Samsung to Exchange Galaxy 7 Fire Hazard Phone

Posted by $ MikeMarotta 8 years, 6 months ago to Humor
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It is like something out of a Philip K. DIck novel. Imagine being in 1963 or 73 and reading a one-liner in a science fiction novel that people have to exchange their walkie-talkies because the batteries catch fire.

Some people here might tag this as an apocalyptic item, typical of our collectivized end of times, but, you know, you get this with any technology. About 100 years ago, a bit more now, they had horrible boiler explosions. Realizing that they were at their limits then and there, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers attacked the problem with hard mathematics and harder steel.

We think that because Newton invented calculus, everyone knew it all right away. Years ago, I discovered the works of Stephen P. Timoshenko, a cilvil engineer from circa 1920 who, like Charles Steinmetz, was employed in electricity production here in the USA where he attacked (with mathematics) the problems attendant in vibrations in motors. You cannot point to Hans Oested and think that the electric motor was a given since 1805.

It must surely be disturbing to have your phone catch fire, but at least it does not explode and kill you and five co-workers.

Story here, but lots of other places, of course.... http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-anno...


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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years, 6 months ago
    We want more energy in a smaller space because we want devices that do more on batteries that last longer. It may be impossible to prevent a failure mode where the energy is all released in a short period of time. A standard 18650 Li-Ion cell holds around 10 Whr. 10 Whr * 3600 sec/hr - 36 kW s (aka 36 kJ). So if all that energy gets released in a few seconds, that's thousands of watts, 100 old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, all in one tiny package. It's about a fourth of the energy in a typical grenade. We just need multiple productions, all the stuff in the IEC 62133 standard.

    The only time I saw a battery blow up outside a fume hood was at the real estate management office next to my shop. I heard a thud. The RE manager went running for the extinguisher. Burning material had been thrown in all directions in the room. It was really something. Seeing it happen in real life in an uncontrolled environment made me think of it more than seeing it happen in the hood.
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