Samsung phones are exploding. Phone battery explosion: why can this happen? Possible causes of battery explosion

Batteries are one of the main components of modern electronic gadgets. Behind last years engineers have achieved significant increase their capacity at constant or even smaller size. This was achieved through the use complex technologies, which provide the highest battery charge density. However, now it seems that manufacturers have hit a barrier that can be dangerous to cross.

What is your battery made of?

Nowadays, most electronic gadgets use lithium ion batteries. They consist of electrodes placed in a sealed housing with current collector terminals. The charge carrier here is a positively charged lithium ion, which is reflected in the name of the battery.

The characteristics and performance of lithium-ion batteries largely depend on the chemical composition of the materials used. Initially, lithium metal was used as negative plates, then coal coke was used. Nowadays graphite is most often used.

In addition to the purely “chemical” filling, the battery also contains electronic components. A charge controller is built into its case, which protects the battery from excess voltage when charging. The same component is capable of monitoring the temperature of the battery in order to turn it off if it overheats.

Why do batteries explode?

The most dangerous element in the battery design is the electrolyte, which is extremely chemically reactive. If there are errors or technological defects in the battery design, the battery case may not withstand it. Then the hot electrolyte will fall out, which, in turn, will lead to the gadget igniting. Let's look at the main reasons why this can happen.

Overheating and overcharging

More recently, this was one of the most common reasons why batteries failed. Due to a controller failure, the current continues to flow even when the battery is already charged. The battery heats up and subsequently ignites.

It is worth noting that overheating and fire of the battery as a result of “thermal breakdown” can occur very quickly, literally in a few minutes. Fortunately, battery monitoring systems are becoming more sophisticated. If you avoid frankly cheap products, then this type of damage will practically not threaten you.

Mechanical damage

Modern gadgets are becoming thinner and lighter, so some batteries use special lightweight designs, which, unfortunately, cannot always provide sufficient strength. If the partition between the electrodes in the battery is damaged, a short circuit will occur, which will lead to instant heating and ignition of the battery.

Thin outer shell Batteries can also cause trouble. The fact is that when charging a battery, quite a lot of pressure can arise in it. If the manufacturer, in pursuit of weight reduction, neglects safety rules, then such a battery may also explode sooner or later.

How to avoid battery problems

No one, of course, can give a one hundred percent guarantee that you will not come across a defective or poorly designed battery. However, following the guidelines below can greatly reduce the risk of your smartphone battery catching fire or exploding.

• Try to avoid overtly budget models and unknown manufacturers. In an effort to win the price race, they try to save on literally everything, including the battery. The discrepancy between the actual and declared capacity is far from the worst thing. It is much worse when the battery does not have a thermal sensor or uses a charge controller from the last century.
• Use only the supplied Charger. If it is lost or damaged, do not buy cheap Chinese chargers, but prefer a product from a trusted manufacturer. Pay attention to the recommended charge current for your gadget.
• If replacement is necessary, look for original battery. Yes, compatible batteries can cost several times less, but these savings can literally burn your smartphone as a result.
• While charging your smartphone, try to keep it from overheating. Free it from the cover, take it out from under the pillow and do not cover it with a blanket. This is especially true for new smartphones with the function fast charging.
• Try to protect the battery from mechanical damage. It is absolutely clear that you will not play football with it, but even a banal fall on the floor can be fatal for the battery. If signs of deformation are detected (swelling, distortion), replace the battery with a new one.

Have you ever had a battery light up or short out? Maybe even exploded? Tell us about it in the comments.

As more devices with lithium-ion batteries go on sale, reports of smartphones exploding or charging ports catching fire appear online. This problem became relevant again after Samsung company reported due to reports and complaints of exploding battery issues. Why this happens - read our article.

First of all, it is worth noting that the chance of the battery exploding or catching fire is electronic device extremely small, unless there are serious errors in the design of the device or the battery itself. Even in the rare cases where this happens, the battery itself is often not the main problem. We also note that in the article we're talking about mostly just about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries.

