Everything You Need to Know About Exploding Batteries

Do not attempt anything you see in this video! Blowing up batteries is insanely dangerous as you can see in our video.
It’s true: the batteries that power our devices can swell, catch fire, and even, occasionally, explode. So how and why does this happen? And what’s the real risk, especially if you’re undertaking phone or laptop repairs?
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:27 Battery safety
01:07 Why Its Important to Discharge Battery
01:19 Plastic Spudger Demonstration
01:38 Metal Spudger Demonstration
02:02 Thermal Runaway Explainer
03:27 Bigger Batteries=Bigger Disaster
04:48 What About Swollen Batteries?
05:21 What Does a Giant Battery on Fire Look Like? Watch!
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[@iFixitYourself]

For more nitty gritty details about battery fires, check out this blog! www.ifixit.com/News/69041/how-batteries-can-catch-fire-and-how-to-prevent-it

[@iamdmc]

ENUNCIATE YOUR T'S ONE MORE TIME

[@infinitelyexplosive4131]

@@iamdmc annunciate?

[@mrcyborg9216]

Y’all actually killed a 12 pro max?

[@thousandsunny3103]

@@mrcyborg9216 just the battery, it seems. They probably got those on backstock.

[@MrCooper83]

Dude at 3:08 was dangerous!

[@samanthagoldheart3755]

So many great analogies! This really made battery fires easy to understand! Easy to see that there's a world of difference between low-power battery repair and full-power locked-in-your-phone batteries are completely different worlds!

[@sunnydeath2635]

Ye still don’t make sense how the video is helpful when all they talk about is discharging a battery, yet not showing a single way to do so, yet we see a lot of messing around “don’t repeat at home”..

[@russelltindale9428]

@@sunnydeath2635 To dischage a battery, you use your device, then the battery discharges. agree?

[@sunnydeath2635]

@@russelltindale9428 what if a device is broken? Lol your reply doesn’t help.. agree?

[@russelltindale9428]

@@sunnydeath2635 haha, didn't think of that. But it's not like you have to discharge it. It's unlikely for it to explode. And most repairs where you cant see the battery chage (probably because broken screen), you probably dont need to take out the battery.

[@Ki_Adi_Mundi]

4:24 Translation: "We can't be consumer repair friendly, that's too dangerous for our profit margins."

[@jacksonsneed7689]

"Let's take this to it's logical conclusion . . . . big batteries with nailguns." 😂🤣 I wholeheartedly concur! This is why I love this channel, and this company!

[@CentralPALocos]

I learned a valuable lesson nearly 5 years ago now when I changed the battery on an iPhone 6s I had scored for what was then a cheap price. I was only 16 and so excited to have a new phone, but I ended up breaking both pull tabs off on the battery. I ended up prying on it and I suppose I bent it too much or something as the battery lit up right inside my parents house on the dining room table. I got very lucky that I was right next to the back door as I grabbed the screen-less phone and ran out to the screened porch, where the adhesive that was holding the battery in so tightly near instantly melted. The battery dropped from the phone as I was frantically waving it in my hands and harmlessly burned away on the concrete floor of the porch. Very luckily the phone was nearly wholly undamaged (one of the tapes that hold the Apple logo in place was a little melted on the edge), and that phone still serves with me today.

[@jbasasa]

Would you go for upgrade soon or in near future? You can't have that phone forever you know like degrading components besides batteries and plus, you can have a good deal on great ones like SE

[@topdog19945]

The people who tell us they’re too dangerous to replace are the same ones that glued them in place.

[@jakeallen4716]

I don’t think they know what a clip is 😂

[@genuinepolyester9445]

Two questions: What did the smoke smell like and how did you dispose of the burnt up batteries? Great video.

[@daniel-pablo]

When a battery is punctured, the fumes actually smell sickeningly sweet, kind of like vape juice.

[@kylewiens6928]

I soaked the burnt batteries in water for a week, then we took the black mass to our battery recycler the same way we recycle our intact batteries.

[@purq5513]

The smell can be described as an acidic sweetness, and can make you feel a little woozy & give you a headache.

