How to protect yourself when a lithium battery explodes?

Tencent digital news (good and) look at your home, look at your office, how many electronic devices? Laptops, smartphones, tablets, charging pads, chargers, and more? I bet you a lot.

Most of the time the electronics are working fine and if something goes wrong it can be a disaster within seconds.

Why do smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices explode? Take the GalaxyNote7 and the hoverboard, for example, which exploded. Today we'll take a look at why and how you can protect yourself and your family.

According to British regulations, I conducted electronic security tests and found that there are two major threats that users need to face:

-- batteries explode.

-- users touch high voltage (mostly through damaged equipment, wires, and sometimes poor design).

If it's a smartphone, a laptop, a battery charger, or something like that, a lot of times the problem comes from the charger, or the battery. Modern rechargeable batteries store a lot of power in a small space. Most of the time, the battery operates as intended, slowly delivering power in a controlled manner, and there is a risk of an explosion or fire if a cause causes the power to be released quickly.

I've seen batteries catch fire a few times, some deliberately, some unexpectedly, and I'm pretty impressed that we carry so much "power" in our pockets and backpacks.

Don't get me wrong, defective lithium-ion batteries are dangerous. They can explode. An explosion is not a light noise, like a party firework, that makes an adult jump and a child scream and scream. A battery explosion makes a loud, heavy sound, and the shell surrounding the device breaks, creating a glass shock wave.

There was a bang, a splash of glass, and we had other concerns besides that, sometimes molten lithium would get splashed on us, and it would release a pungent, toxic gas.

If you are outdoors, well ventilated, and away from combustible materials, it is unlikely that violent chemical reactions will occur. Unfortunately, explosions are often unexpected. We may have our devices in our pockets when it explodes, or we may be charging our cars while we're driving on the highway, or we may be sleeping with our phones by our heads in the middle of the night.

Thank god. Explosions and fires don't happen very often.

Why did the device explode and catch fire? The reasons can be summarized into three categories:

-- manufacturing defects: poor batteries in a particular batch (as in the Note7), assembly line problems, component damage, or the use of the wrong components can cause equipment problems. While the media likes to blame manufacturing for equipment fires and recalls, manufacturing rarely causes such problems because of a rigorous set of safety checks by established manufacturers.

Design flaws or fake products: generally speaking, only cheap, poorly made equipment has this problem. Some manufacturers make things without the right skills, others are opportunistic. If you look at eBay and amazon, these products are all over the place, and it's hard for the average person to tell which ones are good and which ones are not, and many times the devices are labeled with fake logos, so it's hard to tell them apart. Most cheap and fake products are poorly made and have little safety technology.

-- product damage during use: why does the product become unsafe? Improper use by end users is the main cause. Throwing equipment around, getting wet, charging it with the wrong charger, and leaving it in the sun should all be avoided.

Good devices have safety features that prevent overheating, prevent overcharging, prevent excessive discharge, prevent short circuits, and don't charge with the wrong charger. With these technologies, damaged devices don't become dangerous devices, but they're not 100% safe.

What if I can protect myself and my family?

I wouldn't expect you to spend thousands of dollars on test equipment. Still, you can spot most threats. In fact, I can identify 90% of the unsafe devices by visual inspection.

There are some reasons that may cause the equipment to catch fire and explode. We can exclude these factors. Here are some methods:

1. Purchase products of well-known brands from well-known retailers. You may pay a little more for a good quality charger or cable, but it's worth it because it will protect your life and keep your family safer. It's best not to buy from eBay or amazon, and if you suspect you're getting a cheap, low-quality device, don't use it.

2. Do not use if the equipment is damaged or shows any signs of overheating, expansion or deformation. The same goes for chargers and power cords. Some equipment is not safe, I can't find it, mainly because the damage is hard to detect. I suggest you check the equipment once a year and replace the damaged products in time.

3, do not let the device too hot, especially not too hot when charging. Don't charge your smartphone in your pocket or sports bag. Don't put it on the dashboard of your car to charge while you're in the sun.

4. Do not charge the device when no one is looking. Most people don't do this, and I recommend at least keeping rechargeable devices away from combustibles. Small lithium batteries can quickly ignite a wooden table, or bedroom furniture, causing disaster.

5. If the equipment is recalled by the manufacturer, please follow the manufacturer's instructions.

If in doubt, ask a professional for help.

Don't underestimate the danger of lithium batteries catching fire quickly. If you look at the video below, you can see that the lithium battery is terrible. It was on the remote control plane. It was fine.

If you're really unlucky and your device catches fire, do this:

-- don't put water on the fire: watering only makes things worse. Use a ClassD dry powder extinguisher or a fire blanket.

-- don't breathe in the smoke.

Don't be a hero. Call the fire department.

Again, electronics are extremely safe in general, and if you're too worried to sleep, there's no need. Buy well-known brand products from reliable places, do not misuse or damage equipment, generally there will be no problem.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.