Causes of explosion or fire

There are two main reasons why a device's battery can explode or catch fire. One of them - deformation resulting from a fall or intentional damage. For example, if you hit the smartphone hard in the part where the battery is located, then the walls of the battery are more likely to be broken. This leads to internal leakage and subsequently to a short circuit and possibly an explosion. Often you could see this during funny crash tests, where a person is recorded on video mocking a smartphone by everyone possible ways and in the end he just hits him with a hammer.

GIF animation - what will happen if you hit the battery with a hammer

With a simple fall from a height of human height, such an outcome is unlikely - the force of the impact is too small. But if you drop the device from a height of several floors, the battery will most likely catch fire or explode.

Now is the time when the phones of the little-known Chinese manufacturers as popular as possible. This is another problem related to batteries. Smaller companies don't buy quality batteries from Samsung or LG because they are too expensive. To achieve low cost, the Chinese have to purchase batteries are not the same High Quality . Often, such batteries do not have a so-called fuse that turns off charging if too much high voltage. Or, due to manufacturing defects, such batteries contain microscopic metal elements. They react with the contents of the battery, resulting in a short circuit.

At least 35 cases of battery explosions have been recorded Galaxy Note 7

The third and most common problem - highlighting too large quantity heat when charging. Since smartphone manufacturers constantly want to reduce charging time, they have to install controllers that supply large quantity current to the battery. Of course, the side effect of this is that it generates additional heat. The temperature rises not only in the battery itself, but also in the controller, which is located next to the battery. Overheating results in the effect that a certain area of ​​the battery cannot cool down quickly. As a result, a reaction occurs where heat accumulates until an explosion or fire occurs.

If all standards are followed, fast charging with the release of a large amount of heat will not lead to any serious consequences. However, in the case of the Galaxy Note 7, these are explosions and fires. Company Samsung already admitted that these smartphones have batteries from different batches. Apparently, one of them was produced with defects, which leads to problems.

Not original charger and adapters- the second reason for overheating when charging. In the case of the Galaxy Note 7, if you believe official data, the explosions are caused by defective batteries, but if non-original chargers and adapters are used, even a good battery can fail.

How to avoid battery problems

To prevent your smartphone from melting while charging, you need to follow simple rules:

• Use only the original charger, including the unit itself and the cable if they are separated. If the charging plug does not fit (Chinese or British), then it is better to buy an adapter rather than another charger.
• Use only original batteries. If your device is old enough and you decide to replace its battery, then buy only original ones. Alternative offers may be cheaper, but they will cost you more later.
• It is not necessary to charge the battery to full - 50% is enough if that is enough for you. Lithium-ion batteries do not have so-called memory, so they can be charged frequently and not fully. But you need to charge suitable device, since lithium-ion batteries are vulnerable to low voltage.
• Do not use the device while charging and do not leave the device in a hot place. Playing or browsing while charging is not the best good idea, since this already increases the temperature inside the case. Also, do not leave your smartphone charging in a hot place.

What happened to the Samsung flagship?

A Korean cafe employee tries to put out a smartphone that caught fire.

Samsung Note 7 should have been the main one iPhone competitor 7. The media raved about the design, camera and stylus operation. It was even presented a month earlier than the new iPhone and released several weeks before Apple presentations- Samsung believed that this would help take market share from its competitor. But in the very first week after its release, reports of batteries catching fire began to appear. At the beginning of September, the company decided to recall the devices, and at the end of the month it re-released the Note 7 with a “safe” battery.
But reports of fires continued to arrive. On October 11, Samsung asked stores around the world to sell Note 7, and owners to sell the device and not use it anymore. Now they can exchange Note 7 for another Galaxy model(with payment of the difference) or return the money. In Russia, return conditions are clarified by calling the hotline.

How often have phones actually exploded?