[@imkyolet]

A weird, sweet smell, but the kind of sweet that makes you immediately know that something is wrong and that whatever you are smelling, isn't good

[@insertcreativehandlehere]

It smells like death, basically

[@TheSpotify95]

This is why gluing your battery down into the device is a terrible idea. It's much more difficult to remove, meaning that it's more likely to be punctured upon removal, causing the short circuits and the possible safety issues mentioned in the video. The best type of laptop batteries were the older, removable ones that contained 18650 cells - easy to remove (often just clipped in, no back panel removal etc etc) and not likely to explode, since you'd have to go through the plastic casing of the battery pack and also the metal casing of the 18650 cells. Whereas, modern laptop batteries just have the cells themselves wrapped in some sort of paper label - which won't give any protection at all. The same goes for mobile phone batteries - the best ones are the ones that you can remove with your fingers (Samsung Galaxy S5 and older) - no prying or isopropyl alcohol necessary.

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

For that reason I still have my S5 mini and an old sony vaio laptop. I had replaced my laptop with a surfacebook, but its battery is now swollen after 5 years. For that reason I started up my old laptop, which is now 15 years old and it still works fine. Because I could just remove the battery, I never had to worry about battery issues with that thing. Now I wonder if I will manage to swap the battery of the surface. At least this video reduced my worries of making it explode

[@mirandamanga9083]

But. Much moneiez??,!

[@ScottH-wh6ml]

Nice presentation on safe handling of Lithium batteries. But I feel compelled to call attention to the hazard from Lithium toxicity that you apparently overlooked during the demonstrations. Perhaps you can make a video of the site decontamination that would be advisable to prevent future exposure to residual lithium compounds in your demonstration area.

[@Anigma9400]

Ich wish there was more about swollen batteries. I still imagine that there is a lot of pressure with propably toxic stuff inside that could be released any moment, even withouth igniting. But maybe I'm just over cautious.

[@JustinDaniels]

No you aren't being over cautious. I worked at a tech recycling place, and when I was taking extremely swollen batteries out of laptops, one of them suddenly caught fire with no warning other then a stinky smell for a few minutes before the fire. The swollen battery was just sitting on the desk and suddenly started pouring out smoke.

[@jacksonsneed7689]

Thanks for this y'all, seriously. The more people that have this information, the better.

[@00SNIVY00]

Very helpful knowledge! So much "knowledge" about electricity nowadays is derived from fear. Sure, repairs aren't for everyone, but teaching or informing people does a lot better than scaring them!

[@rcollinge325]

A great demonstration of what happens when batterys catch fire. Did everyone notice that none of the batterys exploded !

[@thousandsunny3103]

Really?

[@MathGeekQ]

TAHNK YOU!!! A much needed video to educate the masses about lithium batteries. I've had to bend batteries a couple of times when prying them off iphones and macbooks and nothing ever happened, obviously because they were plenty discharged. But the media loves to just put this in a black box of "lithium batteries dangerous, nothing manufacturers can do about it!"

[@DodoKing187]

thank you, I was really curious about this but obviously never tried xD

[@ghodyIL]

5:49 dr zoidberg is that you?🤣

[@shapelessed]

One thing that has not been pointed out that is extremely important is that lithium fumes are TOXIC and if a battery had ever combusted in the same room you're in, you should quickly poke it with something like a pencil or a pen to some spot where it won't cause any bigger fire and immediately back off a few meters away.

[@yazanalhamdan6007]

That gray smoke you see? Hydroflouric Acid vapor, the same acid used to etch glass, and it has a remarkable affinity for Calcium, like in bones...

[@arielharris6432]

i repair electronics for customers like iphones ,galaxys etc. i rarely replace batteries . im glad i watched this video to further my knowledge on battery repairs and saftey.

[@hemantsingh4808]

Thanks you for enlightening us !

[@williamsimons9337]

Largest battery I have replaced was inside my electric scooter a full 54 volts the company sent me a new one and it was fully charged and no way to discharge it I plugged it in and the leads sparked together and made a small fire all by plugging in the battery luckily fire extinguishers are a thing and that was a nice phone call to make to the support team

[@seeblu]

Thanks for the information

[@grant-is]

Arthur, you're a great host and teacher.

[@lateral1385]

Stabbing batteries is always so sketch 😂. Love these vids.

[@lee99bay]

Awesome tests! Thanks

[@vasudevmenon2496]

Nice informative video. Had a similar experience with swollen Dell Alienware battery which pushed the palm rest up and after few days the battery is dead. Will ifixit open up shipping worldwide or is it still limited?

