Many years in the past, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 gained notoriety when its batteries caught fireplace in a sequence of incidents. There’s been a gradual stream of comparable, although remoted, incidents ever since. However, regardless of the high-profile protection of batteries gone fallacious, the overwhelming majority of Li-ion batteries are protected.

The chemical response that happens inside a lithium-ion cell is advanced, however as in any battery, there is a unfavorable and a constructive electrode. In lithium batteries, the unfavorable is a lithium-carbon compound, and the constructive is cobalt oxide (although many battery makers are transferring away from cobalt). These two compounds trigger a response that’s protected when managed and delivers power to your units. When the response will get uncontrolled although, you find yourself with earbuds melting in your ears. What adjustments a protected response to an uncontrolled response could be any variety of issues: extra warmth, bodily injury throughout use, bodily injury throughout manufacture, or utilizing the fallacious charger. 

The three fundamental guidelines which have saved me protected (up to now) by way of testing dozens and dozens of batteries are: 

1. Avoid low cost cords, chargers, and outlet adapters.
2. Make positive batteries aren’t uncovered to extreme warmth (over 110 levels).
3. Regularly examine batteries for indicators of injury.

Avoiding low cost wall-outlet adapters, cords, and chargers is an important. These are your most definitely supply of issues. Those chargers you see on Amazon for $20 cheaper than the competitors? Not value it. They in all probability acquired the value down by skimping on insulation, leaving out power-management instruments, and ignoring the fundamentals {of electrical} security. Price alone is not any assure of security, both. Buy from respected corporations and types.

Then there’s warmth. Too a lot of it will possibly trigger all method of issues, each by way of discharge and by way of security. Avoid warmth, and take note of your batteries once they’re charging. If your system will get overly scorching when charging, this generally is a signal of issues. Similarly, watch out for any swollen, bulging, or in any other case misshapen batteries.