Battery Overheat

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Here is what a overheated battery can do!


http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/smartphone-under-the-pillow-sets-girls-bed-on-fire-072814.html

[Click]

WOW!   

[Jim Saunders]

There's a pretty good video of a laptop on fire in an airport terminal on Youtube, too.

Jim

[neuroanatomist]

It occurs to me that a popular 3rd party battery maker is Wasabi.  Pretty hot stuff...   

[Mt Spokane Photography]

It occurs to me that a popular 3rd party battery maker is Wasabi.  Pretty hot stuff...   

I could get started on the dangers of third party batteries, but this is a example of how much power there is in a small battery, and why it needs to be respected, and never checked as luggage in a aircraft. 

Any battery can melt down, so its a matter of getting one from someone with strict QC and a test lab that can meet the torture test that Japan requires from their makers.

The 787 being the first big commercial aircraft to use Li-On batteries was lucky that they discovered the issue without bring a plane down.  They were able to create a safer design.  Imagine buying a aircraft battery from one of the garage manufacturers in China.

[Valvebounce]

Hi Mt Spokane.
If a battery that meets FAA/CAA approval which should make it the the safest around can catch fire, I think that this just goes to show that any battery could catch fire!

Cheers Graham.

The 787 being the first big commercial aircraft to use Li-On batteries was lucky that they discovered the issue without bring a plane down.  They were able to create a safer design.  Imagine buying a aircraft battery from one of the garage manufacturers in China.

[AlanF]

Has anyone actually had problems with a battery, Canon or generic, overheating?

[fragilesi]

Has anyone actually had problems with a battery, Canon or generic, overheating?

Closest I ever came was when my 550d showed the "overheating" warning while videoing a school play.  The camera did feel hot but made it to the end.  This is scary stuff, we're just thinking of getting our daughter her first mobile phone.

[Valvebounce]

Hi AlanF.
I for one have never had any trouble with Li ion or Li polymer batteries overheating. Perhaps a qualifier to that, overheating to a dangerous level, I have found them warm / hot to the touch after a discharge recharge cycle, and I have had phones running GPX track software for extended times (screen off) get very hot in a pocket, approaching too hot to hold tightly!
Phones would be original OEM batteries, others would be a mix of OEM and third party, all behaving similarly.
I do not however doubt that a phone under a pillow could get to critical point, a good reason to charge them elsewhere  than in the bedroom, and have working Smoke Alarms and an exit plan that all know and understand!
My 7yr old niece was terrified of the smoke alarm when I fitted new ones in her house, I put her in charge of testing, each time she does a pinch and a punch for the first of the month she tests the smoke detectors!

Cheers Graham.

Has anyone actually had problems with a battery, Canon or generic, overheating?

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Has anyone actually had problems with a battery, Canon or generic, overheating?

Yes.  I had a camera with Li-on battery from a third party (I bought the camera used and battery with it.

The battery overheated and swelled up.  Fortunately, it was a typical third party battery and only took a partial charge, so it did not start a fire.

Others have posted as well.


All Li-on batteries can fail.  However, its more likely that a poorly constructed one with little QA is going to be more likely to fail.  The odds are stacked against you when using no name third party batteries where there is no substantial company behind them.  There are a few third party batteries sold by actual battery companies, they are probably safer, since the company stands to lose something if they catch fire.

[danski0224]

Popular power tool batteries/chargers can also cause a fire.

Those of you that leave cordless tool batteries and chargers on and unattended are asking for trouble.

I know one person that almost lost their home and another started smoldering on a jobsite- which set off the alarms and the FD showed up. Not the first go around for that FD and that particular brand of charger/batteries.

Consumer grade chargers are manufactured to a cost/profit point, not necessarily quality.

[CR Backup Admin]

Popular power tool batteries/chargers can also cause a fire.

Those of you that leave cordless tool batteries and chargers on and unattended are asking for trouble.

I know one person that almost lost their home and another started smoldering on a jobsite- which set off the alarms and the FD showed up. Not the first go around for that FD and that particular brand of charger/batteries.

Consumer grade chargers are manufactured to a cost/profit point, not necessarily quality.

The issue is 90% battery, and only a few percent charger.  Li-on batteries have a circuit in them that turns off the charging.  An exception is fast charging batteries, too much current overheats a battery, and then the failure rate shoots up.  Different standards organizations have different tests, The Japanese Test is one of the toughest due to the short circuit test.

Here is a link to a overall summary which gives a idea but no specifics about the tests.
http://www.bing.com/search?q=Li-on%20cell%20japanese%20test&FORM=BB07LB&PC=BB07&QS=n

Li-on batteries are fragile internally, and the cheap ones can short out from a shock like being dropped.  For a power tool, dropping it is a common occurrence, so the power tool batteries are taking a huge amount of abuse.

Here is a Underwriter Laboratories article.

http://newscience.ul.com/articles/lithium-ion-batteries

[danski0224]

The guy that almost lost his house was charging DeWalt nicad batteries.

Consumer grade LiIon batteries didn't exist yet.

[alexanderferdinand]

A mobile - a Nokia from the early nineties- had a battery overheating, that melted even the contacts.
The phone was in a friends coat, so he noticed it very quick.....

I place my NiCds or LiIons when the get charged on a place, that can't burn, like a big plate.
Safety first.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Yet another overheat, causing a plane evacuation.

http://www.gizmodo.in/indiamodo/A-Fuming-iPhone-5-Causes-Evacuation-In-Flight-From-Prague-To-Tel-Aviv/articleshow/40485519.cms