My old charger drawer was a graveyard, now I test everything first
About a year ago, I pulled out a charger from that drawer of dead electronics and plugged it into my phone. Within ten minutes, the tip got so hot I could barely touch it, and the phone wouldn't charge past 40 percent. That was the moment I stopped trusting any cable that looked fine on the outside. Now I use a cheap USB power meter from Amazon, costs about 15 dollars, to check voltage and amperage on every old cord before it ever touches a device. It took me three tries to find a meter that actually read correctly, but now I test everything in my house, from the nightstand cables to the car charger. Has anyone else had a cable that looked perfect but failed a load test, or am I the only one who kept a drawer full of those? I'd love to hear how you spot the bad ones before they damage a battery.