Mobile Bombs!

[deepu 0]

Hi Guys,

Today morning I saw a news in Kerala Kaumudi(Malayalam Daily) that a person died due to Electric Shock cause he tried to attend a phone call while he was charging the mobile phone.

So Every one be care full.

[deepu 0]

Perhaps we should have a more detailed discussion regarding this.

[kams19 0]

do u what phone, i mean which model was he using??? any more details

[Bhuppy 0]

Have heard many a times, during rain/lightening even old POT lines are dangerous.

Bhuppy

[deepu 0]

do u what phone, i mean which model was he using??? any more details

That was not given with the article

This is the full article as in Indian Express Daily

Mobile phone ‘kills’ youth

Wednesday August 11 2004 09:47 IST

KOLLAM: A youth was electrocuted while using the mobile phone at Chavara on Monday.

He was identified as K. Viswajith, 31, s/o Dr Krishnakumar of Parabrahmam hospital, Oachira. Viswajith, an MBA holder, was working as the sales manager of a private insurance company in Kollam. He is survived by wife Rejitha and a son.

Viswajith was electrocuted when he attended a call on the mobile phone that was put for charging. The body was cremated after conducting the post-mortem. Chavara police have registered a case.

you can read this at

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?I...Kerala&Topic=0&

[StaticElectricity 8]

hmmm, thinking of it.... ... ... ... .......

even i have got shocks many times while playing around the phone while it was kept for charging...

one sure way to get a shock (on RD2030) is to press the 4-way key in any direction and also touch the CALL or END button at the same time...

while the phone is still charging...

[Ganesh 0]

Yeah i agree with static.try using the charger with a ups or inverter,the probablility for this doubles.

[raccoon 53]

Well, Static, at least I'v never experienced any shocks when I'v used my RD2030 while it was being charged. Don't you think you should have made a fuss about it with Reliance/LG?

And since these phones have such poor batt backup, I'm sure most of us would have used these things while they were being charged ...so its especially relevant to us RIM users, I'd think!

Vingan, how would the probability double if you are using it with an UPS or inverter?

And talking about news:

There was an article with a photograph in todays Sakal, a local Marathi daily, about a cell phone which exploded while it was kept for charging. The explosion caused fire, as the area where the phone was kept was sorrounded by combustible material.

The paper did not mention the brand of the mobile, but the sticker (on the backside of the phone body, where the battery is supposed to be attached) clearly read "Panasonic".

The cause for the explosion was not ascertained and apparently nobody was hurt; as nobody was too close when the explosion occured. The owner however says that he had replaced the battery 6 months before (the phone being one and half years old). The battery was said to be an original one!

[karpar 1]

I agree with static that when you press the 4-way key while charging, you do get a shock, but its very mild. The same holds for using it to talk too.

And vingan, the probability definitely doesn't double!

Probability is more of a mathematical concept than you think it is...!!!

No offence meant vingan!

Edited August 13, 2004 by karpar

[raccoon 53]

Beware! Your cell may just blow up in your face

[ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2004 12:36:44 AM]

The Economic Times

WASHINGTON: Curtis Sathre said it was like a bomb going off. His 13-year-old son Michael stood stunned, ears ringing, hand gushing blood after his cell phone exploded.

Safety officials have received 83 reports of cell phones exploding or catching fire in the past two years, usually because of bad batteries or chargers. Burns to the face, neck, leg and hip are among the dozens of injury reports the Consumer Product Safety Commission has received. The agency is providing tips for cell phone users to avoid such accidents and has stepped up oversight of the wireless industry.

There have been three voluntary battery recalls, and the CPSC is working with companies to create better battery standards.

“CPSC is receiving more and more reports of incidents involving cell phones, and we’re very concerned of the potential for more serious injuries or more fires,” said agency spokesman Scott Wolfson. US phone makers say most fires and explosions are caused by counterfeit batteries and note that in a country with some 170m cell phone users, the number of accidents is extremely low.

“Is it a problem? It has turned up, you bet. But statistically it is extraordinarily rare,” said John Walls, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.

Consumer advocates say the cause goes beyond bad batteries making their way to the market. They point to the increasing pressure on battery and phone makers to fit more capabilities into small instruments.

“If you’re cramming more and more power in a small space, you’re making a small bomb,” said Carl Hilliard, president of the Wireless Consumers Alliance. Though legitimate batteries can go wrong, there is a greater chance that counterfeit ones will lack safety devices to detect overheating or overcharging. The lithium-ion batteries can overheat if heat vents are covered.

