ExplodingBattery
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IBM sues Shentech for selling volatile counterfeit batteries
It's not like ThinkPads have been immune to the notorious overheating battery issue, but a fiery incident in Ohio may not be IBM's fault. In a somewhat bizarre tale, it's reported that an Ohioan purchased a replacement battery from Shentech for his ThinkPad, only to later have it overheat, catch on fire and damage his machine. After discovering that the faulty cell was actually a counterfeit, IBM took the liberty of ordering a dozen batteries from the Flushing, New York-based company, and it soon discovered that all twelve received were indeed fakes. As you can probably guess, IBM has filed suit against the outfit and has asked the court to require Shentech to hand over all of its batteries for destruction, profits it made from selling the fakes and a million dollars "per counterfeit mark per type of item sold." That'll teach 'em to mess with Big Blue.[Via TGDaily]
Man charged with manslaughter in "exploding battery" case
In one of the more bizarre turns we've seen stories take, new information has come to light in the recent exploding battery death we reported on. It turns out that the LG battery which had initially been blamed for the "accident" wasn't the cause at all, rather, a co-worker of the victim has admitted to hitting the man with a 15-ton hydraulic rig while driving in reverse, and has been charged with manslaughter. Kwon Young-sup, who had originally reported that he had heard an explosion and discovered the man's body, has now told police that he invented the story as a cover-up for an accident. So, you can now return to placing calls on your LG without fear -- but watch your back on the job-site. [Via Sky News, thanks Barry T, image courtesy of Yonhap News]
Exploding phone battery not blamed for Korean's death
This certainly won't be the first time that an exploding cellphone battery has been pegged with blame before all the facts shook out, but now it seems that the South Korean worker who perished yesterday was in fact not killed by his mobile. Reportedly, the National Institute of Scientific Investigation "said the injuries were too substantial to have been caused by a battery explosion," and an unnamed medical examiner was quoted as saying that it was "difficult to conclude that the damage of internal organs was caused by [the explosion]." Details are still likely to unfold in the coming weeks, as it will be about a fortnight before autopsy results are analyzed and a final conclusion is drawn. Seems that "virtually impossible" notion from LG may be accurate after all, eh?[Image courtesy of Yonhap News]
Korean man killed by exploding cellphone
South Korea, which has already seen two people supposedly struck by lightning drawn to their cellphones, has now experienced its first death due to an exploding handset battery. According to the AP, a quarry worker was found dead Wednesday with the remnants of an LG mobile melted into his shirt pocket, much like the welder who died under similar tragic circumstances this summer in China. For its part, while acknowledging that one of its phones was indeed the culprit, LG reportedly claimed that dying due to such an accident was "virtually impossible."[Image courtesy of Yonhap News, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Tektronix oscilloscopes could catch fire due to volatile Li-ion
We've seen some strange devices catch fire due to faulty batteries, but this one just may take top honors. Apparently, a pair of Tektronix oscilloscopes (model numbers TDS3000 and TDS3000B) have the potential of catching fire; according to the company, it has received two reports of the units "burning at customer sites." Upon closer inspection, it was noticed that the machines both relied on a TDS3BATB Li-ion battery, which is now carrying the blame for the unexpected blazes. If you or a loved one just so happen to own or use one of these rigs in your everyday life, Tektronix is suggesting that you power it down and stop using the battery until further notice.[Via TheInquirer]
Nokia-branded batteries at risk of overheating -- 46 million devices affected
Here we go again kids. After all those notorious fires related to the batteries used by the world's largest handset manufacturer, Nokia has issued a product advisory for the BL-5C, Nokia-branded battery. That's right, Nokia branded, not just those third-party knockoffs everyone had been pointing the finger at previously. A staggering 46 million batteries in fact, all manufactured by Matsushita (aka, Panasonic) between December 2005 and November 2006, are said to be at risk of "dislodge." According to the release, "in very rare cases" the Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries could short circuit leading to an explosive burn. Nokia goes on to say that the danger only exists while charging the battery and of the 100 or so reported incidents, "no serious injuries or property damage have been reported." Oh really? So the loss of a leg no longer constitutes serious injury? The BL-5C is one of just 14 different batteries used in Nokia products so be sure to check the list below to see if your phone is one of the 52 Nokia handsets affected. If you're unlucky (or lucky, depending upon your viewpoint) enough to be affected, then Nokia will provide a replacement battery free of charge. Update: We just received word from Nokia that the "overheating" referred to in their advisory will not result in an explosion or even a fire. At worst, batteries will "overheat, expand, and pop out of the phone (due to the expansion of the battery)." Of course, it states right on the battery that it "may explode if damaged" and "do not short circuit" so this little clarification likely won't make you feel any better now will it?Read -- Product advisory for BL-5C battery Read -- List of affected Nokia phones and Battery IDs
Japanese couple sues Sony and Apple over burning battery
A Japanese couple in Tokyo are suing both Sony and Apple Japan for "over" 2 million yen ($16,700 US, quite conservative if you ask us Yanks) over a laptop battery which caught fire in April of last year. The suit argues that the man suffered burns on his finger when the battery burst into flames while being used, and his wife had to be treated for mental distress due to the incident. Of course, this isn't surprising considering the long-acknowledged problems with the recalled Sony-built batteries, and is probably just a sign of things to come as scarred users seek a righteous vengeance against companies that openly admit wrongdoing. Sony better just hope that they didn't make this battery.
