Swelling battery

[bens42608]

My og droid's battery blew up & knocked the battery door off the hinges

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[FoxKat]

Motorola has said that the battery swells from time to time depending on how much the phone gets used..........Thats why if you press on the Motorola Logo on the back you may feel it push in a little and hear a sticking noise.....At least they told me that when I called and complained because mine did the same thing

This is true, LI/LIPO batteries can swell slightly under what would be called "normal" operation. In fact as part of the manufacturing process LIPO (Lithium Ion Polymer "Pouch") batteries are often actually designed as a two-part pouch. The main part of the pouch is the actual battery, but there's an additional portion of the pouch that is left there to collect any excess gasses produced during the initial charging process. Once the manufacturer has completed the manufacturing and charging, that excess portion, a gas reservoir or "balloon" is sealed off from the main battery and then cut and removed, completing the manufacturing process.

As said by BatteryUniversity.com, sometimes these batteries will still swell slightly during normal charging/use, but if it swells beyond the compartment or area inside the device for which it's manufactured (like if the case will no longer shut properly or bursts open at the seams), it should be considered defective and then should be replaced.

 

[floyd]

If your battery is swelling, it is compromised

Do not listen to industry shill astroturfers on this board. They are paid to play down the hazards. If the battery is swollen, it is COMPROMISED.

[video=youtube;SMy2_qNO2Y0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMy2_qNO2Y0&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

While this video is an extreme and forced example on a normal battery, this is what you risk if you don't replace a swollen battery. Skip to 2:00 for the money shot.

 

[FoxKat]

Do not listen to industry shill astroturfers on this board. They are paid to play down the hazards. If the battery is swollen, it is COMPROMISED.

[video=youtube;SMy2_qNO2Y0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMy2_qNO2Y0&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

While this video is an extreme and forced example on a normal battery, this is what you risk if you don't replace a swollen battery. Skip to 2:00 for the money shot.

I have also posted exploding batteries in the forum, and there is no question it happens - even under "normal" use. There are plenty of reports of people suffering burns and more as a result of this kind of failure. So to reiterate, I agree with you - to a point. These batteries can swell up to 10% of their dimension in thickness under normal operation and cause no undue risk. From BatteryUniversity.com (http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/types_of_battery_cells);

[h=2]Pouch Cell[/h] In 1995, the pouch cell surprised the battery world with a radical new design. Rather than using a metallic cylinder and glass-to-metal electrical feed-through for insulation, conductive foil tabs welded to the electrode and sealed to the pouch carry the positive and negative terminals to the outside. Figure 5 illustrates such a pouch cell.

Figure 5: The pouch cell The pouch cell offers a simple, flexible and lightweight solution to battery design. Exposure to high humidity and hot temperature can shorten service life. Courtesy of Cadex

The pouch cell makes the most efficient use of space and achieves a 90 to 95 percent packaging efficiency, the highest among battery packs. Eliminating the metal enclosure reduces weight but the cell needs some alternative support in the battery compartment. The pouch pack finds applications in consumer, military, as well as automotive applications. No standardized pouch cells exist; each manufacturer builds the cells for a specific application.
Pouch packs are commonly Li-polymer. Its specific energy is often lower and the cell is less durable than Li-ion in the cylindrical package. Swelling or bulging as a result of gas generation during charge and discharge is a concern. Battery manufacturers insist that these batteries do not generate excess gases that can lead to swelling. Nevertheless, excess swelling can occur and most is due to faulty manufacturing, and not misuse. Some dealers have failures due to swelling of as much as three percent on certain batches. The pressure from swelling can crack a battery cover, and in some cases break the display and electronic circuit board. Manufacturers say that an inflated cell is safe. While this may be true, do not puncture a swollen cell in close proximity to heat or fire; the escaping gases can ignite. Figure 6 shows a swelled pouch cell.

Figure 6: Swelling pouch cell Swelling can occur as part of gas generation. Battery manufacturers are at odds why this happens. A 5mm (0.2”) battery in a hard shell can grow to 8mm (0.3”), more in a foil package. Courtesy of Cadex

To prevent swelling, the manufacturer adds excess film to create a “gas bag” outside the cell. During the first charge, gases escape into the gasbag, which is then cut off and the pack resealed as part of the finishing process. Expect some swelling on subsequent charges; 8 to 10 percent over 500 cycles is normal. Provision must be made in the battery compartment to allow for expansion. It is best not to stack pouch cells but to lay them flat side by side. Prevent sharp edges that could stress the pouch cell as they expand.

 

[94lt1]

I had a battery for a DX2 almost blow up in my face..... it was like a bad scene from 1000 ways to die. I make my living in the entertainment industry.... had that happened and i survived, It would've been a game changer for me.

Obviously it took the phone with it..... I quickly upgraded from that phone. It wasn't the phones fault though. I later learned that SOMEONE cooked my battery unintentionally.... I now sleep with one eye open.

Just had to throw this in though.

To clarify, it blew up seconds after I pulled the phone away from my face because it got suddenly hot...

DROID RAZR MAXXAMIZED!!!

 

[Sparkimus]

I see this all the time at the shop I work at. We actually had a 3 month old iPod touch come in a few weeks ago that had the screen pushed out about half an inch by the battery.
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[Enemyofthestate]

I had a battery for a DX2 almost blow up in my face..... it was like a bad scene from 1000 ways to die. I make my living in the entertainment industry.... had that happened and i survived, It would've been a game changer for me.

