Are Hyper’s stackable USB-C chargers melting?

Image: Hyper

Did you buy one of Targus, Sanho, Hyper, or HyperJuice's nifty 100W or 65WUSB-C chargers with AC outlets that allow you to scale up to loads of powerful ports? I have to think about whether it should be in my bedroom.

Some of the devices are failing and not always in a friendly way. The units are overheating so much that they can melt their housing. Scott wrote that he was lucky to be sitting with it and smelling the melting plastic.

We asked Hyper's PR team about it, and they were surprised. Ian Revling, the Hyper social media manager, told us that the company knew about the overheating issue for a long time and decided to remove the product from sale.

The statement was sent by Revling.

It unfortunately came to our attention that a handful of HyperJuice 65W and 100W Stackable GaN Charger units were malfunctioning around early spring.

After ample testing and reviewing the faulty units, our product team learned the overheating malfunctions were mainly due to the AC passthrough.

We immediately took action and prevented any further purchases for either unit from our website. They’ve been unavailable for purchase for the last several months now.

Our product team is currently working on a replacement that we’ll hopefully be launching in the fall to winter time frame.

We’ve encouraged any customer that’s having issues and within warranty to reach out to us and we’ll replace the unit with the most suitable alternative in our current lineup which is the 100W GaN USB-C Charger.

Correct, problematic. Why didn't the company tell me earlier? I didn't get an email after backing the charge. I don't know if I'm supposed to keep using my 65W power source until it starts melting. Targus, the company that bought Hyper, has not issued a formal recall.

When I asked Hyper CEO Daniel Chin if everything in the company's statement was correct, he said everything was incorrect. Hyper never pulled the product from the shelves because of a parts shortage, but rather because of an overheating issue, according to him. He admits that they are redesigning the charge, but only to use a different part.

Image: Hyper

Chin says there was an issue with some early chargers where components were compressed too much during assembly and could short-circuit when you plugged them in, but he says it only affected the 65W version of the charger, and that you would know about it quickly.

The first few times you use your charger, it will fail. You're fine if you've been using this charge all this time.

Chin believes that the defect could cause smoke when the short circuit protection burns out, and that some forms of short circuit could also cause a problem with the plastic housing. He insists that the company uses a fireproof shell. Chin says that the charge is not catching fire. It's designed to handle failures like this.

What about the fact that many of the people complaining on the project say they have the 100W one, not the 65W one, and that their chargers melted down after months or an entire year of use? Any product has a normal defect rate. There are bound to be lemons when you sell a lot of products.

Chin told me that there have been no reports of house fires and that the defect rate for these chargers is just 2%. He says that they are not issuing a full recall because they don't see a systemic failure.

Image: Hyper

It is plausible that the people on the project are each experiencing a failure. I haven't had any overheating issues with my charger yet, and neither has Dan, who bought the 100W model.

I can't believe that the company's PR sent us a statement that said this was not a joke, the chargers were overheating, and that the company removed them from sale to deal with the problem. What happens when statements like this go through a lot of approvals?

Chin said nobody approved the statement. The PR person was too eager to talk to The Verge.

I don't know if I'm comfortable keeping the charge in my bedroom, where it's been powered by for months. Chin says the company will support me if I decide not to. If you pay the difference, you can swap for the new 65W model.

Even if the unit has been over a year, Hyper will always exchange it for a better one.