THE DARK SIDE OF LITHIUM BATTERIES

What to do when the lithium ion battery inflates, and what does it mean?

Steve Smith talks about the dark side of Lithium batteries, and what it means for that bloated battery.

Episode #8-07 released on October 8, 2017

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Lithium ion and polymer batteries are currently the power source of choice when powering our devices, whether it be computer mice, smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc. But this amazing power storage medium also comes with a dark side.

Charging and discharging Lithium Ion, Polymer, etc. batteries does cause electrochemical oxidation of the electrolyte producing gases, usually caused by faulty charging, overcharging, bad charging practices, age of the battery, etc.

Some individuals may be extremely lucky never to have any device suffer from the infamous lithium battery bulge, and in some cases, maybe you don't notice. But when you become aware of the lithium ion battery bulge curse, there are only a few things you can do to deal with it.

First, if you are currently charging the device, stop charging it immediately. The bulge indicates that the device is now circumventing battery safety mechanisms.

Second, if you are using the device, turn it off. Keep the device unpowered and if possible, extract the battery from the device. If not, wait for the battery bulge to disappear before following the next step, but do not pierce the battery. If you pierce the battery, you will be exposed to carbon dioxide, and many other dangerous fumes that can affect your health negatively. If it is on fire, you can put out all lithium ion battery fires with water. While not recommended, you can. This is true for all lithium batteries, except for lithium metal batteries. Those require a class D fire extinguisher.

Third, safely dispose of any damaged lithium batteries properly. Many manufactures will take back their batteries, and many cities do have recycling services specific to that cause, make sure you contact your city for details. If the battery is not removable, consider seeing a device repair service to remove the battery, or better yet, if possible, the manufacture themselves for removal and replacement with a safer battery.

Host : Steve Smith | Music : | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Dot Net

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