Before the beginning Samsung review managed to sell about 2.5 million devices (excluding China), but the battery defect, according to the company, was only 0.1%. That is, the battery could burn out in about 2.5 thousand Note 7. The exact number of fire cases is unknown, but there are definitely more than a hundred of them: as of mid-September, one was known in the USA, in Australia, in Korea and one in Taiwan. But new messages are still popping up.

From the descriptions of the incidents, it is impossible to understand in what cases the smartphone starts to burn. In Florida Note 7 set fire a jeep when it was charging from the cigarette lighter, in Australia the device was almost a room in a hotel - also while charging, in South Carolina a garage burned down completely because of it, a switched off Note 7 started smoking in the breast pocket on a plane flying to Baltimore, in Connecticut a smartphone practically in the hands of a teenager (he suffered minor burns), and in Kentucky, an unplugged Note 7 in his bedroom at night.

What causes the phone to light up in the first place?

The fact is that a smartphone battery is compressed from many layers electrical conductors. Each layer has a cathode with positively charged ions and an anode with negatively charged ions. On the cathode side there are lithium ions: when the battery is charged, they move from the cathode to the anode, and back again when the battery is used. Between the cathode and anode there is a thin dielectric plate that does not conduct electricity and prevents the cathode from reacting with the anode.

If the partition between them is destroyed, then the ions will follow a short path - a short circuit will occur. Then a chain reaction will begin: the battery will heat itself up even more, and the electrolyte will release flammable gas. When the reaction gains access to oxygen, a fire or even an explosion will occur. This general principle process, you can learn more about it.

Why are batteries so vulnerable?

In modern batteries, the thickness of the dielectric is only 20–25 micrometers, which is about three times thinner than a regular sheet of office paper. Firstly, this thin layer can collapse due to external pressure. For example, if you sit on your smartphone, bend it or hit it hard. After the dielectric is destroyed, the cathode and anode will react. The dielectric can also fail due to metal dust left inside after assembly.

The second reason short circuit- temperature. Lithium-ion batteries are not designed to operate in cold or hot weather. Due to overheating, the lithium metal in the battery grows into needle-like structures (dendrites), which can destroy the dielectric and create a short circuit.

There are many other reasons for heating: a smartphone is charging in the sun, a third-party charger does not know when to stop supplying current, the chip that turns off charging after 100% does not work, the battery has poor heat dissipation. Lithium-ion batteries have operating temperatures: they charge normally at temperatures from zero to 45 degrees, and operate at temperatures from -20 to 60 degrees. If the temperature is higher or lower, problems begin, and at 100 degrees there are very serious problems.

Why did this happen with the Note 7?

GTA V even has an addition in the form of a new Note 7 weapon capable of destroying opponents

Samsung said the batteries were burning due to a short circuit. Exactly why it happened will be determined by an internal investigation. Employees of the company said that the smartphone was prepared in a hurry in order to make it before the Apple presentation: the start date of sales was moved 10 days earlier, engineers constantly changed specifications and ordered new components, and employees had to sleep at work.

Lithium-ion batteries are considered not the most efficient for modern smartphones. Every year, devices appear more than powerful processors, more bright screens, however, there are no fundamental changes in the batteries. Manufacturers only have to pack the layers of conductors denser to get more capacity in a thinner package. The Note 7 battery was quite capacious - 3500 milliamp-hours. For comparison, the Note 6 has a 3,000 milliamp-hour battery, while the iPhone 7 has a 2,900 milliamp-hour battery. Perhaps during a difficult time production process The batteries had uneven pressure, which is why they were also charged unevenly.

What will happen to Samsung?

On the day sales were stopped, the company's shares dropped by 8%, and capitalization decreased by $17 billion. For comparison, in the fourth quarter of 2015 the company had operating income of $5.4 billion. It is unknown how much money Samsung will lose on returning devices.

Do smartphones from other manufacturers burn?

A battery defect is considered rare but dangerous. If defective batteries are put on sale, it only takes a few fire episodes for the company to recall the entire lot. In 2006 Dell and Apple about 6 million laptops with Sony batteries because some of them could catch fire. Although the probability of a defect was much lower than in the case of Note 7: 1 in 200,000 instead of 1 in 1000.

