Another issue of low quality cellphone batteries
By dolce_vita78
@dolce_vita78 (8062)
Philippines
October 4, 2009 1:36am CST
Curtis Sathre said it was like a bomb going off. His 13-year-old son Michael stood stunned, his ears ringing, hand gushing blood and body covered in black ash.
In a split second last August, fragments from Michael's exploding cell phone had hit him between the eyes and lodged in the ceiling of the family's home in Oceanside, Calif.
Over the past two years, federal safety officials have received 83 reports of cell phones exploding or catching fire, usually because of incompatible, faulty or counterfeit batteries or chargers. Burns to the face, neck, leg and hip are among the dozens of injury reports the agency has received.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is providing tips for cell phone users to avoid such accidents and has stepped up oversight of the wireless industry. There have been three voluntary battery recalls, and the CPSC is working with companies to create better battery standards.
U.S. phone makers and carriers say most fires and explosions are caused by counterfeit batteries and note that in a country with some 170 million cell phone users, the number of accidents is extremely low.
Though legitimate batteries can go wrong, there is a greater chance that poorly made, counterfeit ones will lack safety devices to detect overheating or overcharging. The lithium-ion batteries found in most cell phones can overheat if, for example, heat vents are covered.
Have you checked your cellphone and its battery lately?
41 responses
@blizchell08 (22)
•
11 Apr 11
Yes. Because this is not new to us. I have heard lot of problems just like this. Thats why i am very careful with my cellphones. Sometimes this issue will not happen if the users will use its cellphone carefully. I say this because there are some users that they leave their cellphone even though it is charging and it causes overheat.
1 person likes this
@tintinmorales (17)
•
10 Apr 11
be sure that the batteries of the cellphone you purchase are of good quality many cellphones now a days just explode because of its battery.. many incidents are reported.. check the label of the battery if it is suitable for your cellphone... dont just use any battery consult the store or cellphone services to be sure in what to use as a battery for your cellphones.
1 person likes this
@khatty01 (32)
•
10 Apr 11
We must be very careful in buying in order to avoid situations like this. We must buy batteries of cellphones at trusted stores only. There are a lot of stores who sell batteries which are not original. The proper authority must also take actions to these. They must be very strict with it, especially to those who imitates/pirates cellphone batteries. I buy cellphone batteries at trusted stores so I'm pretty much sure that it has a high quality.
1 person likes this
@ravenclaw_samwise (23)
•
10 Apr 11
yes, i am particular on the battery of a cellphone whenever i buy one, i usually ask the sales boy or sales girl about the battery if it's of good quality, and if how many days would it range until it would be drained of.
1 person likes this
@jhoverly (21)
• Philippines
10 Apr 11
I bought an extra battery for my cellphone for emergency use. I don't have enough money so I prefer to buy the cheap one. After using it for sometimes, the battery was already destroyed because it is not compatible with my cellphone. From that on, I've learned some lessons from it.
1 person likes this
@khimmy_30 (12)
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10 Apr 11
i am always careful with my battery. i always give a time to it. i don't want it to be overcharge. because this could lead to explosion, i heard this from several news. so i always buy a first class batteries.
1 person likes this
@JAMartinez (16)
• Philippines
20 Oct 09
Scccaaarrryyy.... this incidents would scare buyers cellphone batteries, in most cases its the fault of buyers because they buy batteries which are not expensive or cheap batteries and they did not know that it might be one of the counterfeited batteries which will cause explosion, fire and others. Buyers of cellphone batteries should be careful and see if what they are buying are the good quality cellphone batteries.
@JAMartinez (16)
• Philippines
20 Oct 09
The company should also add more authentication to determine that it is not counterfeited. They should also check their process in producing their batteries and before they will sell it.
@harold1688 (40)
• Philippines
9 Apr 11
safeness of the products should be consider in all terms.most of the mobile phone companies follow standards in manufacturing cellphones.accidents caused by cellphones were sometimes caused by the incorrect usage of the gadget like leaving it charging for so long exceeding the hours that is required for the battery to be charged.only few cases that were caused by the defective batteries...we should follow the required instruction so that we could avoid any accidents that could hurt us.when buying cellphones lets check first if it has a original battery and not a class A battery.
1 person likes this
@cecille08 (13)
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7 Feb 12
IN such issue, companies who produces cellphone batteries should always be aware to the rules of Consumer Product Safety Commission. They should test and examine the batteries first before launching it in the market. Quality and assurance of the product is important to the customers so the company have to be careful in producing products that will be sold in the market.