The CPSC is trying to determine if improved venting is enough by itself to ensure safety. “We have seen temperatures as high as 600 degrees, and you can have a torch-like effect if these batteries don’t function properly,” Mr Wolfson said.

The commission has announced three battery recalls since January, one from Verizon Wireless and two from Kyocera Wireless. Kyocera’s first recall was blamed on a supplier whose standards had slipped.

The other recalls were attributed to suppliers bringing counterfeits into distribution chains. Kyocera, which recalled 1m batteries last month, said it has changed vendors and doubled efforts to test its own batteries.

Hoping to address problems that may lie beyond their supply lines, members of the wireless industry began collaborating last week with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a standard-setting organisation, to create voluntary design and performance standards for all batteries.

“There needs to be high-quality batteries for these cell phones. You have a lot of power in a very small product, so it’s really key,” said Mr Wolfson of the CPSC, which is participating in the meetings between wireless industry members and IEEE.

Carriers and manufacturers also are urging cellular users to exercise reasonable care of batteries, chargers and phones and to purchase them directly from phone companies rather than second-hand dealers or off the internet. But even following those recommendations sometimes isn’t enough, as bad products inevitably find their way onto store shelves.

Angela Karasek, a 21-year-old paralegal in Philadelphia, bought her Motorola phone and battery together from a Nextel store. She awoke one night a few weeks ago to what she described as a pinging sound and then saw fire. Her cell phone battery had blown out, igniting a doll about three feet away. She ran to her parents’ room for help, and her father quickly put out the fire.

“I’m just a light sleeper, and for some reason I sat up and saw all the flames on the doll,” Ms Karasek said.

Marcelino Gonzalez of Brentwood, NY, said he suffered second-degree burns after his Kyocera phone exploded in his hand as he turned it on to make a call. “If it was to my face it would have blown up in my face,” said Mr Gonzalez, 62, who has contacted a lawyer.

Michael Sathre, who is expected to fully recover from his wounds, was picking his fully charged Verizon LG cell phone off the floor when it exploded by his side.

The family chose not to sue and has instead allowed the companies involved and a consumer group to come to their house to study the damage, in the hopes it won’t happen to someone else. “It took my son two months to decide to even be near a cell phone,” said his mother, Cris. “But he needs one.”

[br33zy 0]

This sounds positively scary. besides my rim, i also use a gsm mobile - a samsung c100 and recently, the battery seems to have bulged a bit.. it's quite prominent. I guess i should stop using it. I dont really fancy an explosion when i'm talking on it.

as for the lg rd2030, there always seems to be some stray electricity on the buttons.. some people feel a sharper shock than others. please be careful peepz.

peace.

[raccoon 53]

You should get the Samsung CC to look it pronto ...esp. if its still under warranty!

And as far as Reliance phones go, they seem to be known to run hotter ...wonder if that makes them more explosive!

Edited December 1, 2004 by raccoon

[linuxguy 0]

br33zy, i too use a Samsung C100. Please get it checked from the service centre.

BTW my LG RD-2030 also gives shocks when the four way key is touched during charging. I thought that this was a defect with my cellphone

[raccoon 53]

Never had that problem with my RD 2030. Perhaps you should have gotten that looked into as well!

[Code 0]

BTW my LG RD-2030 also gives shocks when the four way key is touched during charging.

Even my 7130 gives nasty shocks. I took it ASC and showed them the amount of current leak that is ocuuring. They showed other similar chragers which did the same too. They say newer chargers have the Ground pin(3 pin top) and hence this has been taken care of and adviced me to buy a travel charger with 3 pins.

Any way reverse Ur phase-neutral (plug in the charger reverse into the socket - U won't get shock - or better still avoid touching it while being charged if U have the problem.

[Arun 795]

yup, the LG RD 2030 middle four way button does give a mild shock when being charged.

[raccoon 53]

Even my 7130 gives nasty shocks. I took it ASC and showed them the amount of current leak that is ocuuring. They showed other similar chragers which did the same too. They say newer chargers have the Ground pin(3 pin top) and hence this has been taken care of and adviced me to buy a travel charger with 3 pins.

Any way reverse Ur phase-neutral (plug in the charger reverse into the socket - U won't get shock - or better still avoid touching it while being charged if U have the problem.

21169[/snapback]

Rather than "reversing the phase-neutral" by plugging charger in reverse, you should check if the phase is connected on the right pin in the wall socket. This can be quite imp., esp. for your comp., etc.

[Code 0]

Wall socket is correct. I know - it can Screw up UPS