iPhone 4 allegedly combusts while charging overnight

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 68
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    What was described here is not at all inconsistent with Lithium battery failure. There are plenty of sites on the net that show what happens when a lithium battery ends up in thermal run away. Apple is fortunate in that they have the battery technology and control circuitry that minimizes this happening but minimizing does not mean zeroing out the possibility.



    Now all of this noise she is making is another issue altogether. One has to wonder what her motivation is. From my perspective this is no different than gasoline, you fill up your car weekly with what is a very danderous fluid. Every once in a while that fluid catches on fire maybe due to a leak, road damage or bad handling. You don't however see people demanding that car manufactures start adding even more warning labels to their products. Well OK if lawyers get involved there is no limit to the demands that might be asked for. However the layman understands that gasoline burns and batteries are dangerous.



    It makes you wonder if people actually read the warning labels on batteries in general. Even the lowly AA battery can start a fire. Lithium batteries are just packed with energy so when something does go wrong it can be exciting.



    In any event many of you guys aren't doing yourselves any favors by attacking this woman. Especially if you tend to bury your head in the sand over the technical issues surrounding lithium batteries.
  • Reply 42 of 68
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacVicta View Post


    I can't see her face and body so I don't know how to feel about this. I'd sympathize with her plight if she was young and hot, or milf-like. But if she's unattractive and/or overweight then this means nothing to me.



    LOL



    Well done, sir.
  • Reply 43 of 68
    She should be thankful that Apple was kind enough to provide her with a replacement. My APC UPS for my computer blew up about a year ago because of power surge. Just last month, the TV in my parents house blew up in the middle of the night but the manufacturer did not offer them a replacement. As an engineer, I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the iPhone but everything to do with the electrical line, a small surge in power could have caused this problem.
  • Reply 44 of 68
    milkmagemilkmage Posts: 152member
    given the amount of attention Apple gets (good or bad) for EVERYTHING THEY DO.. antennagate, heatgate, wifigate..



    there's no way this is a widespread problem.. it's statistically anomalous.
  • Reply 45 of 68
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I'm impressed we hear about so few of these devices catching fire when you consider the numbers involved and the abuse we geese our CE.
  • Reply 46 of 68
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    What was described here is not at all inconsistent with Lithium battery failure. There are plenty of sites on the net that show what happens when a lithium battery ends up in thermal run away. Apple is fortunate in that they have the battery technology and control circuitry that minimizes this happening but minimizing does not mean zeroing out the possibility.



    Now all of this noise she is making is another issue altogether. One has to wonder what her motivation is. From my perspective this is no different than gasoline, you fill up your car weekly with what is a very danderous fluid. Every once in a while that fluid catches on fire maybe due to a leak, road damage or bad handling. You don't however see people demanding that car manufactures start adding even more warning labels to their products. Well OK if lawyers get involved there is no limit to the demands that might be asked for. However the layman understands that gasoline burns and batteries are dangerous.



    It makes you wonder if people actually read the warning labels on batteries in general. Even the lowly AA battery can start a fire. Lithium batteries are just packed with energy so when something does go wrong it can be exciting.



    In any event many of you guys aren't doing yourselves any favors by attacking this woman. Especially if you tend to bury your head in the sand over the technical issues surrounding lithium batteries.



    I'm tempted to delete all the posts in this thread leaving just this one?
  • Reply 47 of 68
    misamisa Posts: 827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by loveagator View Post


    She should be thankful that Apple was kind enough to provide her with a replacement. My APC UPS for my computer blew up about a year ago because of power surge. Just last month, the TV in my parents house blew up in the middle of the night but the manufacturer did not offer them a replacement. As an engineer, I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the iPhone but everything to do with the electrical line, a small surge in power could have caused this problem.



    One day about 2 years ago, my laptop was left plugged into the wall (not the UPS,) the security system started making unhealthy beeping noises before finally failing. The battery for the security system had literately cracked, but this was a lead-acid one. Once I disconnected it, the security system came back up. Meanwhile I went to the laptop which had been left charging, and had several USB things plugged into it, all the USB devices were dead except the hub. I connected two and two together and determined that the utility power must have done a number on both devices. So I have a bunch of USB stuff for the laptop that no longer works, and the USB ports are dead on the laptop as well. The TV stuff was plugged into APC surge protector, and the desktop computers were plugged into a APC UPS, and all that gear was fine (but later discovered that the battery in the APC was not holding a charge at all when the power went out.) One of the USB devices also had a wall-wart, so what I believe happened is that device got fried by a surge, and blew out all the devices plugged into the USB hub, including the laptop.



    The moral of the story is that you're responsible directly for what you have control over. Had the laptop been plugged into APC as well, maybe it would have avoided being damaged. So don't plug your expensive toys into the wall outlet.
  • Reply 48 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dunks View Post


    Sounds like someone didn't read the article.



    Ah thank you! I read the article but I just don't believe that part. You can blame my Brooklyn upbringing for having no faith in people
  • Reply 49 of 68
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Granmastak View Post


    Ah thank you! I read the article but I just don't believe that part.



