What does this High Pitched Noise mean? Am I a Dog?

October 8, 2009 1:06 PM

I just bought a charger for my cellphone at Target. It's not the special manufacturer's brand, but an after market one that costs half of what the Sprint store chargers cost. When I plugged it into the wall, it started making a high pitched noise. I haven't plugged the other end of the charger into my phone for fear of ruining it. Is this normal? Is my charger bad? Thanks.
posted by bluefly to Technology (14 answers total)

I've never heard a charger make any noise. And I've bought cheap, cheap, cheap eBay phone chargers where the shipping cost triple what the charger did.
Take it back.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:08 PM on October 8, 2009

In my limited circuit-work experience, capacitors on the circuit board often make a high-pitched noise shortly before dying. nth'ing take it back.
posted by frwagon at 1:20 PM on October 8, 2009

Response by poster: Oh, phooey. I guess that'll teach me for trying to save some money. Do chargers have to cost $35 then? Thanks for your help. (I like the "nthing" of the single comment ;) ).
posted by bluefly at 1:32 PM on October 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

Probably a fluke. There may be some correlation between the price of the charger and the quality of the capacitors used in its construction but I doubt it is very strong. Cheap chargers have always worked for me.
posted by ChrisHartley at 1:59 PM on October 8, 2009

Take it back, and just get another of the same model. This is probably just a one-off flaw. I've used many cheapo chargers over the years that have worked fine. No need to spend $35 unless you want to.
posted by cgg at 2:17 PM on October 8, 2009

I have a couple chargers that make noise when they aren't plugged into their respective devices. Once the device is plugged in the noise stops. I haven't had any trouble yet. One is an OEM charger for a Bluetooth headset.
posted by chiefthe at 2:51 PM on October 8, 2009

I had a cheap charger that did this. It worked fine. The noise stopped when the phone was plugged in.

However, it still freaked me out.
posted by kidbritish at 4:03 PM on October 8, 2009

I had a Nokia charger years ago that did this. Phone charged up fine. I did however have to charge the phone up out of earshot as it used to bug me no end.
posted by arcticseal at 4:19 PM on October 8, 2009

Yep my OEM nokia charger whines - don't worry about it.
posted by trialex at 4:44 PM on October 8, 2009

I think the whine is just the sign of a low quality switch mode supply. It's annoying but shouldn't be an issue as to the function.
posted by 6550 at 5:14 PM on October 8, 2009

might even be considered a design feature. check the package.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 5:42 PM on October 8, 2009

there are bad capacitors out there. i don't know if this applies to your unit or will effect the ability of the unit to charge, but I would take it back, get another one.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:13 PM on October 8, 2009

I've had several Nokia chargers that did this. It was annoying but they lasted for years. 6550 sounds spot on.
posted by turkeyphant at 8:55 AM on October 9, 2009

Response by poster: I returned it. They would only let me do an exchange (since I had opened it), so I got a different charger. The new one I got didn't make any noises, but it fried my phone anyway. Now it won't hold any charge at all, even with the OEM charger. :( :(

Oh, well. Any suggestions of where to get a phone for < $100? Or a new battery (would that even help)?
posted by bluefly at 8:40 PM on October 14, 2009