Chinese welder killed by exploding cellphone battery
It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, and unfortunately, the latest case of exploding battery syndrome led to something far worse than a minor injury. Reportedly, a 22-year old Chinese welder actually perished after a cellphone battery residing in his pocket exploded. The eruption was so violent, in fact, that it "broke a rib and drove the remnants of the pack into his heart," and while rescue crews were able to get him to a hospital, he passed away shortly thereafter. Currently, the manufacturer of the phone and battery are being withheld, but expects in Jinta were dispatched in order to conduct an investigation.[Via Inquirer, image courtesy of ABC]
Gateway issues recall for 400VTX and 450ROG Li-ion batteries
Just when you were absolutely certain the voluntary recalls regarding potentially explosive Li-ions were finally complete, here comes yet another vendor claiming that your lappie just might have a problem. This time around, Gateway has proclaimed that "about 14,000" of the lithium-ion battery packs that shipped with its 400VTX and 450ROG series machines "could possibly overheat and pose a fire hazard to consumers." The packs can reportedly be identified by 6500760 or 6500761 part numbers and a "made by SMP" label on the underside of the Li-ion. To date, four reports of "overheating" and a case of minor property damage have been accounted for, so if you just happen to be viewing these very words on one of the aforementioned devices, it's time to get your RMA on.
Exploding iPod dies gruesome death
Oh dear, just when we thought we'd had our fill of exploding Apple devices, along comes an Australian forum member named eeno who saw his first generation iPod nano go up in flames, and has some snuff-esque pics of the aftermath. As is usually the case with these things, eeno's iPod was charging when it happened. He says the force of the battery's explosion sent the iPod off his PC onto the floor, where it continued to smoke and spark until he unplugged the USB charging cable from the back of his computer. Since his iPod is out of warranty, the local computer repair shop didn't do him much good, but they did take a few pics to send to Apple. Hopefully this iPod was just an anomaly, and we won't be seeing a whole wave of these explosions as 1G nanos exit their warranties and head towards retirement -- but somehow we fear the worst.[Thanks, Kip HT]%Gallery-2530%
Hitachi recalls 16,000 Sony laptop batteries, too
Oh Hitachi, you too? Joining the ranks now of, well, pretty much anyone wheelin' and dealin' a laptop these days, Hitachi just issued a recall on 16,000 Sony-made lithium-ion batteries shipped mostly to businesses in Japan. So, let's tally it up: if you or your buds are proud owners of a laptop from Dell, Apple, Fujitsu, Lenovo, IBM, Toshiba, Panasonic (are we missing any?) and now Hitachi, you'd best be checking those lists to if you've got a potential burner on your hands. Oh, and be sure to tell your friends and neighbors of this massive general recall, who knows, you could be a hero. Acer, HP, you next?
Fujitsu recalls 287,000 notebook batteries
Fujitsu has put a number on its recent recall of Sony-manufactured notebook batteries, with 287,000 Fujitsu notebook owners being affected. This latest figure brings the total number of Sony battery recalls in recent months to more than 7.5 million, of which the vast majority (5.9 million) are from Dell and Apple. Although this appears to be a pre-emptive recall -- as far as the company can tell, no Fujitsu laptops have actually exploded -- the company is still recommending that its users give them a call if their machine is one of the 20+ models listed. Read - Affected modelsRead - Fujitsu announcement
Dell recalls 100,000 more batteries while Toshiba and Fujitsu join the fray
It took them long enough, but it looks like Sony is really coming clean on this battery issue, and urging all affected manufacturers to get on the recall bandwagon. Toshiba is recalling 840,000 batteries across a wide swath of their laptop lines, in addition to the 340,000 they recalled a couple of weeks ago for an unrelated power-loss issue. Fujitsu is recalling Sony-made batteries from 19 of its laptop models, but no word on exact quantity of laptops. Dell is also expanding their own recall, with 100,000 more batteries due to "additional information" they've recently received about the batteries from Sony. Oddly enough, while Sony seems to be encouraging all OEMs to get going on a recall, we still haven't seen a recall for Sony's own laptops -- which seem to be just as defective as the rest of them, peep that picture above -- but hopefully Sony will be fessing up to those soon so we can all be one big, happy screwed-by-Sony family.Read - More headaches for Sony over batteriesRead - Dell recalls 100,000 more battery packs
Sony is investigating Lenovo fires
We suppose "We Didn't Start the Fire" is quite the popular tune around the Sony HQ these days, but, unfortunately, that statement seems to be proving increasingly false. After a recent rash of violent Lenovo battery explosions, Sony claims they're "investigating" the fires, specifically the LAX incident. Sony apparently thinks there is no official confirmation that the battery in the PC was Sony-made, but we've got a lot of empirical evidence that has us betting otherwise. Lenovo wasn't available for comment, but it doesn't seem far-fetched that we could have the making of a fourth major Sony battery recall in the recent weeks.
