Blown out phone and tablet lithium batteries

[bc1]

Had another lithium battery issue come up yesterday. Had an old Samsung Galaxy s6 phone on the shelf on a charger for a long time. Noticed that the case was blown out because of battery expansion. Got a knife and pried out the battery and as soon as it was disconnected it became a hot potato. Juggled it to the front door and threw it in a planter filled with potting soil where it began smoking for a little while then it quit. It never burst into flames and now it is ok but I'm not bringing it back in the house. I'm not sure why taking it out caused it to get hot like that unless it shorted across its terminals when I pried it out (it was glued in) and didn't really try to unplug it. Any thoughts?

Also have a 10" android tablet I'm using with an expanded battery. Guess it time to take it outside and tear the battery out of it.

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[TaxmanHog]

That was a close call, imagine if it had failed more catastrophically while you were not home!

BTW, years ago I had a 20,000 miliwh pack with cells that thermally expanded, though it never went thermal.

Had a HTC cell phone crack it's screen when the battery ballooned, my brother in law had the same model and the same issues, we both got rid of those devices, I became a Samsung lifer after those experiences.

 

[BurritoGrande]

That was a close call, imagine if it had failed more catastrophically while you were not home!

BTW, years ago I had a 20,000 miliwh pack with cells that thermally expanded, though it never went thermal.

Had a HTC cell phone crack it's screen when the battery ballooned, my brother in law had the same model and the same issues, we both got rid of those devices, I became a Samsung lifer after those experiences.

Why Samsung? The Galaxy Note 7 was actually banned from flights because of a defect that caused it to have a high chance of actual explosion (even after the first few recalls).

 

[RLXXI]

Why Samsung? The Galaxy Note 7 was actually banned from flights because of a defect that caused it to have a high chance of actual explosion (even after the first few recalls).

I remember when that happened as I was a Note enthusiast since the very first one hit the market so I had to hold onto my 6 and wait for the 8 to come out. Doesn't seem like it's been 10 years already.

 

[RLXXI]

Had another lithium battery issue come up yesterday. Had an old Samsung Galaxy s6 phone on the shelf on a charger for a long time. Noticed that the case was blown out because of battery expansion. Got a knife and pried out the battery and as soon as it was disconnected it became a hot potato. Juggled it to the front door and threw it in a planter filled with potting soil where it began smoking for a little while then it quit. It never burst into flames and now it is ok but I'm not bringing it back in the house. I'm not sure why taking it out caused it to get hot like that unless it shorted across its terminals when I pried it out (it was glued in) and didn't really try to unplug it. Any thoughts?

Also have a 10" android tablet I'm using with an expanded battery. Guess it time to take it outside and tear the battery out of it.

Had a lipo go nuclear on me once, 7.3v out of one of my drones. It swole up so I poked it with my pocket knife, figured it would just deflate, I figured wrong .

Instantly that thing shot out a hot high pressure stream of smoke for about 10 secs then it turned into a blow torch! Made me jump back and watch the rest from a distance lol.

 

[chriserx]

The only one I had swell was the last Intel Macbook Pro. Reported it on the trade in form for (at the time) new M1 Air, traded it, got double the original estimate. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[TaxmanHog]

Why Samsung?

I never owned a Note-7

Current rig is a Galaxy s24u

 

[PJnc284]

Made it just over 9 years so guess I got my money's worth.

 

[potato]

There is a whole subreddit dedicated to this.

r/spicypillows

 

[bc1]

Had a lipo go nuclear on me once, 7.3v out of one of my drones. It swole up so I poked it with my pocket knife, figured it would just deflate, I figured wrong .

Instantly that thing shot out a hot high pressure stream of smoke for about 10 secs then it turned into a blow torch! Made me jump back and watch the rest from a distance lol.

Now you have done it!!! I have this vision in my mind of the pickup parked on a hot asphalt parking lot during a hot summer day with the the truck erupting like a blow torch resembling a Saturn 5 rocket launch except pointed up. Probably can find an image on the internet or make such an image using AI if someone has the ability to do so.

 

[chl]

I had an MP3 player that was left on a charger and bulged.
One cause is some chargers won't turn off when the battery is full and over charge them, or we let them get too discharged and then they have a high charge current on the next cycle which produces heat and electrolyte gasses, causing the bulging...and could lead to a fire for sure.

Another reason is age - chemical reactions change over time and produce gasses - or damage.

We hear about these things happening on planes sometimes from phone or laptop batteries spontaneously igniting.

I used to use LiPo batteries for one of my lawn mowers (Ryobi 48V) when the lead-acid ones it came with failed, and I would always charge them inside a fire bag or "Bat Box," even though I used an iMax B6AC balancing charger/discharger you just can't be too careful with those things. After a couple years of use (actually 4 years), they showed signs of bulging, so I recycled them before it got worse!

I considered getting safer LiFe replacements, but a brand new small electric lawn mower from SunJoe was cheaper (on sale for 50% off one day last May).

 

[CD4TNF]

Likely the prying made a short circuit.

If it's anything like EV battery cells. Hydrogen and a bunch of lightweight hydrocarbons are let off in the jetstream of vented gas.

Thermal runaway of a Li battery is pretty much an all-in chain-reaction as I understand it. I've been reading a lot of science papers on EV battery fires.

Jetstream of flammable gases ignites. The Li and other chemical oxides start burning and fuels more of the flammable gases. Keeps burning until it's all consumed.

You're lucky it kept at the venting stage and didn't ignite the gas.

 

[bc1]

Likely the prying made a short circuit.

If it's anything like EV battery cells. Hydrogen and a bunch of lightweight hydrocarbons are let off in the jetstream of vented gas.

Thermal runaway of a Li battery is pretty much an all-in chain-reaction as I understand it. I've been reading a lot of science papers on EV battery fires.

Jetstream of flammable gases ignites. The Li and other chemical oxides start burning and fuels more of the flammable gases. Keeps burning until it's all consumed.

You're lucky it kept at the venting stage and didn't ignite the gas.

Mine didn't jet out any gasses that I could tell but it was glued into the case and I didn't see a plug per se but I had to pry that end loose which probably caused a short. Luckily it didn't spontaneously combust in the bedroom and it didn't get so hot that I couldn't juggle it.

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