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iPhone Auto-Combusts On Australian Airplane
First time accepted submitter thegreymonkey writes "Last Friday, an iPhone caught fire on flight ZL319 operating from Lismore to Sydney. This incident is under investigation from Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). This accident might be related to the iPhone battery again." Whether it "caught fire" may be a matter of semantics; as reported in the above linked story and by Network World (hat tip to reader alphadogg), though, the iPhone "started glowing red and emitting dense smoke."
You know, my iPhone has been getting a little warm since I dropped it earlier tod^W^W^ NO CARRIER
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Sounds more like a job for an exorcist. I banish thee, Steve!
http://xkcd.com/651/
Seems like Randall has predicted the future again!
I don't want to start a "TSA is a bunch of idiots" thread but I'm honestly surprised that this hasn't happened more often.
We don't live in Shouldland.
Mobile phones will be prohibited on flights.
(But there are drawbacks as well; think laptops with lithium-ion batteries.)
There's an app for that.
I'm astonished. Really.
not safe for australia ? ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=NSFA )
It is an iPhone therefore it is a feature.
The guy was just running the iHotplate app to warm up his coffee.
Nothing here to see, move along.
Trolling is a art,
Finally, an answer to the question "why must I keep my phone off while flying"!
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Yes, my sister got hers a couple of days ago. They are getting round to it, it's just taking time. This is in the UK, fwiw.
Energetic chemistry is energetic.
Go find some RC enthusiasts and ask them if they've seen LiPos burn. There's a good chance they have.
That's why we charge our batteries in a lipo bag or other fireproof container.
Of course, RC batteries are abused much more than those in phones, but it's highly non-surprising that occasionally one lights on fire.
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups.
So they go through all the trouble of banning liquids on flights, and other security theater, while allowing provably dangerous electronics onto the planes without any question. What happens when some terrorist is able to reprogram a phone or computer to overheat on command? Perhaps they could even "forget" the phone on a plane, and arrange for it to cause some mischief after the bad guy deplanes.
I would love to see them ban computers and cellphones because that would effect frequent business travelers, and perhaps cause some pushback against the insanity of airline security.
This is why you shouldn't have phone sex on an airplane.
The phone realized via it's GPS and flight tracker where it was headed and offed itself.
I told him not to buy that app.
My company home page
Between this, the Volt battery going up in flames and on a smaller scale the Belgian Post e-bikes catching fire, I am very worried about the fast deployment of Li-ion batteries in many fields.
I am a researcher in Li-ion batteries, and I know how dangerous those little buggers can be, but also how many efforts are done to make them safer. However, you can't take bad manufacturing out of the equation, and you should always ask yourself why a no-name chinese battery costs 1/3 of the original battery.
It would be nice to know if the phone was ever dropped, or its battery replaced at any point, or if a non-standard charger was used.
...glowing and smoking=combustion (not necessarily fire), but yeah. I've had a few such devices (one phone, two mp3 players, one bluetooth headset) crack off while plugged in to a third party charger (they were all chargeable through USB but all I had available at the time was an unregulated 6V adapter and a 4-port USB brick). Lesson learned; use manufacturer-approved chargers with Li-Ion! The battery technology uses pulse modulated charging current; DC (via a Powermonkey or suchlike) or unregulated DC (cheap adapter where the output voltage can vary wildly) can cause serious damage to the battery. I also read somewhere (it might have been on an iPhone 3G battery) that deforming the battery in any way (like, sitting on the phone?) might cause a short.
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
they were holding it wrong.
Step 1 - Request - November 23, 2011: Product received
Step 2 - Service - November 23, 2011: Issue identified
Step 3 - Return - November 23, 2011: Product replacement pending
This is in Canada.
It's probably a battery manufactured by Sony which isn't designed to be used upside-down.
the iPhone "started glowing red and emitting dense smoke.
That's what you get for installing the antichrist app. Idiot.
Exactly what is the difference between a no-name Chinese battery, and a named Chinese battery, besides cost?
Coincidentally yesterday I was driving while the kids watched movies on DVD players. Then Bang a huge explosions and plastic and metal go flying. The cigarette lighter power adapters conditioning electronics had exploded. I didn't drive off the road but could have. It looks like the culprit was a kink in the cord, perhaps from getting caught in a door at some point, causing a short. The violence of the explosion was surprising both literally and figuratively. You just don't realize how explosive your consumer electronics can be when they go bad.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Exactly what is the difference between a no-name Chinese battery, and a named Chinese battery, besides cost?
The name, obviously.
This post comes with a double-your-money-back guarantee!
Any offense taken to this post is at your sole discretion.
... take out the battery!!!
Oh... Wait... iPhone? Nevermind.
who wrote the "drummer from spinal tap app" ?
How hot does it have to be "Glowing Red". Wow.
Hell with that! I want to see it on Mythbusters!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
You all mocked the airlines- but turns out they were right.
Using electronic devices on planes IS dangerous.
