back to article Samsung Galaxy S3 explodes, turns young woman into 'burnt pig'

A young Swiss woman reportedly received second and third degree burns when her Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone exploded in her trousers. According to a report in the French-language Le Matin of Lausanne, Switzerland, 18-year-old Fanny Schlatter was on her job as an apprentice painter, loading paint cans into her boss' truck, when …

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      1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

        Re: Nick De Plume

        In addition, burning oil is often hotter than the boiling temperature of water, so putting water on an oil fire just spreads and atomises the burning oil. This can be fun if observed from a distance.

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh dear

    Gentlemen, gentlemen,

    What's happening? Had this been an Apple device, we'd be seeing boring post after boring post about how shocking and sub standard this is.

    So why are we just seeing puerile jokes from you freetards? Anyone would thing you're full of it...

    1. Cliff

      Re: Oh dear

      You lost me at Freetard posted as an anonymous coward.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Re: Oh dear

      Tsk Do pay attention.. It's commentard dear boy, commentard .. Freetards are a completely different species.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Oh dear

        Yes a freetard who spends over £350 on a mobile. Brava.

    3. Mark .

      Re: Oh dear

      Why speculate? Why not go and read the story where it happened with an Apple device, as linked from the article.

      Guess what? Not a single person criticises the device as being sub-standard or whatever. OTOH, *this* story has at least one person claiming that Apple devices would be immune.

      (There were criticisms, and rightly so, at the alleged attempts to cover it up.)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well I one for needed

    Google to translate that.

    1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

      Re: Well I one for needed

      "Well I one for needed

      Google to translate that."

      Me too. I thought it was a sexual reference...

  3. MrXavia

    Interesting, the back case is not standard for sure... looks like metal in there? is it a non-samsung Qi charger adaptor or similar? for that matter is the battery an official one? I am always VERY cautious with anything non official when it comes to batteries...

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      My first thoughts as well - is it the original battery, and, if not, is it a genuine Samsung replacement?, followed by does she use the original charging mechanism, and has she "personalised" the case? These are relevant and important questions, even though any tech has a finite failure rate, and a completely genuine, properly cared-for battery has a chance of catastrophic failure.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Only a matter of time, and lack of protection.

    A switched on phone sends out microwaves which make heat, and may even emit even more heat when the phone gets busy or crashes, a pocket keeps heat in, sounds like only a matter of time before a phone battery overheats in a phone and shorts out!

    Having a very reactive metal in a battery pack in a thermoplastic case, close to your skin, sounds really stupid. Unfortunately this is common,so these gadgets should be properly designed to protect people e.g. a flame and explosion resistant battery case with a pressured gas canister surround to put out a burning battery, and a thin layer of flame proof glass-fibre sheet in the outer phone case, especially at the back of the phone, because generally the phone is put in a pocket with the screen facing outwards, and the battery is usually at the back of the phone, ouch!

    1. ~mico
      Happy

      Re: generally the phone is put in a pocket with the screen facing outwards

      I, for one, usually put the phone in the pocket with screen facing inwards. In this case, I can put other stuff in that pocket, like keys, not fearing for the screen being scratched. This article just gave another reason for it being the safe way.

    2. Daniel B.
      Boffin

      Re: Only a matter of time, and lack of protection.

      I prefer to carry my phone on a belt-clip holster. If I hear it pop, I could theoretically just rip the holster off my belt and throw it away, or in the worst case simply unbuckle my belt, drop my pants and run. Ok, that last scenario might be awkward, but rather do that than have myself burnt to a crisp. And I never carry my phone on any pocket!

      Also, if I ever feel my phone getting extremely hot, I'm pulling out the battery. If it's starting to do something else (like er... generating smoke) I'll just throw the phone before it blows up!

      1. hplasm
        Linux

        Re: @ Daniel B.

        "unbuckle my belt, drop my pants and run."

        Icon - because... :)

    3. N13L5
      Devil

      Re: Only a matter of time, and lack of protection.

      These occasional battery explosions are just HAARP test runs for the eventual population reduction.

      Once they are ready, they will ignite all phones remotely by bouncing high power radio waves off the stratosphere, igniting everybody's phones all at once.

      They're just waiting for still higher market penetration in 3rd world countries.

    4. mr.K

      Re: Only a matter of time, and lack of protection.

      A switched on phone doesn't really send out all that much microwaves. An infrequent burst to the phone company to let them know where you are, how you are and if your kids are alright, but not much data in that. Also these microwaves would transmit perfectly well past the fabric and heat up water and fat they encounter outside the pocket. Some might even reach an antenna out there somewhere. In addition the juice actually spent on generated these microwaves ain't actually all that.

      Oh wait...you want an explosion resistant casing with a pressurized gas canister that can put out a selfsustaining chemical burn...is your comment ironic?

