Exploding Smart Phones

[TalonStrike]

It it real? If so, which brand of smart phones explode the least? I don't want to be afraid of my head exploding every time I answer the phone

 

[ew915]

stick with OEM batteries and you'll be fine.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

It does occur when the battery fails and that is rare


The metal between the + and - deteriorate and when the + and - come together....kaboom

 

[pm]

As someone who has witnessed a real lithium polymer battery fire.... they don't really explode. The lithium batteries that blow up are the laptop batteries. A cell phone battery will catch on fire and when they do, it's a pretty intense fire... a bit like a car emergency flare.

And there are warning signs... the battery puffs up (like a balloon) before it goes... so you should be able to feel the phone backplate expand and pops off, and the battery will get really hot. It's not like you'll be walking down the street and suddenly it will go off like a small bomb... you'd feel it well in advance.

 

[CurseTheSky]

As someone who has witnessed a real lithium polymer battery fire.... they don't really explode. The lithium batteries that blow up are the laptop batteries. A cell phone battery will catch on fire and when they do, it's a pretty intense fire... a bit like a car emergency flare.

And there are warning signs... the battery puffs up (like a balloon) before it goes... so you should be able to feel the phone backplate expand and pops off, and the battery will get really hot. It's not like you'll be walking down the street and suddenly it will go off like a small bomb... you'd feel it well in advance.

IIRC, laptop lithium batteries are similar - it's not really an explosion as much as it is an intense and violent fire. However, laptop batteries have quite a bit more mass / fuel to burn, so it's noticeably worse than a cell phone.

That's not to say laptops can't "explode;" I'd imagine something with a very sturdy structure could hold in the pressure and heat from the failing battery until it reached the critical point where it all blows out.

 

[pm]

Laptops almost always use 18650 cylinderical LiC0O2 batteries which are steel-jacketed cells like this:
http://www.batteryspace.com/Ultra-H...lindrical-Rechargeable-Cell-3.7V-2800mAh.aspx

Cell phones nowadays all use lithium polymer batteries which are also LiCoO2 but with a polymer seperator which are enclosed in something like a plastic bag:
http://www.batteryspace.com/polymerli-ioncell37v1500mah703562-2c555wh3arate-ullisted.aspx

In my experience - and I've built a couple of electric vehicles over the years... including the car that I drive to work (I can post pics to prove it ) - both fires are similar, but lithium ion 18650 cells go off with a bang and a bit of an explosion, while lipoly cells are more like a flare. Both are bad, but 18650's are worse.

Over the years, I've drawn too much current out of a variety of lipoly cells and when they go... you get lots of warning but the bag puffs up like a balloon, and then it will leak near the top of the jacket where the wire tabs are, if you let it keep doing it's thing, it will eventually combust and then it will melt the plastic bag that it's in and it burns like a flare. Neither fire is a good one, but of the two, lipoly is certainly less scary. On the plus side, 18650's usually have PTC thermal fuses attached to them nowadays so you have some sort of safety system to them built into the cell.

 

[Belegost]

I would also like to point out that the batteries used in smart phones use the same chemistry as those in non-smart phones, there is no reason for smart phones to explode any more frequently.

 

[podspi]

(I can post pics to prove it )

That sounds awesome. I'd be interested in seeing some...


Also, I've always figured batteries exploding were either due to user error, or just very bad luck. I've purchased some batteries for my OG Droid off ebay, and some of them are sketchy, like an extended battery that really looks like two normal batteries taped together D:, but none of them have stopped working or exploded, yet (been about a year since I got the extended battery).

Now that I think about it, I probably have the worst case scenario too. I have a cheap knock-off extended battery, and a cheap knock-off charger. Both of them together (from different vendors) cost me like $15 bucks including shipping. Still, no explosion! Hope I'm not jinxing myself...

 

[T_Yamamoto]

That sounds awesome. I'd be interested in seeing some...


Also, I've always figured batteries exploding were either due to user error, or just very bad luck. I've purchased some batteries for my OG Droid off ebay, and some of them are sketchy, like an extended battery that really looks like two normal batteries taped together D:, but none of them have stopped working or exploded, yet (been about a year since I got the extended battery).

Now that I think about it, I probably have the worst case scenario too. I have a cheap knock-off extended battery, and a cheap knock-off charger. Both of them together (from different vendors) cost me like $15 bucks including shipping. Still, no explosion! Hope I'm not jinxing myself...

NEVER buy off branded batteries. they are sometimes...a POS

 

[janas19]

NEVER buy off branded batteries. they are sometimes...a POS

Yes :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[lothar]

NEVER buy off branded batteries. they are always...a POS

Fixed.

 

[hanoverphist]

my laptop battery just overheated while i was reading this thread. the charge light started blinking orange instead of green, so i had to pull the battery. it is really toasty. it took me a while to figure out it was overheating tho, there is no alarm, notification or warning that pops up. im hoping it isnt getting to the point of blowing up.

 

[podspi]

my laptop battery just overheated while i was reading this thread. the charge light started blinking orange instead of green, so i had to pull the battery. it is really toasty. it took me a while to figure out it was overheating tho, there is no alarm, notification or warning that pops up. im hoping it isnt getting to the point of blowing up.

Unless the notebook was also overheating, I'd probably replace that...

Some laptops have a built-in battery tester option in their BIOS, you might try that?

 

[hanoverphist]

ive ran the testing stuff, says the battery is good. only time it does this is when i have 80-90% charge and plug it in. im leaning towards the charger more than the battery, as when i cool it down and plug it back in it charges and operates fine. if its at a dead o% it doesnt do the overheat thing. its weird, yes. its also a 3 year old battery and system, so a replacement isnt out of the question either. im surprised the battery still lasts 2 hours unplugged hehe.

 

[Ravynmagi]

We are probably more likely to be struck by lightning than have a phone explode on us.