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HTC Lithium-Ion Battery Burns Hole -- in Geek's Pants!

by Warren Riddle on May 22, 2009 at 07:15 PM


The owner of a HTC Touch Pro smartphone recently made a startling discovery when preparing his laundry this week. After noticing an acrid aroma emanating from his pile of clothes, he discovered a charred hole in the back of his jeans. The man, identified as PPCGeeks user kidmet, might want to invest in some asbestos underwear.

He had reportedly been carrying a spare lithium-ion battery, which he said was an authentic HTC, that expanded and burned through the back of his pants. We're sure he must be upset about the loss of a good pair of jeans, but the alternative, if he'd been wearing them (especially in the front pocket), could have been disastrous. [From: PPCGeeks, via PhoneArena and Engadget]


Oops, These Gadgets Exploded!

    No matter how many times it happens, stories of exploding gadgets always catch our eye. Despite being (mostly) unassuming, we're always taken by surprise whenever a device spontaneously combusts. For your enjoyment, here are seven stories of exploding phones, iPhones, and other devices.

    3G iPhone Catches Fire
    On Saturday, February 28, 2009, Tim Colbourne, an Italian blogger based in Rome, plugged his iPhone 3G into his computer's USB port. Just a few hours later, it caught fire, resulting in one very dead iPhone. Fortunately for Colbourne, Apple replaced the handset.

    Cell Phone Charger Blamed for Blaze in Delaware
    In late summer 2008, a mobile home near Millsboro, Delaware caught fire, causing over $30,000 in damages. While details are slim, the culprit appeared to be a malfunctioning cell phone charger.

    iPod Lights Man's Pants on Fire
    Danny Williams, a Douglasville, Georgia native (he worked at a kiosk in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport), suddenly looked down to find flames leaping up his chest. It turns out Williams's iPod Nano's lithium-ion battery had burst into flames; fortunately, he was uninjured and Apple replaced the defective Nano.

    Michigan Boy Burnt By Pocketed PlayStation Portable (PSP)
    Back in February of 2008 in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a PlayStation Portable overheated in a middle school boy's pocket, causing second-degree burns. Proving the cosmos has a sense of humor, the disc inside the PSP was a popular driving game called 'Burnout.'

    iPod Nano Catches Fire While Owner Snoozes
    In another case of incendiary iProducts, an iPod nano owner posted to the Nike Talk online messageboard that he was awakened early one morning by a screeching fire alarm, set off by his Nano bursting into flames.

    Pregnant Woman's Nokia Phone Battery Explodes
    A pregnant woman in India suffered mild burns when her three year old Nokia exploded ten minutes after she plugged it in to the charger. Nokia claims it was an isolated incident.

    Cell Phone Battery Explodes, Kills Worker
    On June 18, 2007, a 22-year old Chinese welder was killed when the battery on his cell phone (located in his shirt pocket) exploded. The battery's eruption cracked a rib and embedded the battery pack into the worker's heart; unfortunately the man died just after arriving at the hospital.

Tags: batteries, burningbatteries, flaming, htctouchpro, killer gadgets, KillerGadgets, lithium ion, lithium ion batteries, lithium-ion, lithiumion, top, touchpro

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