Given the possibility of theft, damage, and loss, packing your laptop in a checked bag is not a good idea to begin with. Even so, travelers continue to stow their computers and other large electronics in their checked luggage. But that could come to an end, now that the Federal Aviation Administration has urged airlines around the world to stop this practice, citing the fire and explosion risk posed by the batteries in these devices. [More]
lithium ion batteries
At Least 17 Lithium-Ion Batteries Have Exploded On Planes This Year
By 6.9.17
Many air travelers fly with multiple devices that use lithium-ion batteries: phones, laptops, tablets, e-readers, smartwatches, fitness band, and more. As these batteries have become so widely used, the number of incidents involving exploding lithium-ion batteries on planes also appears to be on the rise. [More]
Report: Samsung Adding Sony To Lineup Of Battery Suppliers For Galaxy S8
By 2.17.17
Remember that problem Samsung had with lithium-ion batteries exploding in its Galaxy Note7 devices? Sure you do: They were all (eventually) recalled due to their propensity to burst into flame. In an effort to prevent such a debacle from happening again, Samsung is reportedly throwing a third battery supplier into the mix. [More]
CPSC: Risk of Fire Is Real, And We Really Need To Modernize The Standards For Lithium-Ion Batteries
By 1.24.17
You’re probably within the explosion radius of at least once device containing a rechargeable lithium-ion battery right now, maybe even holding it on your lap or close to your face. Elliot Kaye, chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, wants to make sure that all of the rechargeable devices in your life are safer and less likely to burst into flames than they are now. [More]
Crushed Electronic Gadget Caused Fire On Qantas Flight
By 9.28.16
Discussion of the now-recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and its occasionally exploding batteries had an interesting side effect: it brought the problem of lithium-ion battery fires, even those caused by non-Samsung devices, back to the headlines. Like the device that was crushed inside the seat mechanism and caught fire during a recent flight from Los Angeles to New York. [More]
Spare Electronics Battery Catches Fire Aboard Delta Air Lines Flight
By 9.16.16
Crew aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Norfolk, VA to Atlanta this morning extinguished a spare electronics battery that caught fire in the rear of the aircraft. But no, Samsung says it probably wasn’t a Galaxy Note 7. [More]
Samsung Gets Headlines For Exploding Batteries, But It’s Not The First Or Last
By 9.13.16
While Samsung is receiving a lot of media attention this month for overheating battery issues in the new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and the following non-recall, it’s easy to forget that overheating, occasionally exploding batteries are an issue that has come along with the popularity of lithium-ion batteries. They’ve caused issues in everything from baby monitors to airliners to e-cigarettes to hoverboards, as well as an awful lot of portable computers. [More]
Plugging Your Phone In Overnight: To Charge, Or Not To Charge?
By 8.22.16
Anyone who’s ever jolted awake 30 minutes late for work because their phone’s battery died, thus keeping the device’s alarm clock from going off, may have been tempted to keep that thing plugged in all night, ensuring full battery. But is that overnight charge a good idea? [More]
HP And Sony Recall Laptop Batteries Due To Possible Overheating And Fires
By 6.27.16
Lithium-ion batteries are part of items that we use every day and we hardly think about them, but they can cause explosions and fires if they’re prone to overheating. That’s the case for batteries that are part of laptop computers sold in the last few years by HP and by Sony, and now those batteries have been recalled. [More]
Your Hoverboard Is No Longer Welcome On 3 More Airlines
By 12.10.15
Hoverboards: they’re self-balancing scooters that are currently a hot toy in the sense that they’re very popular, and a hot toy in the sense that they keep bursting into much-publicized flames, sometimes while in use. Airlines all over the world have asked customers to kindly leave their hoverboards on the ground. [More]
Tesla’s Worst Kept Secret Is Out: It’s Making Solar-Based Batteries For Homes, Businesses
By 5.1.15
For months Tesla CEO Elon Musk has subtly (and not so subtly) hinted that the company’s next big foray wouldn’t be another car, but a battery system aimed at homeowners, businesses and utilities. On Thursday night, he finally made the announcement most of us saw coming. [More]
NHTSA Investigating Electric Vehicle Batteries Following Chevy Volt Fire
By 11.11.11
As mass-produced plug-in electric vehicles continue to roll off assembly lines, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is taking a closer look at the batteries that power these cars following an incident in which a Chevy Volt caught fire three weeks after undergoing a NHTSA side-impact crash test. [More]
iPod Explodes In Class, Killing Nobody
By 2.26.10
An iPod erupted on a high school science room desk in Pentucket Regional High School in, MA yesterday. Supposedly… [More]
