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Even when a battery is completely drained in an electrical sense, it retains a lot of chemical energy that can be released if things go wrong. So an explosion

Even when a battery is completely drained in an electrical sense, it retains a lot of chemical energy that can be released if things go wrong. So an explosion is _less likely_ than for a battery actively in use, but not impossible. Lithium ion batteries aren’t collectibles.

WillAdams 1y ago
Yes, but they get used a lot in devices which folks consider to be collectible, e.g., Nintendo 3DS handhelds which were available in a sufficient variety of case designs that my son has at least 3....
- dawnerd 1y ago
  Even in things you wouldn't even think about. Tiny lithium batteries in all sorts of things.
potato3732842 1y ago
>Even when a battery is completely drained in an electrical sense, it retains a lot of chemical energy that can be released if things go wrong. That's basically just saying "you can burn anything" but in words that are attrativce to the audiences biases. Yeah, there's a bit more to go wrong with a dead battery than the plastic and whatnot device it's in but if it can't ignite itself it can't ignite itself and that's more or less the end of the story.
- benterix 1y ago
  Just a single anecdata: I bought a second-hand Xbox360 once[0] with two pads but use donly one for some months. One day I tried to use the other one but smelled the odor of burned plastic - for some reason the batteries caused a piece of the plastic melt. This single event made me a bit more cautious about batteries in general. There are decades of no accidents and then unexpectedly something like this happens. [0] Yest I still think Kinect was ahead of its time and I'm very sorry it got discontinued
  - rahimnathwani 1y ago
    Were these alkaline batteries? Perhaps some conductive debris had caused a short circuit?
- Reubachi 1y ago
  Anecdotal story, but I don't "keep" old electronics anymore save for ones I know are in a fireproof container. My attic and furnished top floor room adjacent to it can on a bad day get to 110 without the attic fan on. Very old NE colonial on a hill getting full sun from sunrise to sunset. Items i cannot keep up there, as I have watched them explode or turn into puddles of goo: Aersol cans (oils, cleaners, sunscreen etc) Normal squeeze trigger bottles (IE, chemical cleaners, auto detailer) Tapes, adhesives Electronics
- numpad0 1y ago
  Li-ion batteries release something like 3x its advertised capacity when lit on fire. IOW, the label capacity is like 1/3rd its worth as fuel(don't do this, it releases stuffs like HF). That's not "you can burn anything". 1: pp.28. https://www.crepim.fr/DOCS_CLIENT/Aircraft-FAA-Energy%20Density-Cell%20Chemistry-Commercial%2018650%20LIB%20Cells-Causes%20of%20Battery%20Failure-Lithium%20Ion%20Batteries.pdf https://www.crepim.fr/DOCS_CLIENT/Aircraft-FAA-Energy%20Dens...

WillAdams 1y ago

Yes, but they get used a lot in devices which folks consider to be collectible, e.g., Nintendo 3DS handhelds which were available in a sufficient variety of case designs that my son has at least 3....

dawnerd 1y ago
Even in things you wouldn't even think about. Tiny lithium batteries in all sorts of things.

potato3732842 1y ago

>Even when a battery is completely drained in an electrical sense, it retains a lot of chemical energy that can be released if things go wrong. That's basically just saying "you can burn anything" but in words that are attrativce to the audiences biases. Yeah, there's a bit more to go wrong with a dead battery than the plastic and whatnot device it's in but if it can't ignite itself it can't ignite itself and that's more or less the end of the story.

benterix 1y ago
Just a single anecdata: I bought a second-hand Xbox360 once[0] with two pads but use donly one for some months. One day I tried to use the other one but smelled the odor of burned plastic - for some reason the batteries caused a piece of the plastic melt. This single event made me a bit more cautious about batteries in general. There are decades of no accidents and then unexpectedly something like this happens. [0] Yest I still think Kinect was ahead of its time and I'm very sorry it got discontinued
- rahimnathwani 1y ago
  Were these alkaline batteries? Perhaps some conductive debris had caused a short circuit?
Reubachi 1y ago
Anecdotal story, but I don't "keep" old electronics anymore save for ones I know are in a fireproof container. My attic and furnished top floor room adjacent to it can on a bad day get to 110 without the attic fan on. Very old NE colonial on a hill getting full sun from sunrise to sunset. Items i cannot keep up there, as I have watched them explode or turn into puddles of goo: Aersol cans (oils, cleaners, sunscreen etc) Normal squeeze trigger bottles (IE, chemical cleaners, auto detailer) Tapes, adhesives Electronics
numpad0 1y ago
Li-ion batteries release something like 3x its advertised capacity when lit on fire. IOW, the label capacity is like 1/3rd its worth as fuel(don't do this, it releases stuffs like HF). That's not "you can burn anything". 1: pp.28. https://www.crepim.fr/DOCS_CLIENT/Aircraft-FAA-Energy%20Density-Cell%20Chemistry-Commercial%2018650%20LIB%20Cells-Causes%20of%20Battery%20Failure-Lithium%20Ion%20Batteries.pdf https://www.crepim.fr/DOCS_CLIENT/Aircraft-FAA-Energy%20Dens...