Back in 2016, while in Houston, Texas, for a few days, I noticed that the front of my iPhone 5 was pushed out from the body.
The phone still worked, but I couldn’t imagine that it would for long. The problem was that the battery had started to swell in place and push the case apart.
I took the phone to an Apple Store to see what they could do for me, expecting the answer to be something less than, “not much.” I sure was surprised when the service guy told me they could replace the phone because it was a battery issue, but that they would have to order one in and it would take a couple of days because they didn’t have that older model in stock. Unfortunately, we were heading home the next day, so that option wasn’t a good one. He gave me a number to call after we got home. When I did, though, I was told that the service tech in Houston was wrong and that they couldn’t provide a replacement phone.
After watching a video or two online, I ordered a new battery for the phone since it looked pretty easy to change it out.
It wasn’t.
The battery was so swollen in place, there wasn’t anything I could do to get it out without further damaging the phone. I could have sent the battery back, but it was only about $15 and I never got around to it.
So… that brings up to this week.
Friday, I was sorting through some drawers and shelves, tossing stuff away and rearranging stuff when I came across a small, thin, plain white box. Amazingly, four years later, I knew what it was.
Taking it out out the box, this is what I found:
The battery is on the left and the box it came in is on the right. I really don’t know what caused this. The burn mark on the outside of the box is right where the brown corroded looking spot is on the outside of the battery. The battery was in a junk drawer. There is a hole in the middle of the burn mark and I suppose something could have poked through the box and into the battery. But, I just don’t know.
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Dangerous and Dangerouser I’d say … it seems lithium batteries are likely to be unstable … I’d like to know more about it … ominous to me – I’m glad you didn’t have a fire … all the best – Hilary
Hilary Melton-Butcher recently posted…Write … Edit … Publish … Bloghop / IWSG hop: Grave Mistake …
Apparently lithium-ion battery fires are rare. Given the immense number of them that are in use around the world, the fact that we don’t hear more about such fires is actually rather comforting, especially since lithium, like all alkali metals, is highly reactive and flammable.
I didn’t find any specific on iPhone 5 battery fires, only info on battery case swelling. I did find this, though:
“The contents of the battery are under pressure, so if a metal fragment punctures a partition that keeps the components separate or the battery is punctured, the lithium reacts with water in the air vigorously, generating high heat and sometimes producing a fire. ”
It seems it wasn’t actually a failure of the unused battery. The junk drawer was packed with odds and ends rather tightly and I suspect that something in the drawer had punctured both the box and the battery.
The battery has been disposed of.
Mike Goad recently posted…Lithium-ion
Go on and be Sherlock Holmes. Unravel the mystery and solve the problem. I will be interested in seeing how you resolve the problem.
Ramana Rajgopaul recently posted…Explanation.
Apparently lithium-ion battery fires are rare. Given the immense number of them that are in use around the world, the fact that we don’t hear more about such fires is actually rather comforting, especially since lithium, like all alkali metals, is highly reactive and flammable.
I didn’t find any specific on iPhone 5 battery fires, only info on battery case swelling. I did find this, though:
“The contents of the battery are under pressure, so if a metal fragment punctures a partition that keeps the components separate or the battery is punctured, the lithium reacts with water in the air vigorously, generating high heat and sometimes producing a fire. ”
It seems it wasn’t actually a failure of the unused battery. The junk drawer was packed with odds and ends rather tightly and I suspect that something in the drawer had punctured both the box and the battery.
The battery has been disposed of.
Mike Goad recently posted…Lithium-ion
Just found this on the Beeb – hope you can access it:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54634802
‘The explosive problem of zombie batteries’ ….
At least yours is out the door … take care – Hilary
Hilary Melton-Butcher recently posted…Write … Edit … Publish … Bloghop / IWSG hop: Grave Mistake …
That is interesting.
Recycling, for all of the good intentions, has a host of other issues. We don’t have much of a recycling program here. If you want to recycle, you have to drive somewhere to find a recycling roll-off dumpster. There’s usually one down in town about 3 miles away and one in the parking lot where I used to work.
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