Another reason behind this is that, consumers has also mistake in charging their batteries. They will charge it and leave it for how many hours and that's the time that it will overheat and got destroyed. Both parties should always be aware and careful to avoid such incident.
@nhovex (12)
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8 Feb 12
When i checked my cellphone and its battery i just thought that it was a china phone because one day it was overcharge and it bulge.They say that if it was a dualsim it was already a china phone. This was the only phone that i can afford in buying before.The china phone that i used before just stayed for me in less than one year compared to the phone of my dad that was a original he used it for almost 8 years until now and the batteries are not yet destroyed in can last for 5-7 days before it shut down.To avoid this such incident stated in the article we must be careful in using our cellphones and batteries.
@estoestah_tilado (12)
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8 Feb 12
By this issue customers should be more careful in charging their phones. As much as possible they shouldn't leave it to avoid overcharging and overheating of batteries. this is alarming because many of us use phones and no one wants to be injured like in the said matter where some encounter incidents of fire and explosions. We don't guarantee that what we are using now cannot lead us to accidents specially we don't know if all fake batteries had been really recalled. Maybe some of it are already sold before the recall of the said counterfeit batteries.
@devycornel (11)
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8 Feb 12
For now, i often check my cellphone battery because of the sense that its not totally a somewhat business check that should be. However, I've experienced that some cellphone battery is not okey and it bulge for the reason of over charging. maybe the reason is that the quality of the battery is not good because of the materials that they have use in that of the battery. We experience that having a cellphone on it is a part of our daily life. We can't then check the features of the cellphone that we have including the battery that the cellphone have. We must then check the quality of this in order to be safe and can use for such purpose.
@aims0824 (12)
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9 Feb 12
As far as I know, I haven't used any battery not compatible to my cellphone nor used charger not compatible with it. I usually buy brand new cellphones to make sure that every part of the cp is an original one. I've been hearing news about fires which started from shortage of the charger or explosion of batteries and it was so alarming. To make sure that no similar incident would take place, we need to make sure that what we're using are compatible. You can find that in the handout or user guide which comes along with the original packaging of the cellphone. To get rid of fake batteries and chargers, I suggest that we go to the outlet where guaranteed original ones are being sold. We can also choose to go to servicing centers and checked with them the compatibility of your gadgets
@meena_artisan (39)
• Philippines
28 Feb 10
For how many years that I've been using cellphones, I never checked the battery..^^with this story I'm gonna be more cautious. Last year my brother's cellphone exploded on the bed while he was charging it. He's lucky that it was on his bed unlike the kid in the story, but not so lucky enough because it almost caught his room on fire...good thing He was responsive enough to do precautionary actions...So whenever we buy cellphones and batteries, I think it's safer and more economical if we go to those trustworthy ones, and those operating with permits. We have to take it seriously or else,this will take us seriuously too..^^coffee time
@giovanni1326 (71)
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22 Feb 10
it is disappointing to know that these kind of accidents is happening. And well known companies are the ones causing it. But I dont blame only these companies, but also the ones producing these low quality batteries illegally. Governments officials should be more aggressive in stopping the operations of these illegal operations to help prevent or stop these kind of disturbing incidents. Firms producing these original parts should also help in stopping the operations of illegal producers.
@LHONSTAR (27)
• Philippines
22 Feb 10
Hearing those news is frightening, specially that almost all of our family members uses cellphones.Maybe the best thing we have to do is to buy batteries from authorized dealers and avoid to buy those low price imitated batteries, it may cause us accidents.prevention is better than cure!so we have to be cautious in buying batteries.
@Bausta (15)
• Philippines
25 Feb 10
The producer of the cellphone batteries must check the content of the product. They should be aware of the causes and effect of their product. They should test it first before releasing it to the public. The victim should not also overheat the cellphones so that it can prevent explosion. Users must buy a cellphone that is suitable to them so that it wont cause any accident.
@Marikaru (47)
• Philippines
11 Apr 11
Manufacturers must to something to improve their strategies. They should analyze their plan to be sure in making their products. In this case it is very disappointing because the battery used exploded. The Government should be more strict. So users beware.
@naelahfaisalmasacal (16)
•
31 Jan 12
ADDITIONAL POINTS
We can't always blame the company who produce that counterfeit batteries in the market. We must also take into considerations that we e=users are also one one who will be blame of, because we're the one who buy that counterfeit batteries. Yah, it is not expensive, but in the long run it can cause us more than what we expect. We also must always aware of the precautions and how to use it properly for our safeness.
And therefore, the company must voluntarily pull out all the products in the market and just improve their products.