[@BigDazzaT]

Fun and entertaining video guys, well done. Watching you stab batteries like maniacs was 👌😂😂

[@airspeed_alive]

Safety is paramount! 👍

[@arthurarturo4625]

Nice vieo, good demostration, didn't knew that charge of battery mattered that much. I have a EUC, working 80V DC, so it's pretty dangerous, I usually only charge it 100% before a ride, for the rest let is rest between 30 to 80% charge

[@kdigitalproductionservices6581]

That's the thing about some battery fires. Even if you think you've extinguished it completely, even when it's completely soaked, it can reignite.

[@ErnieLeblanc]

Excellent Video! - ''Liked, Subscribed & Shared!''

[@manlioyllades]

Thank you! 👍🏻

[@Ice-ln2ut]

Last month my gen 0 Apple Watch battery inflated and popped of the screen for me. Lol like a toaster it told me it’s time to remove it. Replace it last week and works just as new.

[@3rdworldgarage450]

One of the issues is when devices with these batteries wind up in landfills. They can actually light the whole trash heap on fire if it goes unchecked. The problem is that many of them are still fairly charged, such as vape pens, and they get crushed or damaged in the trash pile.

[@abdulm2609]

Very useful info

[@kumarveenaindraneel5240]

I like this video a lot, thanks for the knowledge given in this batteries. is charging the phone or a Laptop 100% is safe or not ?

[@g3rn0m4ly7]

I like how you tried to extinguish it🙈😂

[@dan3a]

Yeah that won't work with lithium batteries 🤣

[@patrickcardon1643]

You guys had a lot of fun stabbing all those batteries :D useful info, even if only to throw away old spent swollen batteries in the recycling center without having it go up in smoke. Cheers!

[@RedDestroyer4]

Great job

[@thesillygirlz100]

I’m so glad I watched this. My Nintendo switch has been bloated for a long time and in The charger for so long and I’ve never thought too much of it. But now it’s out and I’m going to be properly disposing of it.

[@brandon2755]

Where do I apply for *checks notes* Battery stabber by way of nail gun?

[@raymondhacks]

Is a specific type of fire extinguisher required for battery fires?

[@Killerjockel95]

What's the name of the song that plays during the nail gun ignition test?

[@sinaj1510]

This video is your masterpiece 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@tommyhu3861]

Great insight on what to do before doing the repair, but you should also include some fire safety tips like using a fire bucket, because litium battery burns really hot and an extinguiser most likely won't be effective.

[@TheSpotify95]

if you saw the last clip with the large drone battery then you'll see that the extinguisher used proved to not be very effective.

[@bazrazin1]

what about hard drops from a table or apartment, can it puncture out the insulating layer & cause a short.

[@featherantennae9194]

Even outside, you guys should really wear a respirator for this. x.x Very good video though, thanks for sharing this! ♥

[@spawnrcandbikes]

Are R/C Car lipo batteries made the same? and if punctured cause similar fire?

[@visibledonkey0]

thanks you saved my life

[@janetj3072]

So how do you tell if the battery is discharged or how do you discharge a battery if the device won't turn on

[@hillothy9337]

So where can I pickup an ifixit labcoat?

[@Joe-oj2mi]

Grate vid!!

[@blade_slayer26vr]

6:02 my brother "that's a cool firework" lol

[@Eldormen]

so then a battery catches on fire that is not punctured or hot. is it bad wiring that shorts the battery? or is it something els that makes like vapes go wosh?

[@anon69669]

does anyone know, will most lithium batteries get really hot before they explode? like how would i know if a vape battery were about to explode

[@mysterybiscuits]

I was replacing an iPhone SE battery and accidentally damaged the old one. Luckily I'd ran the battery down first, but it still gave out a decent spark.

[@jaywholoveseveryone1721]

How would I discharge my battery if not using it in my device/phone? Is there another way?

[@JohnPMiller]

Please do a follow-up video testing the CEO's Hummer EV battery.😉

[@shivarakesh5541]

good video

[@orbita1]

are 18650's generally safer? i always feel a bit sketchy about my small collection

[@myboidrizzydre]

Great Video! Now how do we put out a battery fire once it’s started?

[@user-or9gr5py4c]

As you have seen in the video, the standard fire extinguisher doesn't work in case of lithium Ion battery, use sand

[@kiwihuman]

You don't

[@orac229]

Just remember children, if you are lost in the forest, putting a nail through your cell phone can turn it into an emergency flare.

[@MattWebster99]

If a device is not functioning to need repair, how do you discharge the battery?

[@fearsmasher1299]

Could a Quest 3 battery possibly explode while someone is wearing it?