Phones have been on fire before. In 2002, a device of an unknown brand wore pants when I sat down on my iPhone 5c. And a student from New Jersey's iPhone 6s caught fire in his shirt pocket, even though it was turned off. A month ago, a construction worker from Ohio suffered serious burns to his leg when his Galaxy S7 Edge began to burn in his pocket, and a few days ago, a young man from Zhengzhou suffered burns and scratches when an iPhone 7 shattered in his hands while filming a video.

What should you do to prevent your smartphone from exploding?

Do not charge your smartphone in hot or sub-zero temperatures. Do not use cables or chargers from other smartphones or third party manufacturers- especially for fast charging, since in this case the battery heats up even more. Stop charging if the smartphone gets very hot (in this case, you should replace the battery or cable). Do not leave charging for a long time if the battery gets hot after 100%. Stop using the device if the body becomes bent or the battery becomes noticeably swollen or deformed. If the recommendations are not followed, the battery may not explode, but the likelihood of failure will increase.

What can you do to make sure it catches fire?

You can pierce the battery with something sharp: the dielectric will collapse - the cathode and anode will react, causing a short circuit. You can leave the phone on charge under a heavy stress test and under table lamp. But it’s not worth doing either one or the other - it’s impossible to guess what the consequences will be: in one case, the battery will simply smoke and melt the phone, in the other, a jet of flame will shoot out of it.

We are all in danger, each of us contains portable bombs at home (in our pockets, at work) that can cause serious harm, even death. It’s all about the dangerous assembly technology, which has become a standard for the whole world and does not frighten society at all.

Li-ion battery

Today we all use mass various devices and technical innovations powered by lithium-ion batteries. This is a type of electric battery that differs from other similar energy carriers in its versatility, high density energy and ease of maintenance.

Despite their positive characteristics, such batteries pose a certain threat. Batteries of this type can explode, damage or destroy property and, worse, cause serious harm to health or even lead to death.

However, lithium-ion batteries are widely used in various fields human life. This type of energy carrier can be found in cars, airplanes, and most importantly, in smartphones and tablets, which the majority of people use every day. permanent basis. Roughly speaking, as mentioned above, everything modern society carries with him which can be activated in case of an oversight, an unfortunate accident or due to the negligence of the manufacturer.

Possible causes of battery explosion

Lithium batteries have been tested over time and are considered relatively safe if you follow all the manufacturer's recommendations, but how often does anyone even bother to read the instructions? Any violation can lead to dire consequences. For example, a sudden change in temperature, which is one of the most common reasons why batteries fail. In this case, the lithium-ion battery begins to produce gas, the battery becomes significantly plumper, and in rare cases a leak may be detected. Both symptoms are a reason to immediately stop using the device, disconnect the battery and properly dispose of it. In addition to changing thermal conditions, there are a number of other common causes of battery explosion that are worth focusing on.

Physical impact and handicraft repairs

Any damage, bending or impact may cause the battery to become overheated, causing an explosion. The same goes for punctures that often accompany repair work.

“Jacks of all trades” often resort to repairing anything and everything without turning to professionals for help. Maybe, new experience- this is even great, people develop their skills and save money, but when it comes to lithium batteries, you should forget about your “skill”, because you cannot disassemble and repair lithium-ion batteries. The same applies to small “tents” located in shopping centers and responsible for repairing various types of electronics.

Overdischarge and wear

As ironic as this may sound, even if you leave lithium-ion battery at rest, it still remains dangerous, since it can use up a critical mass of charge. Usually in such cases the battery simply fails and stops functioning, but human stupidity and courage has no limits. Many attempts have been recorded to bring a completely dead battery back to life simply by putting it on charge (with or without a functioning device). In both cases, the battery can short out, instantly heat up to combustion temperature and ignite.

Just like an old cabinet can fall apart at any moment, it can overheat old battery. As it is used, it wears out, loses volume, and certain parts become damaged. There will come a time when physical changes to the battery will require replacement.

