Are there safety concerns for leaving a tablet plugged in permanently?

Question

I have an HP Stream tablet that was gathering dust until I looked for ideas for an unused tablet, one of which was to use it as a picture frame. I'm going to mount it to the wall using Command Strips and use it to cycle through my wallpapers and display a news feed on the bottom.

Is it safe to leave a tablet more-or-less permanently plugged into power? Should I be concerned with overloading the battery or causing a fire at the power outlet?

Answer 1

It is perfectly safe. You cannot overload the battery because the charge controller is smart. There is no reason it would be any more likely to cause a fire than any other low power device, which means it's incredibly unlikely.

I generally recommend leaving such devices plugged in whenever it's not inconvenient to do so. This prolongs battery life by giving the charge controller more options. It also means the battery will be fully charged whenever you happen to need it.

Answer 2

Tablets often use lithium ion batteries, very similar or identical to cell phone & laptop batteries, and they have been know to catch fire, however rarely. Maybe often linked to covered/insulated or/and depleted batteries being recharged & heating up.

I think using an old tablet as a changing or interactive digital photo frame is a cool idea & should be safe & work well. But a good tip appears to be:

• Do not restrict airflow around the device or otherwise "cover it up," so try to leave space for air to circulate freely around it. I wouldn't cover the entire back with foam tape or command strips, just enough to hold it.

I wouldn't put anything very flammable (like dry leaves or paper or cloth) on or around or under it either, just in case.

Here are some interesting & scary stories (in time for halloween) about device fires:

• Nvidia Is Recalling Shield Tablets Because the Batteries May Catch Fire
• Samsung Galaxy S4 catches fire under the pillow of a 13 year-old girl
• Apple iPhone 5 reportedly kills Chinese woman - few details, apparently it was while the phone was charging.