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I recently flew to Munich/Prague with Air Canada and Lufthansa - the flight attendants said to both not charge a Samsung Note 7 and that they require them to ac

I recently flew to Munich/Prague with Air Canada and Lufthansa - the flight attendants said to both not charge a Samsung Note 7 and that they require them to actually also be turned off.

4ad 10y ago
Does turning them off prevent them from catching on fire? What is the actual problem described in technical terms, really?
- Alupis 10y ago
  > Does turning them off prevent them from catching on fire? Doubtful. Isn't it the Li-ion batteries that are combusting, ie. chemical reaction?
  - eknkc 10y ago
    They might be safe without load on them. Who knows? Maybe Samsung does. I'm imagining cargo ships / stores with stacks of these things though. Wonder if one goes boom, would that spread and start a fire?
    - Alupis 10y ago
      I don't know if load matters[1]. Could be impact related, or heat related, or something else entirely? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLc74Qpvweg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLc74Qpvweg
  - woliveirajr 10y ago
    They are confusing due to overheating. If the phobe is off, no heat is generated.
- actsasbuffoon 10y ago
  Judging by the fact that the new version of the phone may still be catching fire, we may not know what the cause is. If Samsung had accurately diagnosed the problem in the first place then this incident probably wouldn't have occurred. Someone at Samsung is having a very bad day.
- fokinsean 10y ago
  According to the article it said that he powered down the phone and put it in his pocket before it started smoking. Maybe it started combusting when he powered it off. Nevertheless I would be freaking out if that happened mid flight.
- j-g-faustus 10y ago
  Initial conclusions indicate an error in production that placed pressure on plates contained within battery cells. That in turn brought negative and positive poles into contact, triggering excessive heat. Samsung however stressed that it needed to carry out a more thorough analysis to determine “the exact cause” of battery damage. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-13/samsung-blames-small-battery-flaw-for-igniting-note-7-recall http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-13/samsung-bl... I seem to recall an article not too long ago (perhaps here on HN?) that analyzed the Note 7 battery failures; their conclusion was along the lines that the phone was designed too slim for the battery manufacturing tolerance. So in some percentage of the phones the battery will be under constant mechanical pressure because the battery is slightly bigger than the space allocated for it. This pressure may eventually force the plates inside the battery into contact with each other, or at least close enough to cause leak currents and overheating. > Does turning them off prevent them from catching on fire? Not necessarily. Assuming the cause is as Samsung describes it, it can happen even with the phone turned off. But overheating to the point of thermal runaway is more likely at higher voltages (during charging, or with fully charged battery), and probably more likely during high current drain (aka using the phone). For more technical details, I suggest the Electrical Engineering Stackexchange. http://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/230164/64021 http://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/230164/64021

I recently flew to Munich/Prague with Air Canada and Lufthansa - the flight attendants said to both not charge a Samsung Note 7 and that they require them to actually also be turned off.

4ad 10y ago

Does turning them off prevent them from catching on fire? What is the actual problem described in technical terms, really?

Alupis 10y ago
> Does turning them off prevent them from catching on fire? Doubtful. Isn't it the Li-ion batteries that are combusting, ie. chemical reaction?
- eknkc 10y ago
  They might be safe without load on them. Who knows? Maybe Samsung does. I'm imagining cargo ships / stores with stacks of these things though. Wonder if one goes boom, would that spread and start a fire?
  - Alupis 10y ago
    I don't know if load matters[1]. Could be impact related, or heat related, or something else entirely? [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLc74Qpvweg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLc74Qpvweg
- woliveirajr 10y ago
  They are confusing due to overheating. If the phobe is off, no heat is generated.
actsasbuffoon 10y ago
Judging by the fact that the new version of the phone may still be catching fire, we may not know what the cause is. If Samsung had accurately diagnosed the problem in the first place then this incident probably wouldn't have occurred. Someone at Samsung is having a very bad day.
fokinsean 10y ago
According to the article it said that he powered down the phone and put it in his pocket before it started smoking. Maybe it started combusting when he powered it off. Nevertheless I would be freaking out if that happened mid flight.
j-g-faustus 10y ago
Initial conclusions indicate an error in production that placed pressure on plates contained within battery cells. That in turn brought negative and positive poles into contact, triggering excessive heat. Samsung however stressed that it needed to carry out a more thorough analysis to determine “the exact cause” of battery damage. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-13/samsung-blames-small-battery-flaw-for-igniting-note-7-recall http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-13/samsung-bl... I seem to recall an article not too long ago (perhaps here on HN?) that analyzed the Note 7 battery failures; their conclusion was along the lines that the phone was designed too slim for the battery manufacturing tolerance. So in some percentage of the phones the battery will be under constant mechanical pressure because the battery is slightly bigger than the space allocated for it. This pressure may eventually force the plates inside the battery into contact with each other, or at least close enough to cause leak currents and overheating. > Does turning them off prevent them from catching on fire? Not necessarily. Assuming the cause is as Samsung describes it, it can happen even with the phone turned off. But overheating to the point of thermal runaway is more likely at higher voltages (during charging, or with fully charged battery), and probably more likely during high current drain (aka using the phone). For more technical details, I suggest the Electrical Engineering Stackexchange. http://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/230164/64021 http://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/230164/64021