Interesting...Battery Exploded - iPod Touch 4G

By +Neowin User 007
in Hardware Hangout

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+Neowin User 007 Subscriber²

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So, a customer handed me an iPod to check out. She said it "exploded" while sitting in a basket by it self since she grounded her son from it.

I assumed what every tech does, goobers dropped it.

Not so much, the first thing I did was lift up the glass to see that the metal was bent outwards big time and I knew what was under the metal...so after removing the Phillips head screws the top popped off and you could clearly see what happened...

:s

ipod1l.jpg

ipod2.jpg

ipod3ab.jpg

ipod4q.jpg

ipod5sr.jpg

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+Neowin User 007 Subscriber²

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I only found ONE other picture on Google of the same thing but in his caption he said it's a known issue...which I find hard to believe because I've never seen it happen and I've worked on a ton of devices.

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riceBox

Posted
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I had a similar case with a li-on battery of a Nokia phone. I tend to charge it overnight. After a few years, it managed to balloon half the expansion as shown in the first post. Probably a case of extensive overcharging accumulated.

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Karl L.

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I have seen that happen once before with a MacBook Pro 1.1's battery. I have no idea what caused it, but the battery just looked scary (kinda like the one in the OP's pictures). It partially bent back the aluminum battery casing. I wish I had pictures of it.

Grand Master

Glassed Silver

Posted
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Jeez, that's horrible! They should be lucky it stayed within that battery pack wrap thing.

There are many battery packs that would just explode, hence, that's one of the reasons why buying cheapa** batteries tends to be a jackass idea.

That being said, any li-on battery will explode some day, especially after a longer period of non-use, that's what scares me and makes me cry when I think about keeping some phones/other devices to someday bring them out of a box of "retro stuff" and play with them.

New battery packs for a 20-30 year old phone? Haha... Try finding!

All that's left is hoping the device works with AC power only sans battery or building your own substitute with the same voltage/etc...

*sigh*

Glassed Silver:mac

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+Neowin User 007 Subscriber²

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I can only imagine it being up to my ear (same battery in the iPhone I believe) and having it grenade like that. As soon as I removed the screws the cover "popped" off, so it did its job. Barely...

Grand Master

nominak

Posted
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Eh, it's been sitting in a basket for a month now due to the kid being grounded...turned off.

I think it was a defective battery, plain and simple.

Same thing happened to the battery on my old phone. I stopped using it since like October.. my cousin picked it up and asked why the back of the case was open.. Opened it.. battery was enlarged, much like your pictures. Mine was just sitting next to my television.

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+Neowin User 007 Subscriber²

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I put exploded for the less chemical reaction savy ;)

It did expand rapidly upwards though, it bent the under tray up hard enough to break all connections and glue and bend the metal cover though ;)

  • 1 year later...
Grand Master

Buttus

Posted
Posted

the battery in my old blackberry almost did that. luckily it started only holding a charge for 30min to an hour, so i bought a new one to switch out, and when i took off the case, the back of the phone was slightly buckled out. i opened it up, and the battery was puffed up. not as bad as in the post, but still!

Grand Master

Growled Member

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Jeez, that's horrible! They should be lucky it stayed within that battery pack wrap thing.

There are many battery packs that would just explode, hence, that's one of the reasons why buying cheapa** batteries tends to be a jackass idea.

Exactly. Buy quality every time.

  • 3 months later...
Neowinian

wpalaci

Posted
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I had a similar situation happen to my ipod touch 4th generation 8gb this morning, the battery overheated or something causing it to melt from the back. Also the volume buttons were melted out and i think it might of even caught fire or something becuase there was black residue on my kitchen countertop and there was like dust particles all around it. Ironically nothing happened to the charger it was in tact. The ipod had a hard cover to protect it and that melted from the heat and on the back it got elevated defining the battery. I did not get to see what actually happended becuase we were asleep and were woken up by the smell of burn battery. It was a very peculiar smell. Scary...... Dont' know what to think about it. Thinking of contacting apple but i doubt they will do something due to it being out of warranty. I did not do anything out of the ordinary with it ipod. We were using it fine yesterday listening to music. The battery ran out and I connected it to the charger. I'm stunned and dissappointed. It was an expensive device for it to go out that way. I am not tech savy so I can't say what actually cuased it to burst but I would of raised hell if that device would of caused damage to my house or if it would of hurt any of my boys...

Grand Master

primexx

Posted
Posted

I had a similar case with a li-on battery of a Nokia phone. I tend to charge it overnight. After a few years, it managed to balloon half the expansion as shown in the first post. Probably a case of extensive overcharging accumulated.

that's not how it works.... unless you got some cheap knockoff battery.

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