In my case, the one I noticed last year was in January, so the air temperature was cool. The three I noticed this year were all in the past month or two. I think they were the result of the external temperature rising and heating the batteries too rapidly while hot air filled the room. I don't have a lab to test this hypothesis, but here's a link about battery life: http://www.mpoweruk.com/life.htm
Maybe they are, maybe they're not. Apple has been changing manufacturers a lot lately and it could be a different manufacturer between the two phone batteries, but also I was thinking more along the lines of the two batteries have different configurations so they wouldn't necessarily work, or more specifically malfunction, the same way. (Read my below example as to my reasoning)
you've obviously never even seen a 9 volt battery, huh? At my job we go through tons of batteries of all makes, and sometimes some batteries get forgotten, I don't know how many 9 volt batteries I have found this year (that are MAYBE only a year or so past their printed expiry date) that the bottom has ripped off partially because the batteries were expanding. No idea if they were new or old batteries since once they expand, they no longer give an energy reading to check how much power they had.
Double AA batteries from the same manufacturer I have never seen expand (just start leaking out the seams if they're old enough) but the 9V batteries I've seen expand and pop the bottom partially off I don't know how many times. Same battery manufacturer, but different configurations can have different results. Yes, Lithium Ion batteries are different types of batteries from Double AA and 9V obviously, the most obvious being Li Ion are recharged hundreds of times over their life while most batteries of the shelf are one time use but even the rechargeable versions can't be recharged indefinitely, they die too and need to be recycled or the same thing happens to them, but the simple fact of the matter is that they're all still batteries, and all batteries can have this expansion occur to them. Why on earth do you think consumer batteries have an expiry date printed on them? So you're sure of their freshness? Or because you shouldn't be using them after a certain period of time?
Howmander I think you might be comparing Apples to Oranges, I am 64 years old and have seen a couple of AA battery's, I do not ever remember seeing a perfectly working AA or 9 volt battery suddenly expand to twice its size and or explode,sure if you have used up old battery's laying around they will start to corrode, and so will some other things, yes the iphone is an amazing piece of engineering, and you know what, the battery is the most important part of the iphone, we are talking about batteries that are working and charging just fine and then destroy the phone, I think only an apple employee would say that is normal for a two year old phone,
how much money has gone into the development of this phone, a fortune, how much money into the design of the battery , looks like not much, so some people are saying with the technology we have today that if your iphone is two years old, carry it in a suitcase for safety LOL
this will come to a head when someday somewhere someone is trying to make an emergency call on there iphone and it swells up to twice it's size, and Apple will tell the public this is completely normal,
last note, I fully understand that people on here with there iphones that are still normal size will po-po us people with expanded iphones as an unusual problem . but will be happy to join us victims in complaining if and when there iphones POP
In my case, the one I noticed last year was in January, so the air temperature was cool. The three I noticed this year were all in the past month or two. I think they were the result of the external temperature rising and heating the batteries too rapidly while hot air filled the room. I don't have a lab to test this hypothesis, but here's a link about battery life: http://www.mpoweruk.com/life.htm
you might have a good point here, with the great battery design iphone has, why not incorporate a thermometer in the back case of the iphone with a chart on what is the safe temperature to keep the iphone at or even better an app we can download to give us an advance warning on battery explosion,
here's an update picture on my iphone it really has expanded if you compare it to my earlier picture , expect explosion soon , I would worry and call fire department HAZMAT team, but I am not worried as I now know this is completely normal for our great iphone battery design, after all it's a very old iphone a little over two years old, don't worry , be happy
I work on iPods/iPhones for a living... the iPod Video and iPod classic batteries (although much less common with the black model battery) expand and can crack the LCD Screens. Have seen it happen multiple times. iPod Mini batteries did this as well (to the point where you couldn't get the board out of the shell.) Also happens with the various Nano Models (I've personally only seen bad cases of this on the 2nd and 4th Gen units.)
While I haven't seen it personally with the 3GS, I'd completely believe that. I still use a 3G Phone and original battery (why I don't know) and it hasn't expanded one bit.
These are actually very dangerous, especially depending on the charge the battery has when they expand (and if you pop them.) I've accidentally popped a few iPod Video batteries and you'll see a flame shooting out of the hole (if grounded when poking the hole.) I had to throw one outside in the snow because it was blowing fire out of it for about 20 seconds... no foolery, just a screwdriver punching a small hole.
Could you imagine if there was a rupture in one that someone sent in the mail and it went on a plane... jeez talk about dangerous.
THIS JUST HAPPENED TO MY PHONE!!! please tell me what they did for you because they did **** all for me! just offered me a replacement for $149 like wtf, they should let everyone know this is possibilty.
This happened to yet another of my iPhones. That makes the 4th one in the last two months except this one had signs of a weak battery before imploding. A few days before the event, the iPhone kept resetting with the SIM card inside. Then the battery gave out completely. I wonder if anyone has had this happen in the summer or just in the cold air. http://imgur.com/sfYi7,Vdl8A,dnaQ5,BfnrJ,uuoUS#0
Interesting thread... since installing ios5 (litterally the day I did!) I've been experiencing random shut downs, particularly when I'm outside (its cold here in the uk at this time of the year).... but in the last couple of days my phone has started to crack down the back.
Chatted to a helpful chap in the apple store, who thought it was an expanding battery (hence I am here!), and that it would be Ł120 to replace.