    Yes, because as we all know it's literally, against-the-laws-of-the-universe impossible, for Apple products to malfunction
  • Reply 50 of 68
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zeromeus View Post


    It's VERY unlikely that charging the phone would cause it to heat up and sizzle like she claimed. I've had my phone under my sweater while it charges once and for only about 10 minutes because I wasn't in the car. I came back into the car with the phone displaying that it stopped charging due to the heat level. I then unplugged it, wait for 2 minutes and plugged it in. It charge to full by the time I arrive home. No overheat, no combustion or sizzle. Just an awesome phone that knows how to shut itself off when it's too hot to charge.



    Yes, it's unlikely - but not impossible. With 100 M units sold (or whatever the number is), one can expect a few with manufacturing defects and it's entirely possible that there was a battery defect or another manufacturing defect.



    Even at 1 part per million failure rate, 100 phones would fail.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by loveagator View Post


    She should be thankful that Apple was kind enough to provide her with a replacement. My APC UPS for my computer blew up about a year ago because of power surge. Just last month, the TV in my parents house blew up in the middle of the night but the manufacturer did not offer them a replacement. As an engineer, I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the iPhone but everything to do with the electrical line, a small surge in power could have caused this problem.



    I had to laugh about the line where the outlet was tested "and found to be working properly". So what? If the voltage is OK today, how do you guarantee that you didn't have a power surge yesterday?
  • Reply 51 of 68
    doh123doh123 Posts: 323member
    This news just in... Apple releases a statement to the press to tell idiots around the world that every single electronic device ever made in the world by any company or person has the potential to catch fire!
  • Reply 52 of 68
    tmallontmallon Posts: 39member
    I dropped my 2008 macbook off the roof of my house, into a drum of gas, and then when I charged it over night it blew up, I contacted apple, the would not give me a brandnew 2011 Macbook pro, insted they were nice and replaced my model with the same thing I had.. So insted of being happy I got a replacement of what I had, I will go to the media to try and get something better...





    That woman is nuts
  • Reply 53 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zeromeus View Post


    She deserves prison time for fraud.





    Wow. I have been amused at all the "user error" pronouncements, but this one should win some sort of a prize.



    Prison time? Fraud?



    Off with her head!
  • Reply 54 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. H View Post


    Yes, because as we all know it's literally, against-the-laws-of-the-universe impossible, for Apple products to malfunction



    Exactly
  • Reply 55 of 68
    eldernormeldernorm Posts: 232member
    Apple announced that it is going to build the "iPlane". Since it is being designed by Apple, it will not be affected by gravity.



    Have a nice day.



    en LOL
  • Reply 56 of 68
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. H View Post


    Yes, because as we all know it's literally, against-the-laws-of-the-universe impossible, for Apple products to malfunction



    Look up 'straw man argument' - since that's what you're doing.



    No one said it was impossible for an Apple product to fail. The person you were responding to simply said that they didn't believe this particular person.



    If you read through this thread, most Apple fans believe it's a possibility - any device can fail. But with so many millions sold, it's obviously a very rare occurrence.
  • Reply 57 of 68
    tjwaltjwal Posts: 404member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by loveagator View Post


    She should be thankful that Apple was kind enough to provide her with a replacement. My APC UPS for my computer blew up about a year ago because of power surge. Just last month, the TV in my parents house blew up in the middle of the night but the manufacturer did not offer them a replacement. As an engineer, I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the iPhone but everything to do with the electrical line, a small surge in power could have caused this problem.



    Actually as an electrical engineer I can say you don't know what you're talking about. It is virtually impossible for an electrical surge to make it through the charging circuit without damaging the charger. Since the charger wasn't damaged the fault was in the phone. The results shown are exactly what you get when a lithium battery fails. The small number of cases reported are evidence of the reliability of the manufacturing process but given the millions of phones sold there will always be some manufacturing defects.



    Likely every single cell phone made today uses lithium batteries so it is not just an iphone issue, but I dont' think it makes any sense to post warnings when the likelihood of failure is < 1 in a hundred million.
  • Reply 58 of 68
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjwal View Post


    Actually as an electrical engineer I can say you don't know what you're talking about. It is virtually impossible for an electrical surge to make it through the charging circuit without damaging the charger. Since the charger wasn't damaged the fault was in the phone. The results shown are exactly what you get when a lithium battery fails. The small number of cases reported are evidence of the reliability of the manufacturing process but given the millions of phones sold there will always be some manufacturing defects.



    Likely every single cell phone made today uses lithium batteries so it is not just an iphone issue, but I dont' think it makes any sense to post warnings when the likelihood of failure is < 1 in a hundred million.



    Uh huh. No one has ever had a TV or other electrical device damaged by a lightning strike or power surge...... (and how do you know that the charger wasn't damaged?)
  • Reply 59 of 68
    tjwaltjwal Posts: 404member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    Uh huh. No one has ever had a TV or other electrical device damaged by a lightning strike or power surge...... (and how do you know that the charger wasn't damaged?)



    Sure and the power supply is the first thing to go. I read the articl,e the charger was tested and found to be working.
  • Reply 60 of 68
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tjwal View Post


    Sure and the power supply is the first thing to go. I read the articl,e the charger was tested and found to be working.



    Yes, and you know that the one they tested is the one that was in use when the failure occurred because?



    Granted, I think it's entirely possible that the phone failed. But that doesn't mean that the lady is being entirely truthful - especially since she was so eager to upgrade to the iPhone 4S.
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