On a more serious note- wonder if any airlines will take this too far and completely ban cell-phones/smart phones etc from being carried on to the plane.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I love how apple tried to blame everyone else for what is actually there problem. If the phone explodes or caught on fire then it's apples fault, there in charge of the end product. It doesn't matter if a customer makes the phone explode or the battery or anything,apple needs to be the ones saying "oh we F'd this up". If the phone can explode and if the phone can catch fire then it's apples fault.
While we should strive to make our batteries safe, the reality is that it is impossible to stop all defects or problems. As we develop more and more powerful batteries, more energy packed into a smaller space, the damage done from a sudden release of all that energy will become worse. The best thing we can do, and to my knowledge I'm not sure we have the material knowledge to do this yet, is to create a material that even in it's natural default state will only release it's stored energy at a slow rate. As long as the materials that store the energy in a battery have the ability of a catastropic fast release of that energy this problem will become a more and more a dangerous situation as we increase the available energy in batteries.
When that the new iPhone was "hotly anticipated", this is not what I imagined!
Quick, somebody register "damnyouautocombust.com"!
Slightly disreputable, albeit gregarious
If you want a bricked iPhone, there's an app for that you can't refuse. If you want your location revealed to everyone, there's an app for that. If you want an exploding battery on an iPhone, there's an app for that. Here at Crapple, we strive to give you a crappy overpriced product for you fudgepacking, twinkie sucking faggots out there.
you should always ask yourself why a no-name chinese battery costs 1/3 of the original battery.
I think we're safe there, I hear that the Apple-branded replacement batteries from the Chinese no-name manufacturers cost as much as the new iPhones themselves.
(..) and you should always ask yourself why a no-name chinese battery costs 1/3 of the original battery.
A lot of that will be branding, some of that may be shortcuts taken in production. But much more interesting question:
Would it be possible to determine this, non-destructively, for a battery you already have? I mean, if construction of a battery is different to the point of being unsafe, wouldn't that also affect that batteries' electrical (and perhaps thermal) behavior? Could some test procedure be devised to determine whether you have a battery in hand whose construction isn't safe?
A couple more incidents like these, and TSA will stop letting folks carry personal electronics.
A ban on phones with non-removable batteries may be necessary. You can carry the phone on board, but the battery has to go in a plastic bag in luggage.
...it's because Gerard Depardieu pissed on it, right?
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
I received the box in ( I think ) two days. I sent it in the same day. Since then:
Step 1 Request - November 15, 2011: Product received
Step 2 Service - November 16, 2011: Issue identified
Step 3 Return - November 16, 2011: Product replacement pending
sigh...
Did anyone notice a custom back had been installed on the phone? Notice that the Apple logo has Steve's silhouette in it.
That seems like the more likely cause...
Got the box in three days, sent the old beastie back.
I wonder what they'll think about the install of Rockbox on it...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
I am a researcher in Li-ion batteries
A question for you: Does atmospheric pressure (especially the reduced pressure in aircraft) have any impact on Li battery chemistry?
Well, maybe the passengers should be required to remove the battery from their iphones and ipads in the future...
Shit, I did the request 2 weeks ago and haven't gotten the box.
then apple better say wow we need batts that come out or we will be on the no fly list.
You try putting out a lithium fire by throwing water on it - I dare you.
Your fire will be extinguished by the hydrogen + air explosion. Even if it doesn't, the original fire will be the least of your concerns.
They say the iPhone is HOT, HOT, HOT! Now we know why.
It smokes and it glows red? And here I thought Apple products couldn't get any cooler!
iPhone gains self-awareness; learns of Jobs demise
"The TSA has announced that cell phones found on your person at airport check points will now be confiscated."
We hope you fly us again soon...
CAPTCHA: arrester, Irony? I think not.
Also, afaik, Li-Ion batteries are completely sealed, so I don't see how changes in atmospheric pressure could have much effect.
-- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
It would be nice to know if the phone was ever dropped, or its battery replaced at any point, or if a non-standard charger was used.
In this case, the backplate of the iphone had been replaced (you can tell from the apple logo in the picture). Obviously I don't know if this was the cause though, but perhaps the backplate was replaced because the original broke during a fall which may have jolted some internal circuitry close to the battery causing a local hotspot near the battery and then thermal runaway. Somehow I doubt that the battery would have been punctured just by dropping/replacing the backplate though.
We all know that China make very good (cosmetic) fakes. We see them demo'd on YouTube all the time. This point was brought up in the comments in El Reg too with this story. How do we know it's a REAL iPhone? Some of the fakes are indistinguishable unless they're turned on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9p7WvXF4Kw
the owner was probably playing Angry Birds.
The Volt's issue arose from the NHTSA doing a side impact pole test, then flipping the car over to see if fluids leaked from the battery. The only thing that leaked was coolant. They then proceeded to park the car with a full charge in it, which it ignited after 3 weeks of sitting with a full charge and no coolant in the system. That is something I wouldn't do with any Lithium battery. The NHTSA even said at the time that the condition was highly unlikely to happen, yet they tested further by taking the battery out of the car and recreating the test with it out of the car. It started on fire this time 1 week after the test. Since I don't think to many people will be taking the battery out of their volts and smashing them in a crash test, I think any worry is a little bit more then dramatic for no good reason. It's close to being worried about being hit by lighting.