[@cpanic1153]

I wish they addressed how impossible they are to put out once ignited. Notice how the fire extinguisher did nothing.

[@drewx10]

I was noticing that same thing.

[@kradius2169]

Felicity Ace, Fremantle Highway ... Genius Star XI?

[@user-od1pk9tz8g]

So I’m just wondering if I break the iPad into pieces by myself at home and pulll out the battery will it catch fire

[@markwp3177]

A good video. Now, how about a video on how to safely discharge a battery.

[@jon199680]

as a repair tech, i dont have time to discharge every single device i work on. Customers expect their phones to be done on the spot. This is good advice for consumers, but professionals have to stick to being careful. I've had a few close calls, but never an incident resulting in this.

[@MeowThingy]

I wasn't aware the reaction was self sustaining. I did know you don't put water on it though. Firefighters often tow electric vehicles somewhere safe to let them burn out on their own, lest they leave a lake of hazardous chemicals all over the place while attempting to put it out, but somehow thermal runaway never clicked in my head. I thought it was only because the battery packs are so tightly sealed, it's impossible to put it out because you can't even get to its internals where it's burning. If vehicles are meant to be all fully electric sometime in the future, how the heck are we supposed to prevent crashes from squishing the batteries and causing giant toxic fires?

[@thousandsunny3103]

That’s not the only reason why you don’t pour water on a lithium battery that has caught fire. You might have learned this in chemistry class like I did and just forgot, but lithium plus water equals fire, possibly even an explosion. So it’s the whole “adding fuel to the flames” scenario. A golf ball sized hunk of lithium tossed into a pool can cause a steam explosion you really don’t want to view poolside, just so you know. Oh, and to answer your question: put the battery in the center console… if a battery can fit there by that time.

[@MeowThingy]

@@thousandsunny3103 Yes, I know about the reaction. What I said afterwards was unrelated to the reason you don't put water on it.

[@thousandsunny3103]

@@MeowThingy My comment was for others as much as it was you.

[@MeowThingy]

@@thousandsunny3103 Yup yup, I know. It's good info for sure.

[@ivsdfsdfivsfdsf530]

Ouch, you really should have done that demo under an extraction hood, or at least not in a neighbourhood and with a HF-rated gas mask cartridge. The gases from some battery chemistries burning can be downright nasty, depending on the chemistry used. Hydrogen fluoride or hydrofluoric acid is no joke, and neither are the various fluorophosphates that might form...

[@Shineyongs.]

Once again, I think it's a well-experimented video on the dangers of lithium-ion batteries. A very large-capacity battery such as an EV car or electric bicycle can be dangerous when servicing.

[@Dr_Mario2007]

Sands is the best fire extinguisher for burning metals, so definitely use it to deal with the accident involving the battery.

[@oliver_lauritsen_oa]

This was really helpful ! I always discharge battery to 0% before changing it

[@geobioboo]

This is dumb and harmful to the battery. You can recharge from any %, you don’t need or want to go to 0%

[@00SNIVY00]

0% isn't entirely necessary, it may cause the battery to degrade a bit faster. Lithium batteries are not very happy at 0% charge, so leaving a little bit in there would be better, unless it's only a short period of time that the battery will remain discharged.

[@f.i.b3027]

@@00SNIVY00 But the used battery would just get thrown away.

[@00SNIVY00]

@@f.i.b3027 Depending on what it's from, it could be repurposed somehow. The average person won't, certainly, and most people should find a place to recycle them.

[@f.i.b3027]

@@00SNIVY00 I mean you are probably changing the battery because the battery has worn down.

[@realcyphox5919]

few years ago, apples batterie strips were pretty easy to grab and to pull out, on modern iphones its a pita to even grab them, cause the lashes on top of the battery are so damn thin. only thing worse is the display adhesive on 12/13 phones, cause when removing it, it rips basically every 5 milimeters, removing the old adhesive takes more time than actually repairing the phone. so annoying.

[@harryvon9275]

So how do you discharge the battery before working on it besides waiting for it sometimes days to discharge on its own?

[@shadowthefurryscientist]

run extremely demanding tasks on it

[@Chip5876]

Do capacitors next please

[@ayatotakema1194]

Hey you guys should reeview the samsung Xcover 5

[@jakubmarkowski350]

What about self combustion in devices? My apples Watch recently exploded, it’s been a loud case in the news (Series 7). What could go wrong there?

[@RodolfoLameuOliveira]

Probably the same problem that samsung had some years ago. When you (as a big buyer) use multiple producers of parts, the quality of yours products will be hard to control.

