[drdiesel1]

Think of the charger as a microwave oven and treat it accordingly. YMMV!

 

[drdiesel1]

Don't put your phone AND stray metal objects in there at the same time.

One or the other.

That's the answer to the question you asked.






Here's the WHY. You didn't ask, but here goes for anybody that wonders...
The wireless charging protocol, even the crummy one that the original Bolt has, does a sort of "negotiation" between the phone and the wireless charging hardware before the output coils are energized. Kind of the same idea with your EVSE plug for the car. No car = no electricity coming out of the plug. A pair of sunglasses, scissors, keys, foil, etc. will fail to negotiate with the charging controller, and thus the coils will not be energized, and no heat or energy transfer will happen, and no power will be wasted.

The issue could theoretically arise when the phone negotiates a connection AND the paperclip collection also absorbs energy. The paperclips may get warm, in the exact same way that an induction stove works (rapidly alternating magnetic field) but more likely the phone will just charge more slowly if at all.

The wireless chargers try very hard by their design to keep the magnetic fields tightly bound and contained to the coils and immediate interface area, otherwise efficiency is lost, charging takes longer, and things get warmer than they need to.

The odds of anything BAD happening however are almost inconceivably small, I'd say small enough to be ignored.

Someone here had their phone plugged into a USB cord while on the surface charger and melted the plastic on the end of the USB cord.

 

[drdiesel1]

I wonder if that may have been resistance heating of a cheapo cord bad connection. USB C cords carry a bit more current than the older USB mini and micro USB cords.

IMO, it was from the metal being exposed to the charger output!

 

[drdiesel1]

Yeah I've had that exact same thing happen with an Amazon USB cord on my countertop, except without the wireless charger.

This is why I only buy Belkin products!