Am I the only one this reminded of the self-destructing media devices in Mission:Impossible?
Is it the problem of the iphone keyboard or usb adapter? Sounds like hardware with inadequate fusing.
Welp, looks like this is what happens when Apple goes up against Mann Co.
Isn't that what this is for: http://www.groovie-baby.co.uk/showthread.php?510-The-NOSMOKE-command
Exactly what is the difference between a no-name Chinese battery, and a named Chinese battery, besides cost?
I'd guess it would be brand recognition and QC/QA. BAK puts out decent cells.
That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
I think that TSA &co are fully aware that it's pretty much the same thing or else it would already have been forbidden to bring the phone and/or computer.
for an article about a Kindle Fire on fire.
I can't wait for Apple to sue Chevy for violating its patent on combustible devices.
It is highly likely that the spontaneous combustion of that iPhone is due to the phone holding in a fart, causing a build up of methane which then ignited.
This space unintentionally left blank.
Coincidence or not, recently I received a notice from Apple informing me that they are going to replace my 1st gen iPod nano due to the battery potentially catching fire as it ages.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
....and the NHTSA admitted to not following the specific instructions that Chevy had provided them with for battery care after an accident. Don't follow the instructions, something bad happens, whose fault is it?
They spilled their in-flight beverage on it.
Coincidence or not, recently I received a notice from Apple informing me that they are going to replace my 1st gen iPod nano due to the battery potentially catching fire as it ages.
How did they know to get in touch with you? Is the device registered with Apple?
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
Any power adapter should be able to survive a complete short on the output if it is designed properly.
And as we all know, the consumer electronics market is known for its high quality and attention to detail in their designs and build quality. ;-)
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
In some cases, the testing, and who you can sue when a battery goes bad an burns down your house/car/etc. Batches that come in from local corporations have to undergo standards-agency approval. Batteries that come in via ebay, not so much.
I'd just like to say that the sheild-your-iballs dept is funny, thank you for that.
It's well known that you can take down a plane with a cellphone battery and a bottle of duty free brandy. But some security theatre is economically politically unacceptable, and anyway, almost no freedom fighters actually want to take down a plane, especially not while they are on it.
Must be one of the iPhone 3D versions - the iPad version ran really hot in alpha and had major battery drain.
Either that or someone said something to Siri about camel toe and she got all red.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I can't wait for Apple to patent this feature and sue the next corporation which release a device with similar flaws.
iQaeda terror cell?
In Japan and South Korea battery production is almost fully automatic and conducted in well controlled conditions. This is a continuous process in which a long sheet of electrode material is assembled in a roll.
In China, on the other hand, many batteries are produced by hand by stacking discrete smaller sheets of electrode, then putting the stack in a container (be it an aluminum can or a soft pouch). You can imagine that this stacking can be less than perfect and a shortcircuit due do misalignment or some foreign body is always possible.
Of course not all batteries are produced this way, but some are.
Good question. Short answer, I don't know for sure.
Long answer, see below.
For batteries packaged in an aluminum can, I can't see a big impact. For batteries packaged in a soft pouch (such as the iPhone's, I believe) it might be more of an issue.
The point of the problem is the liquid electrolyte, which is generally formed by two main solvents, Ethylene Carbonate and Dimethyl Carbonate. EC is a solid at room temperature (mp around 36C), while DMC is a liquid with a reasonably high boiling point (90C IIRC).
I don't think that the reduced pressure in the aircraft is enough to make so much DMC evaporate as to create excessive pressure in the packaging. Which is however designed to fail if too much pressure is built up, and Li-ion batteries are assembled in the discharged state.
I think one of this AC's points was that brand stuff is made in China too, while the country's name is many times attached when talking about cheap garbage. Cheap CHINESE this, cheap CHINESE that.
I can understand FireAngel using crap batteries in their smoke alarms that caught fire this month, but not Apple Iphone. Mmmm!
It's a sign from Saint Steve.
No, the point was that China is well-known for unauthorized assembly line runs while the regular employees are sleeping (or supposed to be sleeping). While you could hardly call these sort of products "counterfeit", they're produced with little concern for quality control and often high-quality, expensive items required for their manufacture are replaced with cheaper, low-quality replacements which cause unacceptable failure rates in the finished product. But hey, since the quality control guy is off the clock, that's not a problem.
Sure, the "official" name-brand product got tested and certified and assembled from quality materials. But what you don't know is that the "unofficial" one, which looks freaking identical (made on the same machines with the same dies, undoubtedly), got a cheap dielectric which can break down and short out, and was assembled as fast as possible with no concern for its finished quality, because there's no name on the outside to tell you who to come sue if it blows up.