Dangerous charging: why power banks for mobile phones explode

“You have a small bomb in your hands”

A power bank exploded in the backpack of a student of the Yekaterinburg Energy College. We found out why suddenly a battery charger designed to recharge a regular mobile phone became dangerous?

External batteries – those same power banks – entered our lives ten years ago, when mobile phones constantly needed to add energy. Now more and more power is required, despite the fact that their batteries are usually mediocre.

If earlier people could charge their phones once a week, now they charge once or twice a day, or sometimes they just have to constantly recharge. And you can’t do without a power bank on a business trip or at a video conference.

And the news about the explosion in Yekaterinburg became frightening to millions of users of such recharging devices – well, how can they explode at any moment?

One of the versions of what happened is a violation of the operating conditions.

– Suppose a student could connect a faulty power adapter, there was a short circuit inside the jar. Or the battery capacity could swell, – explains Vladimir Khrobostov, administrator of the Digital Syndicate service. – They just swell, regardless of external causes. And if you add heat to the swelling during operation, then according to the laws of physics, the device may burst.

When the battery swells, it can turn the smartphone or device in which it is installed, the specialist says. A swollen battery burns strongly after self-ignition, which can result in a full-fledged fire.

Blogger Mikhail Shor warns that you can open an external battery at home only if it is not charged. Otherwise, you and your property may suffer.

He explains that modern batteries have a valve that relieves internal pressure in the event of a malfunction. And it is knocked out just because of a short circuit.

How to understand that something is wrong? When you feel that the valve is heating up. If the temperature goes off scale, the power bank must be quickly turned off. According to Shor, the most dangerous thing to charge your phone with a power bank is by the bed or while driving in direct sunlight.

“You have a small bomb in your hands. And the stronger the charge, the more your battery will bang in the event of a short circuit or damage,” the expert concludes.

In no case should you disassemble the device even out of interest – at least it will tear off your fingers. And do not buy Chinese-made “garbage” for little money, experts recommend.