Pants on Fire

[gary_in_neenah]

Thought I'd share an experience I had yesterday with my cellphone. I always carry it in my right hip pocket, took the phone out to check something and noticed it was warm to the touch, not hot but getting there. After looking closer I noticed the case had separated, front from the back, still together but visibly separating. "So what the h*** is this?" I hadn't dropped it or damaged it anyway. The thing is getting warm enough to now be uncomfortable to handle so I shut it off. Took it in to the store where I bought it and was told that I was lucky to catch it when I did. I had what they call a Thermal Runaway. In my case I caught it early as the battery started to swell it split the front and back of the case and that's when I noticed the problem.

Here's what Google has to say about the phenomenon;

A swollen lithium-ion battery can be extremely dangerous if left in your device. It could become punctured, causing hazardous gases to escape. A swollen cell phone battery could even catch fire or explode while you're holding it, leading to serious injury.

Swollen batteries, while not common, are a significant risk. They are the result of too much current inside a cell of the battery, which causes a build-up of heat and gas. This could damage the lithium-ion battery causing it to overheat and burst into flames.

So, I was lucky. It could've happened on the free-way at 70 mph or under 5 layers of clothing while snowmobiling. Isn't technology great?

 

[yamaholic]

Radiation is killing you from carrying it in your hip pocket your toast anyways ��

 

[frnash]

Radiation is killing you from carrying it in your hip pocket your toast anyways

Yeah, I would think carrying your toast in your pocket would not be a good idea - a "crummy" one at least!

 

[snomoman]

Radiation is killing you from carrying it in your hip pocket your toast anyways ��

Is that why I could never have kids? I was always wondering…hmmm.. well I guess that answers it it

 

[snobuilder]

As far as going 70 on the freeway.....So is this the same basic battery technology that is going to power all of our vehicles soon?....YEAH!

 

[favoritos]

Thank you frnash, for the coffee spitter.

gary_in_neenah, I'd never heard of the term thermal runaway. I know that puncturing through the layers isn't a good idea. Some do fail just because the layers are corrupted. Seems crazy that it would happen with normal use just hanging out in a pocket.

 

[gary_in_neenah]

Seems crazy that it would happen with normal use just hanging out in a pocket.

My thoughts exactly and as my wife pointed out, it's good it happened when it did and not in the middle of the night.

 

[BigSix]

One of my work iPhones was having battery issues and our company IT guy looked at the case from the side and said, yes, it had split and expanded the case. He said time for a new phone anyway. I never remember it getting hot, though. Good thing you caught it. This just happened on a commercial flight and they put it in a special bag that controlled it so it wouldn't burn completely.