Alan Cox's ThinkPad battery explodes
It appears that the exploding IBM ThinkPad that we spotted last week at LAX may not have been a fluke after all. Telsa Gwynne, wife of famed Linux kernel programmer Alan Cox, describes on her website how her husband's ThinkPad battery suddenly exploded last night (see the photo on the next page), after which "a couple of fires started where the (presumably) boiling battery landed," with one of the fragments taking out a nearby LCD monitor. Alan sustained a few minor burns, but other than the laptop itself there were no serious injuries, thankfully. Telsa does note, however, that the battery was third-party and was bought on eBay, so it may not be an authentic IBM pack at all. Still, somebody needs to get to the bottom of this, like, now -- after the Apple, Dell, Panasonic, and Toshiba recalls, the public demands and deserves complete and rapid disclosure.Update: We traded emails with Alan Cox and have posted some of our questions and answers with him on the next page.
New switch puts an end to exploding batteries
Check it Sony, 'cause if necessity is the mother of invention then you're about to be calling the ETRI daddy. Coming a bit too late for some, ETRI (Telecommunications Research Institute of Korea) have developed what they call a Critical Temperature Switch to prevent exploding batteries in mobile devices. Smaller, but more reliable than ceramic sensors, the new switches use a Mott Metal-Insulator Transistor or MIT, to prevent batteries from swelling and exploding in a violent discharge triggered by overheating. Ultimately, ETRI expects to integrate over 16,000 of the Critical Temperature Switches or 5,000 explosion-proof systems into a film just 2-inches in diameter. For the time being, they are looking for partners to develop their commercially ready technologies into product. Hey Sony, you paying attention?
Are lithium-ion cars the next great source of violent camphone pics?
It's hard to imagine a world where a few batteries strapped together is more dangerous than an internal combustion engine, but with the recent publicity exploding laptop batteries have been getting, lithium-ion-based electric cars aren't looking so much like the "safe alternative" anymore. According to U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, more than 300 cell phone and laptops batteries overheated or caught fire from 2003 to 2005, with plenty of personal injury thrown into the mix. Car battery packs just compound the problem. That new Tesla roadster, for instance, packs in nearly 7,000 batteries behind the passenger compartment. Tesla's CEO says they've done much more than the average consumer electronics manufacturer to keep their system safe, including liquid cooling, overcharge protection, three layers of fuses, and sensors to automatically disconnect the batteries in case of high-temperatures or if the car rashes. The individual batteries are also each protected in their own steel case to isolate them from the other ticking time-bombs power units. Unfortunately, even with the best engineered safety precautions, an accidentally faulty manufacture is out of the designer's hands, and if one batter explodes violently enough to effect neighboring cells and start a chain reaction. Even with a failure rate of one in ten million, the odds are still pretty high for failure with 7,000 batteries in every car. As per usual, we will attempt to avoid reality, glue our cellphone to our skull, keep our MacBook in our lap, and drag race our Tesla roadster like there's no tomorrow. 'Cause just like Alphaville said -- do you really want to live forever?
Sanyo recalls whopping 500,000 phones
Sketchy batteries doing bad things to you and your phone are nothing new. Sanyo has set an interesting new precedent, however, turning a good battery bad with software. Some half million units of their W32SA clamshell for KDDI's network are being sent home for faulty software that can prevent the battery from fully charging. That, in itself, isn't too scary -- but here's the twilight-zone part of it: there have been documented cases where the batteries "have cracked and become deformed." From some faulty software, people, written by the US' favorite cellphone manufacturer, no less. Happily, afflicted handsets can be flashed at the local KDDI shop, but our paranoia is getting the best of us here; could rogue KDDI employees send bogus OTA firmware updates to grenade the phone in your pocket?
