'1,000W' portable charger failed in minutes; teardown found goo and bulging caps

A 1,000W, 10-port charger advertised for $45 failed within minutes during testing. The unit felt suspiciously light and plasticky for a built-in power supply, and there was a faint smell of melty plastic before it was used. When powered up it never delivered anywhere near 1,000W.

No port would provide more than about 60W, and peak output topped out near 250W. Output was uneven and noisy, the more ports used the worse it became, and the charger got very hot quickly before it popped and emitted the smell of "magic smoke." Opening the case proved surprisingly easy, exposing a thin removable plastic sheet that separated curious hands from live AC.

Inside was a grey goo of thermal paste sealed in the plastic box and a bank of capacitors, three of which showed bulging from overheating. Two bridge rectifiers had been angled to touch a metal heatsink, an ineffective cooling measure. The device is another example of big-number marketing that outpaces safe engineering.

1,000w charger, portable charger, 10-port charger, teardown, bulging capacitors, thermal paste, bridge rectifiers, overheating, overstated wattage, magic smoke