Who says firecrackers are the only things that may explode July 4 (that’s Independence Day here in the United States)?
Fires and explosions of lithium-ion batteries, aka li-ion batteries, are rare. But they do happen.
Check out some wisdom from Stanley Q. Woodvine, a homeless man in Vancouver. He wrote of a Fire whose battery either exploded or “was overheated to a point just short of exploding.”
Here are two ways to help reduce the threat:
1. Go for batteries from known sources.
2. Try to use the right chargers, with precautions against overcharing. The safest bets would be the same as the chargers that came with your gizmos.
Related: Homeless in Vancouver: No one wants my damaged lithium-ion battery and Cell phone battery explosion starts Post Falls fire.
The obvious question: Why is Stanley Woodvine homeless? I can think of all kinds of possible reasons. Here is his reply to a reader who wondered if he still lacked a home: “Yes. Why do you ask? Is someone giving free money and a apartments to people with blogs?
“Thank you. I do love these backhanded compliments.”
I noticed that when I’m doing a lot of downloading on my Fire or my phone, like content for a vacation, my devices get quite warm. I recommend spacing out the downloads and letting things cool for a bit before the next batch. I also recommend being plugged in during high volume downloads.
Very helpful comments, Lorraine. Suggestions from others on either the li-ion battery issue or the Fire? David
Glad I could help. One more thing, don’t leave an app open that is constantly updated (like Facebook or Maps), always return to a home screen. Leaving it open drains your battery quickly which will also heat things up. If you close the app, it will update when you open it again.
My former droid razr, and my current iPhone, both got/get warm (almost hot) with prolonged use and especially during downloads; and like Lorraine, I now do as many downloads as possible while plugged in to the charger and I space them out over a few days. I’ve never noticed my Kindle Voyage becoming warm when I download a lot of books, or recharge it, but it’s in a leather case that might mask the heat.
I was going to take one charger for an upcoming vacation, but now I think I’ll take the correct charger for each device, just to be safe.