Not Just Samsung? The Increasing Frequency Of Battery Fires (sltrib.com)

Dozens of aircraft fires have been caused by lithium batteries, and after 2013 Tesla even strengthened their battery shields after several of their cars caught on fire. An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes the AP: Samsung's Note 7 isn't the only gadget to catch fire thanks to lithium-battery problems, which have afflicted everything from iPhones to Tesla cars to Boeing jetliners. Blame chemistry and the fact that the batteries we rely on for everyday life are prone to leaking and even bursting into flame if damaged, defective or exposed to excessive heat...

Still, lithium batteries are so ubiquitous that ordinary users of phones and computers shouldn't worry. Research suggests that you're more likely to get hurt by a kitchen grease fire or a drunk driver than the battery powering your iPhone, Kindle or laptop. "It's not like we live in a world where people's smartphones spontaneously combust," said Ramon Llamas, research manager of research firm IDC's mobile phones team. He said owners of Galaxy Note 7s should err on the side of caution and contact Samsung for a replacement that doesn't run the same risk.
The article also reports that hoverboards were linked to at least 99 electrical fires in America that were presumably caused by battery problems. "Amazon, Best Buy and other retailers dumped the products after videos of burning hoverboards went viral."

Comments

Asus had this problem

[thundercattt]

This was a big issue with Asus also when I worked there. Took them awhile to figure out that it was the camera wire that crossed the battery that was causing it.

That's it, I'm switching to something safer

[Anonymous Coward]

Like gasoline, or propane, or radioactive plutonium.

excessive heat

[Gravis Zero]

there is one critical thing about the excessive heat that is being left out, the batteries are generating the excessive heat. the basic issue is that if you exceed a certain rate of charge or discharge then your battery is going to go up in flames. this is why battery cells are rated for maximum charge and discharge rate. when companies ignore the charge/discharge ratings you end up with devices that are prone to combusting.

Re:excessive heat

[thegarbz]

when companies ignore the charge/discharge ratings you end up with devices that are prone to combusting.

Except that few if any of these fires are caused by improper charging speeds. Nearly all product recall related fires have been due to quality control issues on the cells themselves, or faults in the circuit that overcharge individual cells in a pack, not due to engineering fault on the charging rate.

Especially since overdoing the rates of charges and discharges cause premature battery failure long before it causes batteries to catch fire.

What will the resolution be?

[BigSlowTarget]

I'm submitting from one of these. The question I have is am I trading a 1 in 50,000 chance of fire for a 1 in 1 chamce of crappy charging and low battery life. If the problem was an aggressive charge cycle the resolution might well ne to wimpify it.

Re: What will the resolution be?

[BigSlowTarget]

Also, it needs a less fumblefingery keyboard.

Re:it's called cost reductions.

[Anonymous Coward]

This might explain why the smartphones are all crap. Their corners have been cut so many times that they almost look rounded to us.

Because it's not Apple

[Kohath]

It's not Apple, so "ho hum, this has been happening to everyone more and more often".

Re:Because it's not Apple

[haruchai]

When it comes to batteries catching on fire, Apple's both a pioneer and a market leader

Energy density

[goodmanj]

It's all about our expectations of energy density. Think about it: would you be surprised to hear that a small container of gasoline caught fire? Of course not, and the risks involved in a gas-powered phone are obvious. Modern batteries don't store as much energy per mass as gasoline -- not even close -- but as we push in that direction we shouldn't be surprised that they start behaving less like electronics and more like explosives.

Electronic Recycling Company battery fire epidemic

[retroworks]

I manage an electronics recycling company. We are all hand disassembly, but even we have seen lithium battery fires. The companies which switched to shredding (to reduce labor costs) have had a serious and growing problem with fires from charged lithium batteries exposed to oxygen.

We use this youtube video for staff training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Tesla? Really?

[thegarbz]

Isn't it a bit disingenious to lump a whole lot of unprovoked fires started during standard normal operation of a device in with Tesla having major accidents? I mean every time we hear of a Tesla fire it's after the car got airborne, flew through a brick wall, and impaled itself on road debris. It's like lumping deaths due to mobster killings in with death due to medical conditions.

They are NOT hoverboards

[Stan92057]

Stop calling them hoverboards!! They do not hover in any shape or form the are a device that carried its load on WHEELS.And the wheels are firmly planted on the ground.

Re:They are NOT hoverboards

[evilviper]

Stop calling them hoverboards!! They do not hover in any shape or form

Sure. Just as soon as you stop calling cars by animal names... It's not a mustang, not a jaguar, not a ram, not a cougar. None of those animals have cup-holders. It's false-advertising!