Payal Ladha
(Image Courtesy- Corporate Eye)
With the hearsay of the suspension of the production of Galaxy Note 7 by Samsung Electronics Co., a new class of explosion has been added to the bucket of explosions- “Mobile Explosion”. Last month, Samsung announced a global recall of 2.5 million units following reports of overheating and EXPLODING ( a very high degree term indeed !! ).
Related Read: Samsung Halts Galaxy Note 7 Production
Let’s take a dig at the main issue of explosion.
There are namely five types of batteries used in a mobile phone–
- Lithium Ion
- Lithium Polymer
- Nickel Cadmium
- Nickel Metal Hydride
- New Lithium Technology
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 employs lithium ion batteries in their model. Usually the lithium ion batteries are known to be implausibly safe. What went wrong with the Galaxy Phones then ?
There are usually three causes for bulging or explosion of lithium batteries.-
Puncture
This condition usually arises when you drop your phone (accidentally or intentionally) leading to a collapse of the compacted battery material which in turn is the reason behind the viable explosion.
Damaged Battery
A possible reason behind phone explosion is the case of damaged batteries. Although connected to the socket, the battery isn’t actually charging leading to an explosion.
Over-charging
A possible claim is over-charging. When the battery is fully charged yet left for charging. Such a situation can lead your phone to an abyss.
Before we go any further, I would recommend you all to watch this video to have a better understanding.
Let’s take a look at the Note 7 and understand the reason of the explosion-
Earlier this year when Apple announced that the I-phone 7 model won’t have any dazzling new innovations in it and it would look like the previous two models, Samsung with its opportunistic attitude quickened the launch of Note 7. But what came early, came with a price too.
A faulty battery is the devil here. The company puts all the allegations on the shoulders of over-heating of batteries due to contact between anode to cathode which as per the company is a rare manufacturing process error.
The following video will help you understand the exact problem with the samsung galaxy note 7 batteries-
The reason for the explosion here was the manufacturing defect. This certainly may not be the case every time. There have been lots of cases reported concerning mobile explosions world wide.
Back in January 2014, DNA reported a case of mobile explosion due to usage of mobile phone while the phone was getting charged. A 10 year old boy had to pay the price of playing games while charging by his life. Another case got registered the same year, in which a 24 year old man died due to mobile explosion.
Devastating indeed !!
Furthermore, Xiomi Mi phones have also joined the squad other than Samsung. Two cases of mobile explosions have been reported in China this year.
It is surely better to take precautions beforehand because before you know it, you might end up becoming the next prey of mobile explosion. The following tips will surely serve as a life savior if followed candidly-
- Avoid fake batteries. It is always advisable to use the battery of the brand of your smartphone. Otherwise, one can also opt for replaceable batteries from well known companies. Fake batteries are not designed according to the requirements of a mobile phone and can heat up speedily leading to an explosion.
- Avoid fake chargers. Try using the charger of the brand of your mobile phone. Low cost chargers may seem to be attractive money saving technique, but better spend some penny than paying the price by your life.
- Avoid keeping phones in places with heated temperatures. It will make things only worse.
- Avoid using phones while charging. This is something not many of us will be able to ignore. An alternative would be to remove cases(if you phone has one) while charging or charging and using your phone at the same time in a ventilated environment. It will help avoid the trouble up to some extent.