By Shira Ovide
On Wednesday afternoon, I noticed that my phone was no longer sitting flush in its case.
It took me a few minutes to realise that this was a big, honking sign of danger.
The battery in my smartphone had probably started to swell – a possibility with any rechargeable electronic device. In the tight confines of my phone’s innards, the swelling battery was pushing the screen away from the body of the phone. That’s why the case no longer fit.
Our devices are powered with chemical-packed batteries that can die or fail in potentially catastrophic ways.
Swelling batteries in electronics can, in rare cases, spark a fire or explosion. Billions of products with rechargeable batteries are used every day, which means you might someday have a swollen battery in your phone, laptop, smart ring, wireless headphones or other device.
I’ll describe the signs of a swollen battery in electronics, what to do if this happens to you and how to safely repair or dispose of your device afterward.
The more our devices and our world are powered with helpful but flawed, chemical-packed batteries, the more we should take seriously what happens when they die or fail in potentially catastrophic ways.
Warning signs of a swollen battery
It’s normal for rechargeable batteries to slowly decompose and emit gases as they age, but it’s not typical for them to swell during the ageing process, said Judy Jeevarajan, who specialises in battery chemistry safety at the UL Research Institutes.
Still, Chad Johansen, who runs CPR Cell Phone Repair stores in New Hampshire, said that customers commonly come in with electronics that have enlarged batteries. What I noticed with my four-year-old Google Pixel is a typical symptom: The screen or the backing material starts to pry off.
You might also notice bulging in your device or a dramatic drop-off in battery life.
Johansen said that good quality batteries are typically designed to limit the chance of a fire or explosion if they swell, but that they can still be dangerous, particularly if the device is put under pressure or punctured.
If you notice signs of a swelling battery in your phone or other electronics, stop using your device as soon as possible. Do not plug in your device. Keep it away from heat and don’t poke at it.
Some experts recommended turning off the device. Jeevarajan suggested leaving it on until the battery runs out of juice. A battery without a charge is unlikely to smoke, burn or explode. (If the device does start to smoke or burn, dumping your phone in a bucket filled with water is the best way to cool it off completely, Jeevarajan said.)
Battery experts said that you want to isolate the device in a container that won’t melt or burn, away from flammable materials and outside your home if possible. The electronics repair organisation iFixit recommends putting a device with a swollen battery into a metal bucket containing sand or cat litter.
I had none of those things at home. I put my phone into a metal mixing bowl, covered it with a metal sheet pan and parked it on my fire escape.
Alex Hausfeld, a franchise consultant for the gadget repair chain uBreakiFix, approved of my unconventional approach. Jeevarajan suggested adding sand or packing peanuts to avoid the chance of a short circuit.
Repair or disposal?
Hausfeld recommended taking a device with a swollen battery to a trained technician as soon as you can. He said that uBreakiFix stores can examine your device and replace the battery in many cases. Or the stores will safely dispose of your device free.
I’m going to try replacing my battery at a local store and let you know how it goes.
If you’re giving up on a gadget with a swollen battery, don’t toss it into your trash or recycling. (Do not dispose of any rechargeable device this way, whether the battery is swollen or not.) Trash and recycling centres have big problems with fires or explosions sparked by rechargeable batteries.
But it’s not easy for people to figure out what to do with devices that have swollen batteries, said Leo Raudys, CEO of the battery recycling organisation Call2Recycle. He advised contacting the device manufacturer first for safe disposal options – a Google spokesman said the same thing – and next finding a local hazardous waste facility.
A spokesman for the department of sanitation in New York, where I live, recommended taking devices to one of the agency’s specialised waste disposal sites. To find similar options near you, try a web search for the name of your city and “municipal household hazardous waste recycling centre.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
