Phone Battery Bulging - Reason and Safety

Have you ever felt as if the back of your phone is bulging despite the phone not having a problem whatsoever? If that’s the case, your phone probably suffers from phone battery bulging. No need to worry, because battery bulging is a common occurrence especially on detachable batteries. However, the occurrence being common does not mean that it’s a good thing. As a matter of fact, we need to avoid phone battery bulging. What is actually phone battery bulging, and why is it bad?  

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Reason for Phone Battery Bulging

Below is the common reason for phone battery bulging:

Overcharging

Overcharging might seem harmless, but it is the most common reason for phone battery bulging. It is because of the fact that overcharging can accelerate the parasitic reaction that happens between electrodes and electrolyte. The reaction also results with the release of heat and grass.

Terrible Quality

Quality of the battery also plays a part at phone battery bulging. If the battery has terrible design and poor quality for the cell, it can result in contamination, and we do not want contamination on our batteries.

Mechanical Damage

Mechanical damage can happen during specific events such as cell assembly or the usage of the product. Mechanical damage would usually be accompanied with other mark such as a spark or a smoke.

Hot Temperature

Yes, excessive hot temperature can damage a battery. As a matter of fact, some batteries will be deemed unusable once the temperature reaches a certain point. For this reason, it is best to avoid hot temperature. At least, you will need to do some research to find out what is the maximum hot temperature of the battery in order to work properly. 

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Deep Discharge

Deep discharge can cause swelling not without reason. First, deep discharge can cause safety hazards. The anode’s protective layer, called Solid Electrolyte, will slowly decompose itself. Deep charge can also result in gassing, and gassing can create jellyroll distortion that will result in phone battery bulging. 

There are many reasons why a battery can have phone battery bulging, and it is important for us to know first what the cause is. It is only after knowing the fact we can then try to solve the problem of the bulging battery. Or else, we might do the wrong solution for the battery.

Samsung Cell Phone Battery Bulging

Believe it or not, but Samsung cell phone battery can also suffer from battery bulging Yes, even the Galaxy S series. They can bulge but not without reasons. Here are some reasons why your Samsung cell phone battery is bulging:

Age

Batteries made out of lithium-ion generate its power using chemical reaction. However, the chemical reaction is no longer perfect as time goes by, thus resulting in the formation of gas. The gass is the one that will result of the loss of chemical reaction’s health  and the loss of battery’s energy.

Defect

We have mentioned this before, but we will mention it again because this point really matters: never purchase the battery without checking the outer part of the product. Every layer is designed in such a way so that they can contain whatever is inside those layers. If the layer is a defect, it can result in a  serious manner such as swelling or even expression.

As a matter of fact, we have seen the example of explosion and that is no other than the infamous Samsung Galaxy Note 7 explosion. It was an example where poor design resulted in casualties and death. So always make sure to check the outer package thoroughly! 

Uncharged Batteries

If the battery is left for a long period of time, it will also result in the creation of gasses. It is ok if you are not using a certain device, but you will need to charge it plenty often so that the gas that might cause battery bulging can be prevented. 

Charger

Chargers that are low in quality tend to be inexpensive, but it also means that there might be some components missing. There are cases where the key components play a big role at the proper charging process. Lacking those components might result in swollen batteries.

Heat 

As stated before, heat tends to damage the battery faster. The higher the temperature is, the higher the risk of having fatal damage to the battery, and bulging is one of those damages. If it keeps being ignored, it might even lead to an explosion.

Is a bulging cell phone battery dangerous?

It is always necessary to take precautions when the phone battery is bulging. The sections above mentioned that explosions can always happen if the bulging is not taken seriously. There have been cases where explosions did happen, so don’t let it happen again. 

Phone battery bulging can also result in the damage of the phone’s inner parts. Bulging can result in leakage, and the chemical can leak to the inner parts of the phone, hence the damage to the phone’s inner parts.

What should we do?

If your phone battery is bulging, do not panic. Here are some things you should do it this happens to you:

Cool Dry Place

If the battery is recently swollen, it’s best to slow down/ run down the charging and keep watch of the battery. After that, put the battery in a cool, dry place so the damage of the phone battery bulging won’t be too severe. Then, you can do the next step, which is…

Repair Shop

Bring the phone to a repair shop and ask for repair or replacement. They are more likely to offer you a new battery that works in the similar way as the bulging phone, though.

Manufacture

There are some brands that offer guarantee on the phone’s parts. If your phone has those guarantees, it’s time to reclaim it.

Fix it by Yourself

You can always fix it by yourself, but doing so requires knowledge and safety equipment. Make sure you are ready when you’re fixing the battery by yourself.

Phone battery bulging might seem simple, but they can result in a massive damage if it continues to be ignored. So if you have bulging battery, it’s best to resolve it as soon as possible.