    5. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: Only a matter of time, and lack of protection. @OP AC

      You sound like one of those elfin safety idiots that want to make life difficult just to gain a minor gain in safety. Mobile phones are supposed to be ... well, mobile. By the time all those "improvements" you mention were incorporated, we'd be back to the brick-phones of the early 1990s.

      I can't tell if you are being serious or sarcastic, but I downvoted you just in case you *are* a genuine safety elf, because if human history had been plagued with safety elves, we wouldn't have had fire or the wheel ...

      1. Don Jefe

        Re: Only a matter of time, and lack of protection. @OP AC

        Fire hot.

  5. dssf

    A Super..

    Super No Va

    Event of cosmic pro portions...

  6. Steven Roper

    Increased energy density leads to increased risk

    Battery technology today has come a long way from what it was when I was a kid. Today's smartphones are computers in their own right, and they chew a lot of juice. We complain about having to charge our phones on a daily basis, but I'd imagine if we tried to run our phones off of the kind of AA, C or D cell batteries that ran my toys as a child, they wouldn't even last that long.

    Today's flatpack lithium batteries pack a lot of oomph into a very small package. If that oomph gets out all at once, it's not at all surprising that explosions and third degree burns are the result. And the more we pack into these tiny powerhouses, the bigger the explosions are going to get.

    I've seen people on these forums wishing for batteries that they only need charge once a week. Now if we assume that this is because you have to charge your phone on a daily basis, you're talking about a sevenfold increase in energy density. That means, if your battery goes pop, seven times the explosion. Which, if this example is anything to go by, results in walking around with a battery capable of lasting a week being the functional equivalent of having a stick of dynamite in your pocket.

    Inevitably energy density will increase to and beyond this point, but it is something to keep in mind. I personally would rather have to remember to charge my phone each day, than not have to worry about it for a week in exchange for the very real risk of having my entire leg blown off. Or the risk of having essentially the same effect on those around me as a suicide bomber!

    1. Katie Saucey
      Happy

      Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

      Your comment made think of StarTrek.."..RUN! The phaser is set to overload!"

    2. Voland's right hand Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

      "Or the risk of having essentially the same effect on those around me as a suicide bomber!"

      They already are - if they are packing a laptop. Some of the bigger high capacity batteries are on par with a hand grenade as it is.

      1. Return To Sender
        Mushroom

        Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

        "...on par with a hand grenade as it is"

        Exactly my thought when going through Heathrow security recently with a colleague who was carrying a USB powerpack (i.e. big battery with USB connectors) in his kit. I was sure he'd get stopped, and he was - although not 'cos of the pack, as it turns out.

        Checking the present regs, you can actually carry on batteries up to 100Wh. My colleague's pack was about 40Wh, and comfortably hand sized. Strikes me you can take quite a lot of energy in a small space; I'd be more bothered about these letting loose in the overhead lockers. Don't know if there's any sort of knock-on possible, but I think I'll be keeping my devices as separate as possible in-flight.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. monkeyfish

      Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

      Since battery tech is essentially plateaued (or moving forward very slowly) in comparison to processor/screen tech, I'd say I don't want a 7x battery increase, but a 7x processor/screen efficiency increase.

    4. Craigie

      Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

      Except even the best batteries today only have the same energy density as a bar of chocolate, and I can't remember the last time a dairymilk exploded in my pocket.

      1. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

        Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk @Craigie

        But in order to liberate that energy from a chocolate bar, you need to oxidise (i.e. burn) it in one way or another, and you need atmospheric oxygen, so you ought to take the mass of that into account as well.

        Chocolate can be made to burn if you try hard enough, but I'd love to see you 'recharge' your burnt chocolate bar.

        But the nature of a battery means that you cannot take the cheap route of just setting light to it. I suspect that the calorific value of oxidising the components of a battery may be even higher than the rated re-usable capacity of a battery.

        In short, you're not comparing like figures.

        1. Don Jefe
          Happy

          Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk @Craigie

          Chocolate can be made to burn if you try hard enough...

          Yes it can. Burning with open flame, not melting mind, baking chocolate will make you very, very ill if you inhale the fumes. Weird huh? It also still cannot be recharged.

      2. A J Stiles
        Mushroom

        Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

        I can't remember the last time a dairymilk exploded in my pocket
        Maybe not in the pocket. But if you were to grind one to a fine powder (easier if chilled) and disperse it in air, it would go up very nicely.

        Icon shows what sometimes happens to custard factories .....

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

          Same for flour and many powdered things. Even sugar can be used for rockets. Anything with energy in it.

          1. Dick Pountain

            Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

            Everfything has enegy in it (even a rock, even Sprite Zero)

    5. mr.K

      Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

      You are right that this is something to keep in mind, and I gather that some promising new high density battery technology might get very limited use due to this. However, it is quite possible that they manage to find chemical reactions that can't go fast enough for this to happen. The other way is that you only carry with you the fuel and you take oxygen from the air. This will remove the chance that it will do a "thermal runaway" as they call it with lithium batteries.

