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Is Swollen Battery Dangerous - Safety and Disposal?

May 27, 2022   Pageview:494

A bulging battery may seem like an insignificant issue, but it could actually be a pretty serious one. Lithium-ion batteries are the darlings of the current tech scene, but, as with everything, they have their pros and cons. A swollen battery is a result of too much current within one cell in your battery, causing it to accumulate heat and gases. It is not unusual to see batteries bulge up to the point that they break the devices that were once sealed within.

The swelling or over-protrusion of a Li-ion battery is normal at the time of being used - although the phenomenon is not very common,. There are situations where you find the Li-ion battery protruding because of some reason. The most common reason is overcharging of your battery, causing chemical reactions between electrodes and electrolyte, which results in the emission of heat and gases which expand within your battery, making your case bulge out, and may also crack.

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Is Swollen Car Battery Dangerous?

The battery could blow up or burn out when you are holding it, which is one of the biggest risks with a swollen battery. 

Poking at a swollen battery poses the risk of emitting some toxic gases into the air, causing the potential for a fire or an explosion. The gas build-up makes the swollen Li-ion battery vulnerable because the case is stressed. 

If you have a VRLA battery, whether an absorbent glass or gel-cell type, your chances of the VRLA battery blowing up are slim. On average, the battery should last between 3-5 years, but driving habits and exposure to extreme elements may reduce your cars battery’s lifespan. It is not recommended that you keep driving when the battery is bloated, because this can cause harm to your vehicle, particularly if the acid spills into other parts. In either of these cases, you may repair a battery that is bloated, but it is not always a good option, as most times, your cars capacity in regular operations will decrease, and your best option for dealing with the issue is replacing it.

Is it Safe to Use a Swollen Phone Battery?

It is not safe to use swollen batteries. When a battery is swollen, it can create a dangerous environment. It can make a battery release dangerous chemicals, rupture or get overheated. In addition, swollen batteries are difficult to handle and can cause injuries. If you are concerned about the safety of your battery, please do not use it. 

If your phone battery feels swollen, it is probably not safe to use it. If the battery is swollen significantly, it can burst, causing serious injury. In warmer areas of the United States, such as the Southeast, heat causes the chemical reactions inside the battery to accelerate, reducing battery life. High temperatures also decrease the battery’s effectiveness, so try to avoid leaving the phone in your car on hot days.

One byproduct of this chemical reaction is hydrogen gas, which is vented from the case of the battery when it is charged (either from the Battery Charger or from an alternator) and dissipates rapidly to the atmosphere. Flammable hydrogen may accumulate within sealed cells in overcharged batteries, causing swelling of the batteries case when pressurized, and leakage through smaller holes. As a battery ages, the chemical reaction stops being completely completed, resulting in the gas being created (called the exhaust), which results in a bloated battery. In the winter, a battery will bulge from the freezing of the electrolyte, while in the summer the battery will bulge from gassing or boiling.

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Other causes of bulging batteries include; a deep cell drain, and extreme temperatures (like leaving a phone in your car with your door locked). Since the cause of a swollen battery is a hot temperature, particularly for the lithium-titan batteries, it is quite understandable that users would want to solve the issue by doing exactly the opposite.

What to do with a swollen battery?

Unfortunately, there is no cure to fix a swollen battery, despite its many benefits. If you doubt that a battery is swollen, you should avoid charging it. Use and exhaust the battery as low as possible, which can help reduce fire risks for you. You should keep yourself protected and work in an area with enough ventilation, so as to diffuse flames in a proper way. Wear goggles or any other eye protection device, and safety glasses if you cannot find anything else. Use a pair of blunt and long sized tongs and safely remove the swollen battery.

If your battery is swollen, there are a few things you can do to try and get it back to its normal size. 

i.Turn off and drain the battery completely and disconnect the power then. 

ii.Remove any external objects that may be obstructing the battery's air flow. 

iii.Place the battery in a warm, humid environment. 

iv.Replace the battery if it does not shrink in size after following the first 3 steps. 

As our dependence on battery-powered gadgets has grown, reports of batteries ballooning are becoming increasingly common and the results can be alarming to say the least. Of the numerous laptops which have hit his table in the past couple of months, IT expert Gareth Belton says he has seen seven or eight with bulging batteries. After discovering one more bloated battery, which he ultimately stored away in a yellow, fireproof, safety deposit box, Belton shared his findings with r/spicypillows, a Reddit community of more than 60,000 members that swaps pictures of batteries used in laptops, phones, MP3 players, and gaming consoles, which had expanded far past their original size.

It is important to exercise enough caution as you try to remove or replace your swollen battery, because you would not like to risk your limbs or life in any way for a mere battery, right? By following the tips that have been mentioned above, it can be much easier for you to avoid a lot of problems and be able to use your phone in a safe way. 

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