Exploding Cell Phone Battery
A reminder for examiners to take care when examining mobile phones that require recharging the battery before examining the device. The horror story of a man's who had his neck artery burst by the exploding mobile phone in his breast pocket and died. Prior to putting it in his pocket the man had recharged the battery. Production line (bang it on, bang it out) mobile telephone examinations are potentially at high risk and a risk assessment procedure may need to be put in place to avoid loss of fingers or limbs or disfigurement. Insurance companies may need to be made aware of this potential high risk.
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Last year Vinny Parmar produced a document (see link below) about counterfeit mobile telephones and it is by no means certain whether these devices are using batteries that may explode.
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Moreover, some people are apt to placing their mobile telephone in more unusual places about their person. Whether the person is smuggling or something else the exploding battery provides a stark reminder that they may put their life at risk.
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Thanks to Richard Putnam for sending to me the Telegraph newspaper online link.
Didn't they update the story of the guy in China to say they found out he had a gun in his pocket or something? I thought I read the other day that they found out the guy went off and one of the bullets hit the phone (or something like that).
Tom
CdtDelta
Online it says the story was Last Updated 224PM GMT 05 Feb 2009
As the story can be updated I would have thought they could have done something by now. Certainly there no information about your point and I checked before responding to you.
I just checked and they did update it
Tom
Hi Tom
Good of you to keep on top of this. I am surprised both articles are not linked to each other. But importantly it does add a completely different slant to the discussion.
I wondering now whether to leave this discussion in place, so that people can think about their examination procedures should this type of thing happen or delete the thread?
I wondering now whether to leave this discussion in place, so that people can think about their examination procedures should this type of thing happen or delete the thread?
I think that any discussion that leads to examiners considering their procedures is relevant. Maybe this will jog someone to think about the "universal" adapter they plug into a device; just because the plug fits does not mean the output is correct.
Battery combustion is an issue in every device, not too long ago laptops were incinerating.
We had a swollen sony ericsson battery that exploded on a technicians desk, the exploding/burning pieces of battery hit the ceiling and almost set fire to the desk. I dread to think the injuries that this could have caused, the technician had been leaning over the battery only 10 seconds before it exploded. I prevented the lab catching fire by putting an empty cup over the remains of the burning battery.
From what I have seen (on ebay etc), lipoly batteries are often being used in battery packs made in China. Used correctly, they are perfectly safe. Used incorrectly, they will start emitting hydrogen. As the battery is sealed, the hydrogen collects.
It is then only a question of waiting for the inevitable. The inevitable being that at some interval very soon, it's going to go bang. Being sealed the explosion can be exceptionally dangerous.
Special charging/usage circuits are required for lipoly batteries. Let them go below a certain level and they'll start to deteriorate. Often when charging a battery which has got too low will cause a fire/explosion within minutes.
Most mobile phones designed to use batteries such as lithium ion will not protect a lipoly batter from deteriorating.
My advise to anyone, if you are examining a phone and the battery doesn't appear to be an original, treat it with the utmost respect. Potentially if it has been sat in an evidence bag for a while, it may have gone below it's safe levels and has become unstable.
Interesting.
Would it make sense, if the device is on, to shim between the battery and connectors a new power supply if possible, and gently remove the 'original' battery, then let it die completely?