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

      "We complain about having to charge our phones on a daily basis, but I'd imagine if we tried to run our phones off of the kind of AA, C or D cell batteries that ran my toys as a child, they wouldn't even last that long."

      Well, a modern D cell alkaline has a capacity around 16,000mAh, so around 7 times the capacity of a typical lithium polymer cell. Obviously the form factor isn't going to work very well for a nice thin smartphone, and the actual energy density isn't much different.

    7. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Increased energy density leads to increased risk

      Once a day?

      WTF?

      My old Orange SanFrancisco used to get between 2 and 4 days on a charge - ususlly nearer 4. My Huawei Ascend G300 gets 5-6 days.

      But, there again, i don't use it as a social crutch.

  7. Paul L Daniels

    Flaming Apples

    I do iPhone repair work here; had a client supply me with their own replacement back for an iP4S rather than letting me supply. When I fit it, and then removed it a little while later (testing) I could smell that tell-tale sweet smell that means "electrolyte is leaking", didn't think too much of it because a lot of new lithium batteries have it slightly. When I placed the rear panel back on again the phone shut down... and THEN I smelt the all too familar frying electronics magic-smoke-escaped scent, the battery was p*ssed and the phone was about to go up in smoke!

    In the end, the phone was saved; the fault was that the customer-supplied rear panel was an ultra cheapy and the die-punch did not cleanly cut out one of the holes in the embedded metal shield, leaving a raised burr. That burn cut in to the battery, released the electrolyte and started a nice bit of trouble. Close call really, another minute and it'd likely have been a pile of ash on the pile of ash that would be my workshop.

  8. Tex Arcana

    It might be time to start some serious research into lithium batteries, and ways to make them safer. I bought an cordless electric lawn mower, and I elected to go with the lead-acid battery model because the heat here in Texas would kill a big lithium--if not me when it goes POP! :-(

    1. no_RS

      Make them safer

      There is not a shadow of a doubt that li-po batteries in their current form are becoming problematic, most cells are just contained in an insulated aluminiun bag so if something goes wrong there is no containment, so we end up relying on the product enclosure to contain the failing cells. Most people treat car batteries with a bit of respect because they understand some of the risks but abuse mobile devices.

      As most products that contain these batteries are made of plastic, the device just becomes a very hot molten mess that sticks to people's skin and makes a very nasty injury.

      It is accidents like the one in this article that make me only buy genuine batteries/chargers for phones and other devices just on the basis of better battery costruction that is less likely to fail.

      I would also point out that in Europe there aren't any specific safety standards for lithium ion batteries, there are in the US because of the problems these things cause, maybe the EU will wake up to the danger these things presnt and do something about it.

      1. Don Jefe

        Re: Make them safer

        Considering the ubiquitous nature of lithium batteries and how terribly they are abused they are really safe. When you consider there are hundreds of millions of them out there and how little they experience catastrophic failure I think this is a case that doesn't need more government imposed 'safety' regulation.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So Fanny burned her fanny?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      She otto not have put it inna pocket :)

  10. tomban
    Mushroom

    LiPo's rule...

    ...but incorrect handling can cause hilarity to ensue:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9mcNvOGKtI

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Rational Explanation

    She's a painter's assistant and painters generally clean their brushes with white spirit.

    As we all know, white spirit is highly combustible/easily "goes off".

    Jeans on the other hand are generally flaccid.

    SCENARIO

    Sat down to rub her brushes clean (oh yes) spilling "white spirit" all over her f***y - not thinking that the heat emitted from her 'phone' would have an effect on the 'white spirit'.

    THEN

    Text receipt=Vibration in her f***y

    BINGO!!!! HELLO!! An explosion from her FFFF***YYY!

    fnaar fnaar ;-)

  12. Crisp

    What's the proper way to put out a lithium fire?

    I am not a chemist, but I remember from school that water and lithium is generally a bad combination. Is water really the safest way to put out a battery fire?

    1. Miek
      Linux

      Re: What's the proper way to put out a lithium fire?

      Lithium reacts Gently in water, fizzing. It's Sodium that has an energetic reaction to Water. Lithium reactions in Water create Hydroxide and Hydrogen.

      1. Crisp

        Re: What's the proper way to put out a lithium fire?

        Awesome :) El Reg really is an education sometimes. Also, see the comment way way above this one about water inhibiting the thermal runaway.

  13. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    A gastronomic discovery

    Pied de cochon brule!

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shamsung

    Oh well, at least the battery is replaceable on the S3

  15. ukgnome
    Coffee/keyboard

    How can you feel a strange chemical smell?

    1. Don Jefe

      You can hear it coming, there's plenty of time to get out of the way.

  16. Electric sheep

    This is exactly why I never put a phone in my front pocket. Ans last time I said this on here I got down votes so please down vote away :-)

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