Qi Induction Phone Chargers

[mikestock]

I purchased a Samsung Qi Induction charger for my wife's Samsung phone. I thought this would be great for her because she has severe arthritis in her hands and plugging charger cords into her phone is always challenging.

The induction charging works well but I read in the instructions, that the induction pad should be unplugged when not in use. This virtually defeats the purpose of buying the pad if she still needs to connect and disconnect the plug.

I know I can probably rig up a switch to turn the power off and on. This is, maybe the only solution although I consider this a cumbersome solution and difficult to relocate from place to place.

First question: Is there something, like a metal coaster that you could lay on the disk to protect it or would that have the opposite effect?

Second question: How much will leaving the coil plugged in shorten the life or cause a fire hazard?

Any other solution would be appreciated.

[Bill_Satellite]

We also never unplug ours. I think they mention that as it saves a small amount of electricity when unplugged.

[mikestock]

ktmrfs wrote:
well, I have 3 in the house that have been plugged in for over 3 years continously, and they still work fine. I wouldn't worry about it. My guess is that they say unplug to you don't have to worry about putting other metal objects on it and having them heat up.

downtheroad wrote:
Ours was unplugged once....when we moved it to a different location and has not been unplugged since...2 years+ ago.

Thanks. That's all I need to know. I still worry, slightly, about overheating. She has a small ceramic top table so I think we'll be fine.

[downtheroad]

Ours was unplugged once....when we moved it to a different location and has not been unplugged since...2 years+ ago.

[ktmrfs]

well, I have 3 in the house that have been plugged in for over 3 years continously, and they still work fine. I wouldn't worry about it. My guess is that they say unplug to you don't have to worry about putting other metal objects on it and having them heat up.

[ScottG]

Have to unplug? How ridiculous!
Normally you don't ever want to put an inductor next to a solid piece of metal (or even parallel with another inductor)