Second iPhone battery fire in two days affects Spanish Apple store
Apple's Calle Colon store in Valencia, Spain was evacuated on Wednesday after an iPhone's battery exploded during repair, filling one floor of the building with smoke.
The incident took place at 1:30 in the afternoon, according to Las Provincias. Firefighters and police were called but reportedly didn't intervene, as Apple workers managed to air out the store by opening windows and smothering the battery with sand.
There also don't appear to have been any injuries, despite the battery exploding instead of simply burning.
On Tuesday, an Apple employee received minor burns when an iPhone battery caught fire at a store in Zurich, Switzerland. In total seven people required medical help, though no one had to be hospitalized.
The two fires could be connected to Apple's discounted replacements in the wake of admitting it slows down iPhones with weak batteries. A higher number of people are likely bringing in iPhones for service, increasing the odds of trouble, especially with components as volatile as lithium-ion batteries.
The incident took place at 1:30 in the afternoon, according to Las Provincias. Firefighters and police were called but reportedly didn't intervene, as Apple workers managed to air out the store by opening windows and smothering the battery with sand.
There also don't appear to have been any injuries, despite the battery exploding instead of simply burning.
On Tuesday, an Apple employee received minor burns when an iPhone battery caught fire at a store in Zurich, Switzerland. In total seven people required medical help, though no one had to be hospitalized.
The two fires could be connected to Apple's discounted replacements in the wake of admitting it slows down iPhones with weak batteries. A higher number of people are likely bringing in iPhones for service, increasing the odds of trouble, especially with components as volatile as lithium-ion batteries.
Comments
Try dealing with a massive line of people pissed because they want a battery they don’t need replaced. It’s maddening right now.
I am definitely going to take advantage of the $29 battery replacement for my 6+ even though I've experienced zero battery related problems so far. But I'll wait a few months for the current rush to subside. When I was at an Apple Store today there was a fairly steady stream of folks dropping off and picking up iPhones related to battery replacement. A fair bit of whining to be heard as well because the expected wait was about 3 hours. Apple must have bumped up the staffing a bit because the Apple Store staff seemed to be doing a really good job of processing the flood of service requests.
BTW, saw one AirPods package sitting on the shelf for sale even though the online store is quoting Jan 25-29 deliveries. The staff was speculating about how many more minutes it would last. The stores always seem to get a trickle of new products even when the online sales channel is backed up.
I think I’ll let Apple replace my battery ; )
I thought they had a robot doing this...?
But it seems that Apple trains store personnel in dealing with battery fires. Alarming that this is needed. Is there anything in the pipeline that is safer than Lithium Ion?
Sand, chalk powder or vermiculite are recommended to have on hand in case of accidental leakage while working with lithium batteries.
In case of thermal runaway , standard extinguishing substances can be used and I think water is one of the recommendations. The idea being that water would cool any cells surrounding the cells that caused the incident, and hopefully prevent them from adding to the problem.
What I'm not so clear on is if this is a simple safety measure or a requirement. I wonder if employees are required to wear any kind of protective clothing too.
have little if any protection against accidental twisting, bending, penetration etc, any of which could end up causing an explosion or fire - so yes Apple are responsible for the increased risk of events like these. Apple are also responsible for implementing software slowdowns without telling anyone AND giving the user no indication in software either that their phones are being throttled OR that their batteries are healthy or unhealthy - hence creating this whole situation. These are facts, no bias required.
Note: The glue was designed to be heated up and melt easily within a reasonable temperature, the procedure in itself should not heat up the batteries and causes explosion of any kind.
You're also making a lot of assumptions in your post without facts to back them up, but you're so far to the left thinking Apple is totally in the wrong no matter what, it doesn't matter what anyone tells you. I guess Apple was better off to just let your phone die instantly...Yeah thats a better idea!
What’s unnecessary about replacing a depleted battery? Just as with cars, you must change the battery when it’s time has come and for most people that means hiring someone to do it.