Galaxy Note 7 scandal

The most global battery collapse (on the market mobile devices) occurred in 2016, along with the release of a smartphone from Samsung. Until the now iconic date, a phone battery exploding was perceived as a rare, unlikely accident. In the summer of 2016, when within a week the media reported more than 35 incidents of explosions Galaxy smartphones Note 7, everything has changed.

Note 7, by the way, was received very positively, the device pleased absolutely everyone, but, trying to overtake its competitors, Samsung miscalculated and seriously set itself up. By early September, officials Korean company announced that they are launching a global campaign to return defective gadgets. They offered to exchange the phones for the same model, but supposedly from a new batch. Less than a couple of days later, the situation repeated itself on a new scale. People began to turn to Samsung even more often, cars began to burn, property began to deteriorate, people suffered, receiving serious burns. At a certain point, the Koreans backed down, deciding to stop selling and assembling the phone.

Causes of problems with Galaxy Note 7

More than six months later, as of January 2017, the company did not give any clear comments about the incident. Many analysts and people familiar with the company's activities say that the company's engineers are unable to reproduce the explosion in the laboratory.

Independent organizations are inclined to believe that the explosion occurs due to problems with the power controller. Complex (dense) design of a smartphone, including curved display, provoked contact between two parts of the battery: the cathode and the anode, which, in turn, led to excessive heating. A lithium battery always tends to rise in temperature, this is normal, but the manufacturer should have taken care that at a certain moment the smartphone would be deprived of power. Unfortunately, it did not happen. And, no matter how careful users were with their Samsung, battery explosion has become a widespread problem affecting everyone without exception.

Consequences for the company

To understand how such an incident turned out for the company, it is enough to put yourself in their shoes. What will the consumer think about a product that has suddenly become a laughing stock and a threat to life? Most likely, he will avoid it. But it’s one thing to have a reputation that exists today, isn’t there tomorrow, and is there again the day after tomorrow; real facts are another thing. The company suffered losses, quite serious and significant for the mobile division - $22 billion. Phones were remotely prevented from charging to avoid further explosions.

On this moment the phone is not being produced, the company is investigating and we can only hope that the explosion Samsung battery Note 7 will serve as a lesson to Koreans that will make them stronger.

iPhone explosion cases

Despite its special position in the smartphone market and minimum level marriage, even an Apple smartphone can turn into an improvised bomb. One of the most recent cases was the explosion of a novelty from Apple, iPhone smartphone 7, which one of the fans allegedly ordered on the Internet, and received an already damaged gadget.

There was no confirmation regarding the spontaneous combustion of the iPhone, and this incident was written off as the usual fanning of rumors. Fortunately for owners of new smartphones from California, the explosion of the iPhone battery was only one of the few caused by improper operation (in in this case excessive physical impact), and not a mass problem.

Other reported cases iPhone explosions were the result of a short circuit that occurred due to use from a third-party manufacturer.

How to avoid an explosion?

The simplest thing any user can do is to look at the instructions at least once in their life and find out how dangerous the battery in a smartphone is and what kind of care it requires.

Always follow exactly temperature regime, do not leave your smartphone under direct sun rays too long. You cannot independently remove the battery in smartphones where this option is not provided by the manufacturer (we are talking about gadgets with a monolithic body).

Give preference to devices that have at least some name, time-tested, and avoid impulsively purchasing the most “top” new products.

The main thing you need to understand is that the explosion lithium battery this is real and very dangerous, if possible, do not leave gadgets on charge unattended, who knows at what point the technology will fail and a fire will occur.

What's next?

Now in terms of technology, this is the cheapest, yet most energy-efficient option for mobile devices and other electronics. Naturally, this type batteries are still a priority.

Lithium batteries may be replaced. Despite their terrible name, this type of battery is completely harmless to humans, and will allow the gadget to live on a single charge many times longer than now. Unfortunately, development in this area is quite slow and progress should not be expected in the near future. Perhaps the explosion of the Samsung Note 7 battery will not be in vain and will force engineers working in the field information technologies, hurry up.