Obviously it took the phone with it..... I quickly upgraded from that phone. It wasn't the phones fault though. I later learned that SOMEONE cooked my battery unintentionally.... I now sleep with one eye open.

Just had to throw this in though.

To clarify, it blew up seconds after I pulled the phone away from my face because it got suddenly hot...

DROID RAZR MAXXAMIZED!!!

How was cooked?

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[94lt1]

How was cooked?

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My wife had set the battery on top of a hot cookie sheet. Then neglected to tell me. Hence the "sleep with one eye open" joke. It was my spare battery.

DROID RAZR MAXXAMIZED!!!

 

[Enemyofthestate]

My wife had set the battery on top of a hot cookie sheet. Then neglected to tell me. Hence the "sleep with one eye open" joke. It was my spare battery.

DROID RAZR MAXXAMIZED!!!

I imagine that would do the trick.

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[94lt1]

I imagine that would do the trick.

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Did the trick in freaking me out. Perhaps my wife is trying to take me out....#looking around the room very suspiciously....... lol

DROID RAZR MAXXAMIZED!!!

 

[gravestonemyth]

My swelling battery

Uh oh, that doesn't sound good at all. Will you post some pics?

I just noticed mine swelling this week. I tether a lot and it routinely gets warm but this is new. I've even had overheat warnings with it in the dashboard mount (all Motorola chargers, etc.) but this just started. I did run it nearly dead a couple of weeks ago - I heard elsewhere that recharging from completely dead can trigger swelling. Whatever the case, I called Verizon and they're sending out a "Factory Refurbished" phone, no questions asked. I'm guessing they're seeing lots of these and they watch the news too. The 787 Dreamliner issue has gotten everyone freaked out about Lion batteries.
View attachment 61613

 

[xtor]

I got out my old dx for my daughter to play games on and the screen had a spot on it, i pulled the rear cover and the batt was swollen, so i got a batt out of the wifes old dx and put it in and everything works fine, guess I'll by a 5- batt for the x so my daughter can us it for games, i hope this doesn't happen to our razr's

razr on 215 leak

 

[TJ_SITP]

I work for an educational program that uses about 23 Thunderbolts. We began with approximately 40 thunderbolts but they started dying on us one by one. The common issue seemed to be the bloated batteries described in this thread. Some of the phones work ok if I switch out the battery but many don't work at all anymore. We have to store the phones for long periods (weeks, months) and after the last month or so of not being used I pulled them out to find that about five more phones had bloated batteries and marks on the center of the screens.

I know the phones are dated now but we would still like to be able to use them. However, I am greatly concerned about the potential that these batteries could explode in the hands of our students or on the charging station which could potentially burn down our office! Can anyone give me an explanation of how dangerous these phones are and if there was ever a recall by the company? I plan to contact the company directly but would like to hear from you first. I need to gather this information so my bosses can determine if these phones can be used again. Right now they are all off and in storage and will be well away from our students until deemed safe.

Thanks!

 

[xtor]

I work for an educational program that uses about 23 Thunderbolts. We began with approximately 40 thunderbolts but they started dying on us one by one. The common issue seemed to be the bloated batteries described in this thread. Some of the phones work ok if I switch out the battery but many don't work at all anymore. We have to store the phones for long periods (weeks, months) and after the last month or so of not being used I pulled them out to find that about five more phones had bloated batteries and marks on the center of the screens.

I know the phones are dated now but we would still like to be able to use them. However, I am greatly concerned about the potential that these batteries could explode in the hands of our students or on the charging station which could potentially burn down our office! Can anyone give me an explanation of how dangerous these phones are and if there was ever a recall by the company? I plan to contact the company directly but would like to hear from you first. I need to gather this information so my bosses can determine if these phones can be used again. Right now they are all off and in storage and will be well away from our students until deemed safe.

Thanks!

The best person to answer your question would be foxkat

sent from a note yee

 

[eidian]

I work for an educational program that uses about 23 Thunderbolts. We began with approximately 40 thunderbolts but they started dying on us one by one. The common issue seemed to be the bloated batteries described in this thread. Some of the phones work ok if I switch out the battery but many don't work at all anymore. We have to store the phones for long periods (weeks, months) and after the last month or so of not being used I pulled them out to find that about five more phones had bloated batteries and marks on the center of the screens.

I know the phones are dated now but we would still like to be able to use them. However, I am greatly concerned about the potential that these batteries could explode in the hands of our students or on the charging station which could potentially burn down our office! Can anyone give me an explanation of how dangerous these phones are and if there was ever a recall by the company? I plan to contact the company directly but would like to hear from you first. I need to gather this information so my bosses can determine if these phones can be used again. Right now they are all off and in storage and will be well away from our students until deemed safe.

Thanks!

I read that there are some pretty serious dangers once the battery starts to swell up like that. But besides the danger of explosion or fire, the charge life on those batteries sucks once it starts to swell. When I noticed that the battery in my Razr was starting to swell the phone would run hot no matter how little I used it (stayed cool in stand by mode). But once the battery bloated so much that the kevlar back separated from the plastic edge, the batter charge sucked. I would be down to like 40% charge left in only 90 minutes of being in stand by mode. I was constantly carrying external chargers and would just be pissed that the phone would expend the charge from two external batteries (one of them had something like an 8500 mAh capacity). I finally converted my phone with one of those Maxx kits and haven't looked back since.

I would consider changing the batteries or dumping the phones all together based on charge life alone.