[@jaygardener181]

How long will a 12v 17ah lead acid battery take to explode when hooked up to a 12v 100ah lead acid battery

[@LaczPro]

Lithium-Ion batteries. I can't hate them because they power most of my devices, but I have lots of respect for those things. I'm kinda worried about those on cars though, or batteries in planes. We depend so much on this tech that can be dangerous under the right circumstances I don't know how may we be able to replace with.

[@spawnrcandbikes]

the boat fire in Monterey California ... very scary

[@donchomp7042]

Plat: Im not the impostor, i was doing a task *The task: 5:45

[@techtimei6091]

how to fix phone battery swollen 😁😁👀👀 Thk From EGYPT ♥♥🎉🎉

[@GeekIWG]

Why is it so satisfying to watch these batteries combust?

[@CREEMkitty7]

?? No idea

[@denisg1208]

What about accidentally bending the battery without puncturing? This can happen when removing from a smartphone for example.

[@00SNIVY00]

May depend on the severity of the bend. I would still consider it unsafe, even if it's still functional. removing the battery without bending should be a high priority, using alcohol to dissolve adhesive if necessary. bending the battery could cause a break in the electrolyte and create a point of contact between the anode and cathode in the battery.

[@maklogetrich2378]

I want to ask if you're not using a device for a long time (lets say, 3-6 months or more) is it better to discharge to 0% or let the battery discharged itself? I've seen many battery won't charge anymore if not use for a long time

[@Gentlyjack1]

Charge to 50%, that's where it should be the most shelf stable (lithium battery) Ideally, put it thru a full charge/discharge cycle at least once a month.

[@Kirmo13]

stabbing a coke can with your hand right behind does not seem like the best idea ever. But your science iFixit will do everything

[@samuraivader3814]

That reminds me, I have a couple of swollen batteries to dispose.

[@ultimultig]

bro the last big battery got ammo racked lmao

[@MidoriTanooki]

Still have three Questions about bloated batteries. If bloating occurs to a deep discharged batterie, would anything happen with said battery if its being stabbed // worst case ruptures by itself? && if bloating occurs due to a charging defect/overcharge (presumably 25%-100% charge), should you still let the battery drain? And if so, how? Just by letting the device run and hope nothing happens while draining the battery? What would be the go to for this situation? && what about bloated, glued in place (for example the nintendo switch battery). Again, like the previous 2 questions depending on the battery charge percentage that led to the bloating, would you just remove the battery with adhesive remover/alcohol like normal, or would that change the replacement somewhat drastically? Thankfully i dont have to deal with any of these situations right now anymore, but those are the questions which i still have, even after the linked blog and the video. Thanks for your time if someone decides to answer to this. Have a nice day.

[@PopCultureFan_]

Everytime i came across this video, the thumbnail changed lol, i mean, they made it funnier , now its showing a guy in a hasmat suit...lol Anyways didnt even know they could do that once its already uploaded.

[@turtle_naver_blog]

배터리가 25~30%가 충전된 상태에서 안정적이여서 그런지 애플의 지니어스 바에서도 배터리 교체사 30%까지 방전시킨 후 수리기가를 가져오라고 하는 것 같네요!!

[@EpicBunty]

my manly urge to watch batteries explode has been somewhat satiated, therefore I thank you. thank you.

[@PushyPawn]

That was fun.

[@remonikus151]

3:11 I felt so uncomfortable watching this

[@PresidentEvil]

def a low iq moment

[@MrFastFox666]

4:41 I mean, if you're replacing the battery its probably dead. What's the worst that could happen to it, it dies more?

[@jaklizt]

Great🎉

[@dalethomasdewitt]

Thermal runaway pertains to heat destruction not chemical reaction runaway. Related but not the same. LED amperage as an example. Chemical reactions could run away from gas evolution and not necessarily because of boiling.

[@nathanmiddleton1478]

Was Lithium-Ion more dangerous in laptops when they were fully replaceable? Back when we had plastic-encased lithium-ion, replaceable batteries I'd never seen one catch on fire. I'd rather have that than a useless or possibly unrepairable device with glued-in battery that's encased in a glued-armor nightmare that I'll probably break trying to "fix", I mean replace an old one in.

[@sissyspaceship]

I enjoy how they attempted to put out a self-oxidizing lithium fire with a fire extinguisher.

[@arizkyhelmi]

can u try on tesla battery?