AA exploded in the cell phone charger!!!!

[tanasit]

RE: AA exploded in the cell phone charger!!!!

This belongs to my friend who only used it to charge his cell phone 1 time and left the AA battery in the charger for 2 months and one day...

He said it sounded like 5 balloons bursted at the same time. The pressure pushed the battery throught the threaded head out cleanly ripped the foam sheet and picture shows the negative plate still left inside the charger body. The open side of the AA is the negative end.

Any idea why this happened? It was just sitting there not charging anything.

 

[ACMarina]

Apparently even when it's not charging the phone, the device was still drawing power from the battery. It leaked and then popped, I guess :shrug:

 

[hank]

I don't recognize this gadget, it apparently has a flashlight in a slot that's in the back of a box and has a USB to coaxial plug cable stored in the thing.

Can you scan/photograph the label on the device, or the box or instructions, to help identify it?

 

[TOOCOOL]

I don't recognize this gadget, it apparently has a flashlight in a slot that's in the back of a box and has a USB to coaxial plug cable stored in the thing.

Can you scan/photograph the label on the device, or the box or instructions, to help identify it?

Its just an emergency cell phone charger powered by an AA

 

[KevinL]

Call Energizer and talk to them. I believe they have a guarantee for devices damaged by their battery (not sure whether this applies to US, but it should). I've dealt with them once for a battery that leaked, they were very interested in taking the battery and light back to their lab for analysis. They handled it in a very professional manner and in my case actually managed to find the reasons why the battery failed. I'm quite impressed by their expert analysis. :thumbsup:

If they will take it back, send it to them. Hopefully this process will help make batteries safer for all of us.

 

[VidPro]

Apparently even when it's not charging the phone, the device was still drawing power from the battery. It leaked and then popped, I guess :shrug:

i got a Similar but different one, and it does take tiny bits of power indeed, it HAS TO, because it stays connected internally, and when you put resistance (load) across the output, it turns itself on.

argg, while its a small lightweight charger, its not a battery holder TOO :-( mabey a piece of paper or plastic shoved in it, would have it Fully disconnected when not in use, then it can still be usefull for emergency, instead of discharged.

When running, mine uses 160ma at 5v, i assume the max on any of them is about 250ma at 5v , after some math that would be less than 1Amp draw from the cell, when on. there should never be a excessive discharge from that rate.

and on a more interesting, and probable cause note, It doesnt have Long springs, it is very short spring, like a nice shorty flashlight can have, it is Possible that undue pressure occured on the base of the battery? or it might be the model with no spring, and just compressing the battery between the contacts.

you could TRY this, put an O-Ring or a Glow ring on the end threads, not one that would go Under, but one that will stick between the 2 parts, and keep the tailcap (or head) from going the entire distance. the thing will still close up fully, and connect fully , the Glow-ring would have cute glow to it, and with it Smushed inbetween, it will give the battery 1mm more clearance , and still have it connected.

see the endcap? dont it look like it was jammed up into the electrolyte/plates roll? it seems to have become domed, and therfore doomed.

that would make me wonder about OTHER low spring or no spring items, And (@%#*$) twistys, hmm somthing to watch out for when your grinding your twisty down to attempt to get the (&$%#&) thing connected. hmm another good place or reason for a glow-O-Ring to keep excessive compression from occuring on a twisty.

definition of terms:
excessive compression: compress battery with screw compression device , bad idea

edited that, as usual.

 

[Haz]

This is interesting, i wonder if the instruction tells you to keep the AA battery outside of the charging unit. I would only use such device to charge my phone in an emergency, the last thing i want to find out is that the battery in the charger has run flat and cannot charge the phone when i need it the most.

 

[ACMarina]

It looks to me like you can keep the battery in the case, just above where it looks like the charger was setting..

 

[scott.cr]

I have that exact cell phone charger. That "Energizer" cell came with it, didn't it? If it did, I can virtually guarantee you that it is a fake Energizer.

BTW, there is a surface-mount LED on top of the PCB, it stays lit when the battery is installed. So there is some circuitry still drawing power when the item is not in use. Bad design. You discovered the inferiority of this product "the hard way."

 

[Ledean]

Generally not a good idea to charge non rechargable batteries .(from the photo it look like an alkaline battery ).

I am guessing that it was a high charge rate and it was designed to charge fast . And there was extra energy that was not able to be expelled as heat .
Only one way out which you found out.
I guess nobody got hurt ?

 

[elgarak]

Generally not a good idea to charge non rechargable batteries .(from the photo it look like an alkaline battery ).

I am guessing that it was a high charge rate and it was designed to charge fast . And there was extra energy that was not able to be expelled as heat .
Only one way out which you found out.
I guess nobody got hurt ?

