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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMan Hurt as Samsung Phone Explodes in Pants Pocket
Another Galaxy smartphone has exploded and injured its owner. Bupyeong Fire Station in Incheon on Sunday said a 55-year-old man reported the previous day that his smartphone battery blew up in the pocket of his pants.
The man said he was carrying a Samsung Galaxy Note along with a spare battery in his pocket before they suddenly blew up. He is being treated for second-degree burns to his right thigh.
In March last year, a schoolboy in Gwangju suffered an injury when his Galaxy S2 smartphone exploded in his trouser pocket.
The latest accident has not been reported to Samsung yet, a company spokesman said. "Lithium ion batteries can catch fire due to external pressure or sudden changes in temperature, so we're trying to understand what really happened," the spokesman added.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/02/04/2013020401251.html
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)bobalew
(322 posts)Was it REALLY a Samsung Galaxy II And a genuine Samsung Battery, or was it a Knock-off? If it was a Fake, the Battery safety protocols may have been circumvented, and that's why it blew out. If you don't screen the batteries. or sort them out, and they are factory rejects, the chances of this happening are much greater. Also which battery blew out? If the replacement was a secondary market spare, and he shorted it out with something in his pocket, well, that's not the smartest safety protocol, either. Most batteries have a safety circuit, that shuts down shorts & keeps these events from happening, Unless the battery itself is faulty.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)So is our other proud sponsor, Airbus.
Lint Head
(15,064 posts)Couldn't resist.
Ezlivin
(8,153 posts)An upcoming software update will address this issue.
tkmorris
(11,138 posts)That is likely the problem right there. Unless he covered it somehow the spare battery's contacts were exposed, which makes it REALLY easy to short across the contacts, especially in your pocket. Some change, a paper clip, keys, or really anything metal in there and you have a recipe for an exploding battery.
wandy
(3,539 posts)Does this mean I shouldn't be carrying around a spare laptop battery in my Captain Kangaroo blue genes?
Or put another way, probably good that lithium batterys weren't around when I was a kid.
IDemo
(16,926 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)I would expect an explosion to do more than second degree burns...
I guess it gets more clicks though
wandy
(3,539 posts)It's a matter of how quickly they can discharge. How much current they can deliver for a short period of time.
See previous post.
It's a good thing they weren't around when I was a kid.