Originally Posted By: Shonky
A decent charger should shut itself off into a dead short i.e. if pins where shorted well enough.

I suspect here the juice provided enough of a short to not cause the supply to shutdown but enough for a reasonable amount of current to flow through. Effectively a small heater.

5V/1A is only 5W so somewhat unlikely to cause any larger damage. 5W is definitely enough to cause something to melt.

It shouldn't have gone bang or anything though.
Not even 5 watts according to the .85 amp spec posted initially, barely over four watts.

Perfect storm for cranberry juice electrical resistance, enough heat to melt plastic but not quickly evaporate the liquid?

Do USB chargers crowbar themselves into a low current output mode or simply keep pushing the rated current into whatever low resistance the load offers?