• ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net
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      3 months ago

      I was looking up e-scooters and a bunch of 1-star reviews pointed out how their battery caught fire.

      Could have been fake reviews by competitors but either way, it freaked me out.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        3 months ago

        A lot of them will be fine but some of them are cheap knockoffs and they have unsafe wiring. It’s not actually the batteries themselves as they’ll probably be the same batteries it’s the way the batteries are connected up that makes them more likely to explode.

        Unless you are Samsung in which case it 100% was the batteries at fault not the wiring.

        • ByteWelder@lemmy.ml
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          3 months ago

          It can also be due to unsafe charging (over-voltage) or unsafe discharging (over-current, generating too much heat). The actual fire doesn’t necessarily happen immediately during charging/discharging.

    • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      If it’s a cheap one, only charge it while home or somehow isolate it from flammables. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby always.

      • XTL@sopuli.xyz
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        3 months ago

        Also cellphones, laptops, power tools and just about everything.

        Gasoline? Don’t let it inside in the house. Ever.

        • psud@aussie.zone
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          3 months ago

          You don’t often hear about laptops burning. And many of those spend their whole lives plugged in

          • XTL@sopuli.xyz
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            3 months ago

            Yes. These are extremely rare. Some models, like iirc a galaxy note and MacBook Pro have been singled out. The surface and airflow also matter. A laptop kept on a desk spends very little time charging at a time and any heat is dissipated efficiently. All devices are designed with the best thermal performance they can have.

            There was actually a house fire a while ago not too far from where I live that forensics said was started by a device in a charger at night. For some units and some uses, they still fail.

            Anyway. I think the better safe than sorry is warranted.

            • psud@aussie.zone
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              3 months ago

              My favorite thing about my current phone is that I can set an alarm a couple of hours after I should wake, and the phone (trying not to fully charge until the alarm time) never charges overnight above 80% minimizing the chance of a thermal runaway if it happened to be like the note 7, as well as making the battery have a longer life