Lightning cable failure

[Rakehellion]

All my lightning cables are getting tarnish on that one pin which causes it to stop working. It's apparently a power pin. It looks like water damage, but my devices never get wet.

Good thing they have a 1 year warranty.

I anyone else having this problem?

 

[Tweak155]

Maybe it's your phone / device?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Sounds like the device is causing it. no problems here with several lightning devices and cables.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Anyone know the pin-outs for lightning? Are those pins power? (I bet they are.) Looks like the contacts are getting scorched.

 

[TuxDave]

Are you saying that it looks like water damage because there's tarnish? Or are you saying that you see tarnish (mostly due to oxidation) and one example of oxidation would be through exposure of water.

I wonder if you had some thing gunk in your port and it got caught between the pins which makes this a scorch mark instead.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Are those genuine Apple cables and power adapters? I've heard some pretty iffy things about the 3rd party Lightning cables. The 30 pin cable generics have all been great, but yet to read the majority of reviews on generic L cables. Some don't work out of the box, some work for charging but not data. Not sure what Apple did differently that the 3rd party guys can't get right.

 

[Rakehellion]

Are you saying that it looks like water damage because there's tarnish? Or are you saying that you see tarnish (mostly due to oxidation) and one example of oxidation would be through exposure of water.

That's what it looks like. Some kind of chemical s getting in between tha cable and the device.

Are those genuine Apple cables and power adapters? I've heard some pretty iffy things about the 3rd party Lightning cables. The 30 pin cable generics have all been great, but yet to read the majority of reviews on generic L cables. Some don't work out of the box, some work for charging but not data. Not sure what Apple did differently that the 3rd party guys can't get right.

They're genuine cables. I don't use generics anymore.

 

[RampantAndroid]

That's what it looks like. Some kind of chemical s getting in between tha cable and the device.

I wonder if your lightning port on the phone is damaged. If so, it could be that there's not good contact on those pins, causing the current to arc, or simply burn the metal because it's not getting enough contact/surface area. If you wiggle the plug does the phone disconnect?

 

[Vov]

Interesting to see this. Exact same thing happened to me. It was only one time though. I felt like I may have put the cord in at an angle when it happened. I just exchanged it at my apple store and it hasn't happened again.

 

[Sydneye118]

It's funny you mentioned this, I've had my Iphone5C for 3 months and my cable came bubbled at the end and I knew it was a matter of time before it would crack the wire and stop working, so I went out and bought a new $25 one. I know this is a common issue among several consumers that have iphones, I find it crazy how expensive these phones are but the cables are trash, and typically once they stop working its almost impossible to repair unlike android cables.

 

[wilds]

When my I got an iPhone 5 last year, I ordered an extra cable. Both lightning cables split at the end and died within the same week.

I ordered two Amazon lightning cables and the build quality is superb. Don't bother getting Apple's lightning cables.

 

[ikachu]

I didn't look at the contacts, so I'm not sure if I had the same issue, but the Lightning cable that came w/ my iPad 4 died after about 6 months.

If you are going to get it replaced under warranty, make sure you bring your device with you to the Apple Store because they gave me a hard time about that (although they eventually did replace the cable for me).

It's been another 6 months since the replacement cable and no issues so far.

 

[Wreckem]

Maybe that is the same problem that I have.

If I plug in the phone the data works but not the power. I have to jiggle the cable around and hold it at an angle to get it to charge.

Has the same discoloration.

 

[Ichinisan]

Lots of Lightning devices here and I haven't had that problem.

Multiple iPhone 5, an iPhone 5s, an iPad mini, an iPod touch 5th gen... I kept most of my cables in the original box and never used them, so my 2 cables and 1 Apple-brand micro-USB-to-Lightning adapter have had extra wear...but they're still 100% functional and show no scorching.

I'm pretty sure your device is doing that to the cables.