Costco, a well-known American store, has recently reported that three models of myCharge mobile power supplies sold exclusively by Costco have serious overheating conditions, and may even cause potential risks of explosion, fire or burns. The equipment has also caused at least two fire incidents, which has also caused Costco to Carry out more removals from shelves and recall 567,000 mobile power supplies.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced on June 20, 2024, a comprehensive recall myCharge POWER HUB All-In-One 10,000mAh The mobile power supply models are AO10FK-A, AO10FK-B, and AO10FK-C. Consumers can check the appearance of the product. They are all black with myCharge English words printed on the front and the model number printed on the back. There are 2 connected charging cables inside. A retractable AC charging socket for charging.
The recalled Costco power bank was sold exclusively in Costco stores and official website from January 2022 to November 2023, priced at about US$40 (approximately NT$1,295), with a total of about 560,000 sold during the period. More than 7,000.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that the main reason for the recall of Costco power banks was that there were more than 120 reports of overheating of myCharge power banks. Even Costco received 115 returns of this product. The reasons included melting, swelling, smoke, and fire in the power banks. , combustion, explosion or sparks, etc. Even myCharge received 5 accident reports, according to“NBC NEWS”Two fire accidents were reported, causing approximately US$165,000 in property damage.
The CPSC also announced that consumers should return the “myCharge POWER HUB All-In-One 10,000mAh” power bank through Costco as soon as possible to avoid accidents. If Taiwanese people purchased it from Costco in the United States, Or purchase this mobile power supply through online auction, or throughmyCharge official website to check free returnsmethod.
Costco Power Bank Recall Product Model Specifications
- Brand: myCharge
- Model: AO10FK-A, AO10FK-B, AO10FK-C (the model number is printed on the back of the power bank)
- Appearance features: Built-in 2 connected charging cables and a retractable wall plug for charging, with the English word myCharge printed on the front
- Sales period: January 2022 to November 2023
- Sales location: US Costco stores and US official website
- Return method:myCharge application pipeline
Why is there a danger of overheating and catching fire when charging a mobile power supply?
It will cause a lot of disasters for myCharge power banks. Many people will mistakenly think that it is caused by “wall-chargeable power banks”. In fact, it has a lot to do with product design. Charging overheating and fire hazards may easily occur. The main reasons are as follows. reasons:
1. Poor heat dissipation design
Wall-chargeable power banks usually integrate the charger inside the power bank, which makes it difficult for the heat generated by the charger to dissipate. In addition, the internal space of the power bank is small, and the lithium battery cores are charged and discharged at the same time. If the product is poorly designed, it is easy to cause the battery core to dissipate. Problems with overheating can easily occur with circuit boards.
2. Lack of safety design protection
Some wall-chargeable power banks lack protection designs such as voltage stabilization and overcharging. When affected by surge currents or other factors caused by lightning strikes or voltage instability, they are prone to damage or overcharging, which may cause fire or explosion hazards. Accident.
3. Caused by poor quality of charging parts
If a wall-chargeable power bank uses poor-quality battery cores or circuit boards, leakage, short circuits, etc. may easily occur during the charging process, causing the battery core to overheat or even explode.
4. Failure of charging conversion and step-down parts
Usually, mobile power supplies that are plugged into the wall for charging use 110V AC power to step down the voltage to DC 5V. If the MCU controls the step-up/step-down circuit failure and the overvoltage component protection fails, it may also cause the lithium battery to overcharge. The power bank exploded and caught fire.
How to avoid the risk of fire or explosion of mobile power supply?
In order to avoid the risk of overheating and fire when charging the mobile power supply, it is recommended that you pay attention to the following matters when purchasing and using it:
- When purchasing a power bank, you should choose products produced by reputable manufacturers, and pay attention to whether the product has passed the BSMI certification of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and the international safety certification mark.
- Avoid buying uncertified and low-priced power banks. Such products are prone to design defects or safety hazards in order to save costs.
- Avoid charging for long periods of time. Even if it is a wall-chargeable power bank, unplug it immediately after it is fully charged to avoid charging for long periods of time.
- When charging, do not place the power bank on the bed or under the pillow for charging. The power bank that can be plugged into the wall for charging should be placed away from flammable materials.
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