Last August, passengers traveling on various airlines first heard an unusual announcement at the airport. It applied to all passengers and consisted of a ban on taking Samsung smartphones on board the plane. This was due to events that occurred repeatedly after the release of a new smartphone model. Users who purchased the new model reported that their new smartphones exploded while charging.

In this regard, Samsung initially announced a delay in production, but soon, when more and more statements about the explosion began to appear, it announced the cessation of production of this model and the recall of gadgets. Many began to wonder: what kind of phone explodes on an airplane? Of course, it is far from certain that a smartphone (more precisely, its battery) will explode during the flight. However, the model Samsung Galaxy Note 7 this probability is many times higher due to an error made by the developers of this gadget.

Just 30 days after the appearance of this gadget on sale, more than 33 cases of phone explosions were recorded. Each of these incidents led to different consequences. In some cases, only the gadget itself was damaged. And, for example, an explosion in the USA ended with the owner of the gadget burning down not only his smartphone, but also his car.

According to statements by air carriers, who on their own initiative introduced such a rule, the ban was not agreed upon with the aviation authorities. However, the air carrier must first of all take care of the safety of passengers and crew during the flight, and therefore this measure was simply necessary to eliminate the possibility of the gadget exploding and, as possible consequence, plane crashes.

Carriers have banned flying with such gadgets:

• Aeroflot;
• Lufthansa;
• AirAsia;
• Air France;
• Singapore Airlines and others.

The smartphone recall affected 10 states. By the time production ceased, the manufacturer had already delivered 2.5 million smartphones of the new model. Only after this the gadgets were recalled. All users who ordered a prepaid phone were given the right to get their money back. Today there is an official ban on transporting the new model of Samsung smartphones. The ban has been confirmed by the FAA and IATA. Therefore, almost every air carrier today notifies passengers before the flight that they cannot carry this gadget.

The ban does not mean that you will have to leave your smartphone at the airport. He will be able to fly with you on the same plane in his luggage. However, this gadget cannot be turned on on board, and it is also prohibited to try to charge the smartphone during the flight.

Even if you have a smartphone of the same model with you, but more later version If the battery does not have a defect, the airline will still not allow you to bring such a device on board. Carriers will not be able to determine whether a given gadget is safe. Therefore, in any case, the ban will remain in effect for quite a long time for the safety of passengers and crew.

Burnt smartphone

A lithium-ion battery burns at very high temperatures when it explodes. high temperature– more than 1300 degrees. This is especially dangerous on board an aircraft because the aluminum can melt. Knowing which phone is not allowed on the plane, it is also worth knowing that for the same reason, for safety reasons during the flight, some carriers do not allow passengers to carry lithium-ion batteries in luggage large capacity(for example, batteries for hoverboards, unicycles, etc.). Chinese airlines prohibit carrying any batteries on board. This ban was established for the same reason: the risk of a battery explosion, which could lead to a plane crash.

Samsung Galaxy Explosion

Last year, there was a case where a smartphone exploded during a flight on an airplane. This was the Galaxy Note 2 model. Previously similar cases No problems have been recorded with this phone model. The incident occurred during a flight from Singapore to Chennai on board an airliner owned by the airline IndiGo. At some point, passengers heard a sound resembling a clap. After this, smoke began to leak from one of the carry-on luggage compartments. It is unknown what measures were taken by the crew. However, they did everything in such a way that the plane landed safely and none of the passengers were injured.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 defect

This new model The smartphone has a defect in the battery. First for some reason for unknown reasons The charging controller is faulty. After this, too much power is supplied to the battery charging current, which causes the battery to overheat. This starts a chain reaction. The electrolyte boils, gas is released, and pressure increases inside the sealed battery case (many times in a matter of seconds). As a result, the battery casing explodes and hot gas escapes. After the explosions, those who investigated the cause of the incident did not find a built-in controller in the battery.