As far as I understand it, the AA battery is not being charged. The AA battery is used to charge the cell phone/extend the cell phone rechargeable battery runtime when you're not near an outlet.

 

[jtice]

I dont have that same exact one,
but I noticed on mine, you cant put the cap on all the way tight.
If you do, a tiny LED on the top lights up real dim, and it draws power from the cell at all times.
Back it off a bit and it breaks contact.

You might have had yours on tight, and it drained the cell REAL dead.
Though, that SHOULD not make it explode, but thats all I can think of.

~John

 

[ACMarina]

"Shouldn't" is the key part, jtice

 

[Jay R]

i wonder if the instruction tells you to keep the AA battery outside of the charging unit.

Yes they do. Well, they did on my Dealextreme one.

 

[hank]

> It's just ...
and
> I have that exact cell phone charger.

Would either of you put any identifying information you have here? Any label on the device, any instruction sheet or package info? Care to say where you bought them?

If you open it up, the identifying information on any of the components?

I would guess you don't find any Underwriters Lab label or registration number, but if you do, that can be checked against the UL database to see if it's forged (that happens, UL will investigate). Other national inspection tags?

 

[hank]

Oh, and

> the AA battery is not being charged. The AA battery is used to
> charge the cell phone/extend the cell phone rechargeable battery

Is that a USB plug on one end of the cable? Where does that go?

 

[Jay R]

Oh, and

> the AA battery is not being charged. The AA battery is used to
> charge the cell phone/extend the cell phone rechargeable battery

Is that a USB plug on one end of the cable? Where does that go?

It's the plug that goes into the phone to charge it.

My version came with a number of leads to charge phones and MP3 players. There is a 2.5mm plug that goes into the top of the unit and the plug on the other end goes into whatever you are charging. A small booser circuit ups the voltage to around 5v. It can only handle very low currents though.

 

[tanasit]

I have that exact cell phone charger. That "Energizer" cell came with it, didn't it? If it did, I can virtually guarantee you that it is a fake Energizer.

BTW, there is a surface-mount LED on top of the PCB, it stays lit when the battery is installed. So there is some circuitry still drawing power when the item is not in use. Bad design. You discovered the inferiority of this product "the hard way."

He used a new Energizer exp 2014 in it.

 

[TPA]

Where did you find a single cell charger like this? I have the Energizer version of it which requires 2 AAs and is VERY picky about the batteries' voltage. The one I have is desgined to be used with Energizer's lithium AA batteries, so I'm assuming this is why it's picky about battery voltage. With mine, there's no such thing as partial charges. If you charge with it for more than 10 or so minutes, it'll force you to replace the batteries before it'll charge again.

Does yours have this problem? Where did you get it? Anyone know of a good place to pick up the single AA battery charger? I use my Energizer 2xAA charger with eneloops and my phone all the time, but I like the idea of a 1AA charger, esp. if it isn't as picky about voltage as the Energizer charger. I hate having 3/4 full AA batteries in the charger and it refusing to start.

 

[VidPro]

Where did you find a single cell charger like this? I have the Energizer version of it which requires 2 AAs and is VERY picky about the batteries' voltage. The one I have is desgined to be used with Energizer's lithium AA batteries, so I'm assuming this is why it's picky about battery voltage. With mine, there's no such thing as partial charges. If you charge with it for more than 10 or so minutes, it'll force you to replace the batteries before it'll charge again.

Does yours have this problem? Where did you get it? Anyone know of a good place to pick up the single AA battery charger? I use my Energizer 2xAA charger with eneloops and my phone all the time, but I like the idea of a 1AA charger, esp. if it isn't as picky about voltage as the Energizer charger. I hate having 3/4 full AA batteries in the charger and it refusing to start.

they sell all over e-bay. for about $10 and shipping. i got one for $9 total.

and mine can do the same thing you descibed, because in the single battery, its a boost curcuit to get to the voltage, it hits the alkaline hard, and the alkaline cant keep up.
Rested it will retrigger and restart. when i put cruddy "shelf aged" cells in mine from a dusty store shelf, it shut down even sooner. rested it will start up again and go for a long time again.
the lithium cell didnt have trouble with the load, and ran untill the battery was 80-90% extinguished.
because of the usual curcuit type used, they are highly dependant on the input voltage being maintained.

the speed of my single is relativly slow, takes hours to do full charges for things, i always wondered about the energyser, thanks for the info.

also as usual the ones with less curcuit junk and just raw power of batteries , i never had a problem with, there is a 4XAA device that is similar, it just limits to get to the 5V, ran off ni-mhy, alkaline, and lithium just fine. and charges many times faster too. it was only designed for one device though.
if you need portable charge and weight or size is not the problem, try and find the same idea behind the device, that has some real battery power in it, like li-ion ones exist too.