From: peterwieck33@gmail.com   
      
   > I know it's always better to be lucky than good, but did that material make   
   a difference, or was it just coincidence that taking it apart and handling it   
   did some good?   
      
   Ridge Tools tends to make decent stuff - however, they have their fair share   
   of cheap Chinese crap as well. Some wild thoughts in no particular order:   
      
   a) That 'spider silk' may have been some sort of incipient Tin- Whisker.   
   Cleaning it off may have removed a current bridge interfering with the proper   
   function of the charger.   
   b) You jostled the innards just enough such that an intermittent   
   cold-solder/damaged  trace/broken connection remade itself.    
   c) The receptacle where it was plugged in at her house was off. I have come   
   across any number of receptacles on a wall switch next to an entry door to   
   turn on a lamp or some-such. People forget and blame the device.  We have   
   three such in our summer    
   house.    
      
   I expect that you should go back to the board and check *EVERYTHING*, and   
   re-solder anything even faintly suspicious. And anything with any weight on   
   it, depending only on solder to be secured, might do with a dab of epoxy or   
   similar (NOT RTV silicon,    
   unless rated for electronics!) to reduce strain.     
      
   Peter Wieck   
   Melrose Park, PA   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)