Annoying reason your laptop charger might be turning yellow

When that yellow hue begins to smother something that was originally white, it's hardly a good sign - or a good look.

Your laptop charger isn't immune to this ugly omen which seems to suggest you might need to splash out on a new one.

Yep - it's not just your boyfriend's beloved pillow that can start to sport the grotty-looking colour.

Your charging cable may have zero frays and seems to be working completely fine - but if its yellow, apparently its got to go.

Reddit users discussing the topic said that the colour change isn't just a sign of it's age, repeated use, or that you need to spend more time washing your hands.

It's apparently an indicator of something much more dangerous, which means you should probably stop using it.

Reddit

Although some comedians suggested the cable could be suffering from 'yellow fever', the most likely answer was that the yellowing was caused by heat exposure.

Sharing a snap of their custard-coloured cable, one user asked: "Why is my MacBook's USB C cable turning yellow on both ends?"

One user replied: "Heat. Apple cables have inadequate strain relief and the cables become frayed inside the the insulation, which increases resistance and heat, causing the cable to yellow at that point. Time to replace that cable."

They went on to warn that several of their yellowed chargers had 'started smoking' after continuing to use them.

Another said: "Mine did this too, from heat. It’s likely a fire danger and should be replaced."

A third added: "This whole time I thought I spilled olive oil on mine for some reason."

Someone else offered some tips and tricks to try and at least delay the yellowing process, although it might be inevitable.

The user said: "For any cable that clicks in, make sure you pull it out by the connector, never by the cable, that causes strain on the rubber cover and wires inside.

"This goes for all cables (even power cords) try to not pull on the cable itself.

"Most cables are held together by nothing more than the wires inside and adhesive around the rubber cover and connector so if you pull on it, it weakens and let’s heat escape."

Another person pointed out that wrapping your cable up when you're done charging can inflict stress onto the copper strands inside of it, causing the fine wires to break over time.

The comment read: "As the number of intact wires gets reduced over the course of years, the resistance of the cable increases at the location of the break, and it gets hottest at that point.

"The heat has already damaged the insulator. At some point it will be hot enough to start a fire."

Like we said earlier - it seems yellow means it's got to go.