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Author Topic: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar  (Read 2853 times)

Weaver

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Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« on: January 05, 2018, 04:10:09 PM »

Mrs Weaver’s brilliant tip: take a clicky retractable ballpoint pen and take it to bits. Take out the spring which operates the button. Simply wind your Apple lightning cable into the spring so that the first or last inch of cable or so is inside the spring! This then supports and strengthens the vulnerable first/last part of the cable and makes it unlikely to get kinked and wrecked after just a month or two, which was always happening to me. I was buying loads of the things and genuine Apple ones cost an absolute fortune, they're such a rip-off, although third party ones may be had for no money there is always the risk of annoying nag messages from your device.

I'd be very interested to know if this tip is also applicable to other similar cables not just Apple iDevice ones, such as cables for Android phones.
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kitz

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2018, 09:26:45 PM »

Sounds like a good idea, thank you for sharing.  :)


Quote
I'd be very interested to know if this tip is also applicable to other similar cables not just Apple iDevice ones, such as cables for Android phones.

I don't think it is so much of an issue with Android devices as they use standard micro USB cables which can be picked up from anything under a quid.  Even the official Samsung cables are only about £2 and Ive never had one break.    Yet I went through a couple of leads for my ipod and ipad in a couple of years. :/
   

I still have the same USB charger that came with a HTC phone I bought in 2010 which is still in daily use by my bedside.  Purely because of the shape of the power plug that has a top slot rather than at the side or underneath.  I kept it when I gave away the HTC phone years ago,  giving them the charger that came with my S4.   
So despite being in daily use now for nearly 8 years, aside from the HTC label looking a bit tatty (should take it off really) the cable itself is in perfectly good condition.

I more recently treated myself to a NXET braided cable for my Galaxy Tab when they were on offer for about £3,   but that was because I wanted a 3M cable rather than struggling with a standard 1M cable.



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kitz

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2018, 09:42:04 PM »

Quote
the cable itself is in perfectly good condition.

Oops I lied  :-[    I just pulled it out to tear off the tatty HTC label whilst I remembered.   

Then I saw this: -  (see photo)
Tiny kitten teeth marks on the rubber micro end.    Ziggy did that when he was baby cat - he is now 8.   :lol:
Thinking about it, because it had been kitten chewed may have been why I gave dad the new lead that came with the S4 plug.

So there you go, daily use for 8 years and mauled by a kitten, but still going strong.    ;D
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jaydub

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2018, 11:01:03 AM »

I'm a great fan of the Anker Powerline cables.  £6.99 for 1 or 18.99 for 3 on Amazon.  Tough as old boots.  They also do a heavier duty braided cable if you wnat something tougher.
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kitz

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2018, 02:04:02 PM »

I'm a great fan of the Anker Powerline cables.

I got the NXET one because I was looking for a longer than normal cable so I could still comfortably use my galaxy tab whilst charging, rather than having to be sat next to the plug.  It was because the braided ones were on offer and only pennies more expensive than other 3 meter cables why I got it.  They seem to have a good reputation from what I recall reading at the time.

Just had a look at the Anker cables.   Amazon have a massive discount on right now for Anker 6ft Lightning cables which may be of interest to iPhone & iPad users.

Apple MFi Certified 6ft Lighning cable  £33.99 reduced to £7.99 - Linky.

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vic0239

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2018, 03:58:10 PM »

Amazon have a massive discount on right now for Anker 6ft Lightning cables which may be of interest to iPhone & iPad users.
Thanks for that, been meaning to get a longer cable for ages for the self same reason.  :)
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Weaver

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2018, 07:34:47 PM »

Thanks to kitz for that link. I've just bought a couple of those cables.

Apple ones are such an unbelievable rip-off. I just got tricked into buying them by a string of error messages so I wanted to have a known good cable partly for diagnosis purposes, partly out of stupid fear. Now I'm convinced that my old ipad 5 has a wobbly socket in it, because it sometimes says ‘not charging’ even with new known-good cables.
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sevenlayermuddle

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2018, 08:07:58 PM »

“Not charging” display seems to be a common feature of 3rd party cables.   I have heard it rumoured that it is a result of Apple ‘chipping’ their own cables, thus mandating their use.   In my own experience, it seems more likely attributed to inadequate conductor cross section.  A hefty current has to flow, which can result in a significant voltage drop over a metre or two.   The only long (2 metre) genuine Apple cable that I own is significantly thicker than the 3rd party ones that display “not charging”.   The genuine 2m cable overall diameter is noticeably stouter compared to the standard Apple 1m cables, approx 3.1mm vs 2.8mm on my micrometer.  It did cost a whopping £25, mind you.

My own experience of Apple charging cables has not actually been bad.  We have a bank of four power bricks in regular use, serving 2 iPhones and up to 4 iPads on a typical day.   Some take quite a pounding - like the one on my desk used for debugging interface, constantly disconnected/reconnected, to different devices.  Yet in 6 years, just one has actually stopped working.   An apple USB keyboard cable also split open, but that was because I got it trapped under the stand of a heavy monitor.

If I had a gripe, it would be that ALL charging cables should be at least 2m, even if that means they are thick and ugly (like myself?).   That would not just apply to Apple of course.   Anything less than 2m is asking for trouble imo, as the cable ends up being stretched and strained during use.

Anyway, good luck with these Anker cables.  They certainly look good value and seem to get good reviews. :)
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Weaver

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2018, 08:53:47 PM »

The “not charging” display with my ipad 5 is with a genuine long apple cable. :-(

I’m reasonably convinced it is the actual socket in the ipad that is not good because taking the cable out and putting it back in again, possibly more than once, I forget, will cure it.
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Weaver

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2018, 11:39:34 PM »

Thanks to Kitz and Jaydub for the tip. The Anker cables have arrived from Amazon. Wow, they are butch monsters, so much so that I will have to be a bit careful about the leverage on the connector in the ipad. I can see a reason why Apple make their own cables softer and so basically rubbish, protects the iDevices’ connectors if they are mechanically cheap and nasty as well as earning them a small fortune for all the highly profitable cable replacement sales.

Am very pleased with them so far after a short period of use.
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kitz

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Re: Tip: Strengthening stupid iDevice lightning cables and similar
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2018, 09:08:48 AM »

:)
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