t have been any use to me in the first instance since I am resident in the UK & our mains plugs are significantly different, not to mention significantly safer.

Manufacturer is marked as Flextronics.

Top Of Boards
Top Of Boards

Here is the charger disassembled. Inside the case these two boards are folded together, creating an alarmingly small isolation gap between the mains side of the supply & the 5v output. Both the low voltage output & the feedback loop for the supply runs over the 4-core ribbon cable.
The mains wiring from the board is as thin as hair, insulation included, so there is a big possibility of shorts all over the place from this part of the circuit alone.

Bottom Of Boards
Bottom Of Boards

Bottom of the PCB assemblies. Good luck finding any creepage distance here. There simply isn’t any at all. traces on the +350v DC rail on the mains side of the transformer are no more than 1mm away from the supposedly isolated low voltage side.

Plugging one of these devices into anything is just asking for electrocution.

 

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iPod

Front
Front

Old iPod with damaged screen. Here is the front with the Click Wheel.

Cover Removed
Cover Removed

Cover removed from the back, here the HDD is the biggest visible part.

Mainboard
Mainboard

Back cover removed from the unit, here is the back of the screen & the main PCB.

Back Cover
Back Cover

Back cover with the battery & headphone jack PCB.

Battery
Battery

Closeup of the Li-Ion battery.

Front Removed
Front Removed

Front removed from the unit, the touch sensitive Click Wheel PCB is folded away from the mainboard here.

Buttons
Buttons

Tactile switches underneath the Click Wheel.

HDD
HDD

1.8″ hard drive. Toshiba MK3008GAL.