Smartphones can be a safety hazard

All gadgets and mobile devices need power to function. To power the gadgets, every device has to feature a battery, either built-in or external. Since the efficiency of a battery being a major cause of concern, manufacturers are presently using Lithium Ion batteries in almost all gadgets today.

Lithium Ion batteries, aka Li-ion, are rechargeable batteries, which can store a higher amount of energy (power) in a smaller space. Hence, most smartphones, tablets, cameras and laptops, use Li-ion batteries. Since they are light-weight, can be slimmer and are highly efficient, they are used almost everywhere, from remote controlled aircrafts to smartphones and even electric cars.

Li-ion batteries use an intercalated lithium compound as the electrodes with an electrolyte sandwiched between them. The materials used in Li-ion batteries are packed with an air-tight container (metallic jacket) to form the battery.

However, the Li-ion batteries, that contain the lithium and electrolyte materials, are highly flammable and could cause serious damage due to explosion and fire. Hence, Li-ion batteries need to stay at room temperature while charging or discharging. Overcharging or quickly discharging a Li-ion battery can cause overheating, which results in explosions and fire after that. A simple short circuit in a device could cause the Li-ion battery to discharge faster, building up excess heat, which in turn, pressurizes the battery container and it explodes, causing fire thereafter. Hence, gadgets using Li-ion batteries can be a huge safety hazard.

There is some more bad news—batteries that are dead or have passed their shelf life, are often disposed. However, these batteries should be safely disposed or recycled. Dumping them in your dustbin could only be the cause of a potential fire. You may ask “how can a dead battery do any damage?”

Well, a dead battery is not really dead. Every lithium battery has a built-in circuit board that controls the power while charging the internal cells. These circuit boards also monitor overcharging, cell power values, present cell power state, cell temperature and a few other details. The circuit board monitors the battery level, charges it accordingly, takes care that it does not overcharge, monitors and controls the charging by reading the temperature of the cell and other vital details. In the absence of the monitoring circuit board, the battery could overcharge and overheat, causing a huge explosion.

Watch the videos below, which shows how a battery and the batteries in a laptop can cause serious damage (explosion and fire) when overcharged.

A Li-ion battery cannot be discharged completely. Li-ion batteries need to retain some charge (approximately 15%) for it to stay in shape. If it discharges completely, the battery would be useless and lose its efficiency. The control circuit within the battery package makes sure that the battery is not discharges completely and cuts off the power before it reaches the reserve state. So when your smartphone shows you that the battery is at 1%, the Li-ion battery is actually having more than 15% of its charge still in it.

So in short, Li-ion batteries are not really dead—they still have some power, enough to cause sufficient damage. So when you dispose a battery in an uncontrolled environment, you could cause a fire, unknowingly. When this battery is out in the open, there could be a physical damage to it, like a car going over it, a stone falling on it, children playing the fool, and various other ways. Puncturing the casing (shell or chassis) of the battery can cause it to short circuit internally. This leads to building up excess heat and could possibly cause a fire. External pressure (not a puncture) can also cause an internal short circuit, which will lead to overheating and an explosion, followed by a fire. So dispose your batteries properly and safely. Follow the instructions for recycling the battery by its manufacturer. Watch the video below which demonstrates what happens when dead and fully charged batteries are punctured.

Lastly, using third-party batteries are not safe either. Third-party batteries, sold by many manufacturers, are not necessarily safe. Though they may be supplied by major renowned brands, it would not be necessarily be safe since the manufacturer of the gadget has not tested it with their devices. The manufacturer of the device will also not approve you of using a third-party battery, voiding all warranty on the device too.

Third-party batteries are cheaper than the original, but are not recommended. They might not have the exact power rating features, temperature monitoring values and a lot other necessities that are required by the device manufacturer. We recommend using original batteries from your device manufacturer only. A recent episode of a Samsung Galaxy S4 blowing up due to a third-party battery being used has been reported. Since we usually charge our smartphones at night, it is difficult to immediately monitor any sparks, overheating or smoke (in case there is an issue while charging).

Read: Using unoriginal batteries can burn down your house

Lastly coming down to cheaper, unbranded batteries as replacement batteries for your gadgets, should be seriously avoided. Hence, using gadgets from unknown brands and overnight companies should be given a second thought. Though they may be tempting cheap, they could cause expensive damage.

Tips: while storing an unused battery, store it with the storage container it came in. in case you don’t have any, wrap the connectors in electric tape, and store it in a cool environment. Make sure it is away from any other flammable materials and places where it could get physically damaged. Lastly, keep a check on the battery from time to time. If the battery is charged, we recommend that you discharge it before storage. To discharge the battery, use gadget itself.