If you need to charge your phone but you don’t have any available outlets, can you use an extension cord? People use extension cords to power everything from television sets to freezers. But is it safe to plug a phone charger into one? It depends on the extension cord.
Can You Plug A Phone Charger Into Extension Cord?
You can plug a phone charger into an extension cord but extension cords are tricky because they are associated with fires and electrical shocks. Professional electricians are always warning consumers against using extension cords as a permanent solution to a scarcity of wall outlets.
But most of the accidents that happen because of extension cords typically involve heavy-duty appliances like washing machines and microwaves. In fact, electricians who hate extension cords spend most of their time warning homeowners about the dangers of using them to operate powerful devices that draw a lot of electricity.
In other words, they are rarely concerned about the use of extension cords to operate low-level devices like phones. This is why many people use extension cords to charge their phones. An extension cord can charge your phone without exposing your home to fire hazards.
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Is It Safe To Plug A cell Phone Charger Into An Extension Cord?
If your extension cord has the wrong gauge, it may become too risky to plug a phone charger into that extension. But again, the fact that phone chargers use small amounts of electricity means that the risks of using an extension cord to charge a phone are equally small.
An extension cord is safe but dangerous. These devices are not meant for long-term use. Every time you use an extension cord, you expose yourself and your home to a certain amount of danger.
The more time you spend using the extension cord, the higher your chances of starting a fire or electrocuting the inhabitants of your home.
That being said, the risks associated with the use of an extension cord are highest when the appliances plugged into that extension cord draw a lot of electricity.
Because phone chargers draw very little current, the risks of plugging a phone charger into an extension cord are very low. The wrong extension cord will raise those risks. It all comes down to the gauge of the wires.
Extension cords are problematic because they raise resistance. The longer the extension cord, the greater the resistance, the higher the voltage drop. If an extension cord has long but thin wires, the voltage drop might be so great that the phone charger won’t charge the phone.
This is because it cannot deliver enough current to the phone to meet the requirements of the battery. And if the phone charger can successfully charge the phone battery, the process may cause overheating. This is why the gauge is so important.
Do The Extension Cords Ruin The Charger?
An extension cord cannot ruin a phone charger. An extension cord is an extension of a wall outlet. Plugging a phone charger into an extension cord is no different from plugging a phone charger into a wall outlet.
The extension cord is designed to transmit power from the wall outlet to your phone charger. It cannot harm the phone charger. At worst, an extension cord may start a fire that will destroy the phone charger.
But that is only if you misuse the extension cord. For instance, if you connect multiple extension cords together.
Allumiax has connected the practice of daisy-chaining extension cords to overloading and voltage drops.
I believe that extension cords are very easy to overload. Yes, a phone charger doesn’t draw enough power to overload an extension cord. But if the phone charger is sharing that extension cord with a powerful appliance like a space heater, the presence of the space heater could result in an overload that is more than capable of starting a fire.
But as you can see, you would lose your phone charger because you overloaded the extension cord and started a fire, not because the extension cord did anything to harm the phone charger.
Do Extension Cords Make Your Phone Charge Slower?
The extension cord will not make a noticeable difference to the charging speed of your phone. Theoretically, if the extension cord produces a significant voltage drop, it could affect the charging speed.
The voltage drop produced by an extension cord isn’t a problem if you use the extension cord correctly. If your phone charges slowly whenever you connect it to an extension cord, the extension cord is defective.
What To Look For The Best Extension Cord For a Phone Charger?
When it comes to finding an extension cord for your charger, the gauge should be your primary focus. Some people prioritize the plug type. But the plug of any extension cord you buy from your local store will most likely fit the configuration of your wall outlet.
Some people place a lot of emphasis on the design of the outlets on the extension cord, and that makes sense. The prongs of the charger have to fit the configuration of the outlets on the extension cord. There is no point in buying an extension cord that only accepts two-prong plugs when your phone charger has three prongs.
Tenaquip believes that the designation letter on the extension cord matters as well. But designation letters are only important in specific situations. For instance, if you want to use the extension cord outside, then you should buy an extension cord rated for outdoor use. They typically feature a ‘W’.
But in most cases, you do not need a special outdoor heavy-duty extension cord to charge your phone. Any medium-duty cord will do. A light-duty extension cord would also work. But just in case you’re tempted to plug other items into that extension cord, you should aim for a medium-duty extension cord with a gauge of 16AWG or smaller.
The longer the extension cord, the greater the gauge. For instance, you can target a gauge of 14AWG for a 25-foot extension cord. For 50 feet, you should buy 12AWG. Many people will tell you that 12AWG is overkill when all you need is an extension cord to charge your phone. And that is true.
But if you intend to use that extension cord to run other appliances while you charge your phone, you should get the highest possible gauge.