TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I think many/most of us know that Li Ion batteries have the potential to catch fire if the terminals or shorted. What I don’t think everyone may know is how quickly and how intensely they ignite.

Let me first say I’m not an amateur with electronics - been designing & building electronic equipment for about 65 years, and I am a competent tech. In the past, I have replaced cracked screens and bad digitizer pads in IPads a few times - not fun, but not rocket science either. You have to be knowledgable, careful and precise. So when my old IPad battery reached the end of its life (a curse on Apple for not making it easily replaceable), I ordered a replacement battery (since Apple would not replace it) and proceeded to disassemble the IPad this morning. Not for the faint of heart in that it requires softening the glue holding down the screen with s heat gun and then carefully prying it off. Then there are s multitude of timy ribbon cables to be carefully removed. All went well and I began removing the battery which requires softening the glue on the backside and carefully prying it off the case. As I was doing so, the plastic pry tool (supplied with the kit) must have punctured the flexible plastic case of the battery. Without warning, it erupted in flames, the like of which I haven’t seen since making rocket fuel in HS. Hard to overstate how quickly it exploded and the size of the conflagration. Smothering it didn’t phase it, and fearing I was about to lose the house, I grabbed one end (with flames shooting 1-2’ in the air), ran to the adjoining bathroom to my office and tossed it in the sink and turned on the water (wondering if there would be a further Li reaction with water). I was VERY lucky there was a bathroom a few feet away. The whole thing must have taken about 10 seconds including the 2 seconds of disbelief it was really happening. The result was scorched floor and carpet, a smoke filled room, fire alarms going off, black particles and soot everywhere and a badly shaken person. After this was over, I took a Xanax and drank a beer, and my heart rate is beginning to return to normal.

So what’s the point of this story? It is truly unbelievable how quickly and virulently a Li Ion/polymer battery can catch fire - gasoline is baby food in comparison. So make absolutely sure that you either use a plastic cap or other means to insulate the connectors of Li Ion batteries when you fly or carry spares. It’s easy to see how they could bring down an airliner.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

In the long run, would it have been easier, and cheaper, to purchase a new iPad?

Muddyvalley Loc: McMinnville, Oregon

Thanks for posting this. It's a good first hand account.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Not cheaper, but certainly less dramatic. I’m old school - if it’s repairable, fix, not replace. I’ve successfully repaired iPads before, but not a battery replacement. They are well glued in, and even softening the glue with a heat gun, they are hard to pry out. I’m guessing either the soft plastic flexible battery case tore or I inadvertently punctured it with the plastic spade tool. Either way, my responsibility. Just surprised that a discharged battery would ignite so quickly and burn so fiercely.

jaredjacobson

Phew! Glad you’re okay!

We had a chassis spew flames at work from an electrical short. We were all happy that the halon suppression system didn’t go off.

Those batteries can be scary. We used an old phone for white noise in our kids’ room. One day I noticed the battery had swelled to twice its size and popped the back cover off the phone. You can bet that got removed pretty quickly.

pendennis

Scary episode.

Saw a similar demo on the Smithsonian on their "Air Disasters" series, when a jet hauling Li Ion batteries crashed because of "spontaneous" ignition. The flames spread so quickly that the crew on the plane never had a chance. Believe it was a UPS flight, and it caused real changes in cargo hauling of Li Ion batteries.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

You are correct. Here’s an image of what’s left.

I have to add:

1) it’s completely my fault and responsibility. When I try to “rejuvenate” LI Ions that have discharged past the point that they won’t charge, I place them in a Pyrex dish and monitor closely. Today, I got over confident and sloppy. I thought the battery was completely discharged and I was careful not to short it, but obviously not careful enough - I should have removed it outside the house. I should know better.

2) I have been critical of Apples’s non repairability and non upgrade ability in the past (the battery should be easily removable or replaceable at a reasonable cost) and I haven’t changed my opinion. BUT, I will say:

(a) It was a gen 4 IPad Air, so I certainly got my use from it and the cost of ownership/year was very reasonable.
(b) the replacement cost was reasonable (similar to the original cost many years ago) and when I examined alternatives, it was clear that for a tablet, the IPad offered higher performance and features for the $ than the competition.
(c) the transition was absolutely seamless using ICloud. Took a couple of minutes to set up the IPad, walked away for an hour or so, and as far as I can tell, everything is back like it was - aps, Mail, images, music and text messages - amazing!

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Salutory tale. We have to stop this constant throw out and replace cycle we are in, for the good of everybody.

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

I had no idea about these batteries so a big thank you.

In reply to John’s comment above one can’t put the genie back in the bottle however absurd some aspects of our modern life are. The younger generation will have to manage their lives accordingly.

HOHIMER

TirX: Can you provide us with a concise, detailed, statement of the root cause for this event, as you understand it? I do not understand how, using plastic tools by an experienced tech, could cause this to happen.
What caused it to ignite?

Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Yes lithium is a highly flamable metal.
It is not a good idea to use water to extinguish the a metal fire.
The metal reacts with the water producing hydrogen. The hydrogen can ignite with disasterous results.
Carbon dioxide extinguishers are also counter productive be ause the flaming metal can take oxygen out of the carbon dioxide.
Usually metal fires are extinguished using DRY sand to smother the fire.

Bison Bud

Wow, you are lucky to have controlled the damages and not had a bigger fire or gotten badly burned yourself! Frankly, any battery can pull unlimited current if the terminals are shorted resulting in arc-welding temperatures in milliseconds (not to mention the explosion of the battery itself). So your advice to keep the terminals covered when transporting batteries is really good advice that should be heeded by all. Not really criticism intended here, but I would have drained the battery as low as I could get it before attempting to replace it, especially having to pry it loose like that. This may not have prevented an explosion, but could have reduced the overall reaction considerably.

Anyway, it's really too bad that manufacturers have tried to build in device obsolescence by not making the batteries easily replaceable! All rechargeable batteries wear out and making them easily replaceable should be a product requirement. This is the primary reason I'm still using a 5 year old phone, as you simply can't seem to buy one with a replaceable battery anymore. They also seem to be phasing out the use of SD memory cards in phones and that's an important feature for me as well. I've posted about this several times wondering why folks just didn't seem to care, but obviously they don't and the manufactures are taking full advantage of it. Maybe if we all asked for/demanded these features, they might became available again. Instead, it appears that one either buys a new device every couple years or simply does without.

Woodworm65 Loc: Lombard, IL

This is becoming a common problem with all rechargeable batteries a friend of mine works for a company (name withheld) that are doing extensive test on all of the li ion batteries including the world famous Tesla batteries and the battery banks for his solar roofs and guess what they all have potential fire risks called thermal run away, there was a battery storage warehouse in Morris I’ll that took 2 weeks to extinguish due to the fact that the only way to put the fire out is with cement to smother the flames, there are countless fires of both the electrified cars and the battery walls that no one hears about but sooner or later it will be published so in the mean time buyer beware these can become time bombs with very devastating results, I have personally seen the videos of the extreme heat and fires they can create.

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

I’m sure TriX will really appreciate your insightful comment - NOT.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Delta's requirements
https://www.delta.com/us/en/baggage/prohibited-or-restricted-items/battery-or-fuel-powered

Fire in the cargo hold of a Delta airlines flight from Salt Lake City to Bozeman,
https://www.consumerreports.org/faa/battery-fire-in-delta-cargo-hold/

Likely there will always be those choose to who ignore (No User Serviceable Parts) labels believing they don't need to be "checked out" on the device... Oh well...

"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other."
Benjamin Franklin Poor Richard's Almanack, 1743

Please Stay Safe...