How Truthful is this.

[issatree]

Hi All,
Had an Email with Photos, about a chap who answered his Mobile Phone while it was still being charged from the power.

The Phone Blew Up, & the Chap Died from the Blast, with Photos of his Hand that was very badly Burnt.

So, the Question being, is this a Hoax or is it Fairdinkum ???.

[Master Splinter]

Hoax....especially if it happened in a hard to verify place like Mumbai or Thailand, and it had a warning about phone radiation being 10-100-1000 times higher while charging.

HOWEVER it is possible for a lithium polymer battery to catch fire very suddenly while charging and there have been some cases, often related to cheap chinese chargers and cheap chinese batteries.

[BobL]

There is an alleged case of someone being electrocuted when using a mobile while charging but it has not been substantiated.
There is nothing on Snopes or Urban Legends about anyone being "blown up" so unless it's a new one I would rate it as Bollocks.

[wheelinround]

So if a battery drill charger or any converter can explode and batteries can explode why not a mobile phone???

I guess ALL these people are just fakes

[A Duke]

Just a few more reasons not to change my mind about not having one.

[BobL]

Just a bit of clarification.

It's possible to make a lithium battery explode, just charge it with a non-lithium battery charger , or as some eejets have done, removed the protective circuitry from the Li battery charger.
Given the large numbers of batteries being used, there is always a chance that a charger or battery will malfunction, usually they just catch fire but there also is a chance that a battery will explode. Lead acid batteries can also explode (with an even greater frequency that Li batteries) but we seem to accept these in our vehicles and in other devices,

A properly functioning new Lo charger and battery should be relatively safe. Newer batteries/chargers have the protective circuitry on the battery instead of the charger, a pressure relief valve which prevents an outright explosion, and a thermal cut out that cuts input power on event of the battery going over temp.

A number of people have been burned from Li batteries catching fire (not even under charge, i.e. just in the pocket) but I cannot find any report of a death from this effect.
This one was reported last year http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ex...709-2pndq.html

[A Duke]

Hi,
It's like the number of cigarette lighter that go up in peoples pockets. Usually when they welding or some such, it's deliberately not publicised to save the trees that would be used if every one went back to matchers.
Regards

P/s To get back on subject, if you blow your head off you won't have to worry about the radiation (mythical or not) affecting you down the track.

[Master Splinter]

I liked this one:

"Last year, an Irish Samsung S3 owner claimed his handset burst into flames as he was driving his car.
However, it was later discovered, following tests by the Fire Investigations UK (FIUK) team, that the phone had been previously placed in the microwave to remove water damage and this may have been the cause of the fire"

[NCArcher]

My extensive research (*) indicates that of all the reported phone explosions
65% were totally fabricated to get more hits on the internet
26% were as a result of missuse
8% were a deliberate attempt to make the battery explode
1% were actual malfunctions of the battery, usually from sub standard manufacturing processes i.e. fake or knock off phone, resulting in the phone catching fire or getting very hot and causing minor burns but no deaths.


(*) I did exactly as much research as anybody else claiming to have researched something on the internet. I read a couple of blogs and looked at some photos.