Exploding Batteries
I am a frequent reader of the website www.eeTimes.com. It is an interesting site that has various information about upcoming technology.
Today I was reading about some lithium-ion batteries that seem to have not been made with the best of quality control. Apparently, AT&T bought some batteries from the now defunct Avestor. So far, 4 of these batteries have decided to either catch fire or explode. Seems as one of the latest exploded with enough force to rip a 50-60 lb. steel door clean off and throw it 5 feet. It shows why we need to make sure we are getting our batteries from companies with proven quality.
If you search the web it is easy to find where some sub-standard battery fails. Unfortunately these batteries have a bad habit of catching some people unaware and have burnt a few people. The good news however, is that on a percentage, the failed batteries are actually very minimal. Even with the 4 batteries that are giving AT&T a headache they had purchased 17,000 of them that’s actually the highest ratio I’ve seen at a little over 2%. I believe the normal in failed batteries is closer to .01 to .05%.
Granted that doesn’t make you feel any better if you happen to be one of the lucky recipients of a bad battery. However if you can hit those kinds of odds you should run out and get a lottery ticket. How afraid are you of the batteries that are hiding in your pocket, purse, on your lap, or being held to your head?
Written by
Ken
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:28 am
Hi Ken
I thought your readers might find a discussion on battery fire interesting:
http://risk-safety.com/battery-fires
May 28th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Thank you, I was reading your blog and I think you did a wonderful job in explaining the process. I agree that there is a danger however as you pointed out the actual instances really are minimal in comparison to the quantity of batteries out there. Granted no one wants to be the unlucky contestant that finds one of the bad batteries. My hope is that with the continuing developments in lithium technologies will continue to lower the risk and sooner or later get rid of the problem all together. However that’s probably an unrealistic hope. Our own coffee and hot teas still continue to burn us when we know the chances are pretty darn good that it’s HOT.