The thing that interests me is that my phone is greater than 12 months old, yes, but was bought on a 24 month contract, which isn't up yet. British consumer law (sales of goods act, cf http://whatconsumer.co.uk/how-long-should-it-last/) indicates that there is probably an angle that if they sold me a phone that didn't last the entirity of the contract, then its their responsbility to replace it perhaps. I'm going to try and get an appointment at apple tomorrow, and see if they can diagnose the problem for me!
OK, so apparently this is very rare (but not so rare they didnt instantly identify the battery expansion).
The apple store chap said its caused by 2 things - water damage, or in extreme cases a battery fault. They can identify water damage by a small tab just inside the case by the charger. If this is red, the phone has had water inside.
If the battery has water damage, it might be 4-6 months before there is an issue with the battery. My tab was red, as I had dropped my phone in the loo 6 months before (I hadnt told them this).
Apple were very fair, and offered me a battery replacement for Ł55 - they cannot replace the battery on a 3GS, so this means a new phone! Whoop! I think this is fair.
So! If your battery is doing this, check just inside the charger socket with a light to see if there's some red in there, and you'll probably find the cause!
first for safety I would be very careful how you handle that phone, I put mine under a upside down large clay pot in my garage for safety as I did not want to keep it in the house, when My wife told me she heard a noise from the garage, a couple of days ago I kinda guessed what it was , it was the battery blowing off the back of my iphone, if you look at my earlier pictures you can see it was still expanding as yours might,
now you may hear that this is normal if your battery is around two years old , or if it gets wet, or if it is kept someplace to hot or to cold, or if you have a bad charger, or if you have a good charger, or if you hold it in your left hand under a full moon at exactly 2:01 am, this is all BS, this is a design fault in the battery and or iphone,
in my first contact with Apple they asked me to send in a picture of my burnt hand, (copy of email enclosed)they thought this was serious enough that they kept in contact with me even over Sunday, so it is my belief there have been people burned by this problem, and if I did receive bodily injury, I am sure apple would of been happy to send me a new iphone, and who knows what else to keep this quiet, when I told her I did not burn my hand, thats when she told me this is normal, my apple extended plan just expired, but I could receive another iphone with only a new three year contract with ATT, WHOOPEE,
I am keeping the parts in a box as it is probably only a matter of time until Consumer Product Safety Commission, gets a complaint from someone,
(Thank you for the pictures Joe.
If you are able to, can you please send me a picture of the burn mark on your hand. I will get this escalated right away. Thank you for your help and patience! Hope to hear from you soon!
(Amaxxx do you realize how ridiculous it was that the safety department told you to tell me that it is normal for the battery to blow up if it is not changed every two years , wow talk about admitting a poor design, the Iphone is designed that it takes special tools and knowledge in changing the battery, not like other cell phones where the battery just pops out, and for them to have you tell me that I should sign a three year contract to obtain another phone is insulting to me, who does that help only ATT, they make money on me while I have a blown up cell phone that cost me money, and also it looks like the phone is still swelling up as it's bigger now then when I sent you the pictures maybe it's possessed
yours truly
Joe xxxxx
Originally Posted by amacs
THIS JUST HAPPENED TO MY PHONE!!! please tell me what they did for you because they did **** all for me! just offered me a replacement for $149 like wtf, they should let everyone know this is possibilty.
first for safety I would be very careful how you handle that phone, I put mine under a upside down large clay pot in my garage for safety as I did not want to keep it in the house, when My wife told me she heard a noise from the garage, a couple of days ago I kinda guessed what it was , it was the battery blowing off the back of my iphone, if you look at my earlier pictures you can see it was still expanding as yours might,
now you may hear that this is normal if your battery is around two years old , or if it gets wet, or if it is kept someplace to hot or to cold, or if you have a bad charger, or if you have a good charger, or if you hold it in your left hand under a full moon at exactly 2:01 am, this is all BS, this is a design fault in the battery and or iphone,
in my first contact with Apple they asked me to send in a picture of my burnt hand, (copy of email enclosed)they thought this was serious enough that they kept in contact with me even over Sunday, so it is my belief there have been people burned by this problem, and if I did receive bodily injury, I am sure apple would of been happy to send me a new iphone, and who knows what else to keep this quiet, when I told her I did not burn my hand, thats when she told me this is normal, my apple extended plan just expired, but I could receive another iphone with only a new three year contract with ATT, WHOOPEE,
I am keeping the parts in a box as it is probably only a matter of time until Consumer Product Safety Commission, gets a complaint from someone,
(Thank you for the pictures Joe.
If you are able to, can you please send me a picture of the burn mark on your hand. I will get this escalated right away. Thank you for your help and patience! Hope to hear from you soon!
(Amaxxx do you realize how ridiculous it was that the safety department told you to tell me that it is normal for the battery to blow up if it is not changed every two years , wow talk about admitting a poor design, the Iphone is designed that it takes special tools and knowledge in changing the battery, not like other cell phones where the battery just pops out, and for them to have you tell me that I should sign a three year contract to obtain another phone is insulting to me, who does that help only ATT, they make money on me while I have a blown up cell phone that cost me money, and also it looks like the phone is still swelling up as it's bigger now then when I sent you the pictures maybe it's possessed
yours truly
Joe xxxxx
Thank you for the info. I'm still sad about it.. I can still plug it in and I still see a battery picture charging. But the battery itself can't hold a charge for the phone to turn on.
I'm kind of iffy about buying a replacement phone 3GS because I'm not guaranteed this wont happen again. I still have pictures I would love to get my hands on. I'm really disappointed how apple handled my case because I didn't drop it, It didn't have contact with water.
I truly am an apple lover. I have an iphone4, MacBook, iPad 2, iPod nano and even the apple tv. I hope they could find a way to actually fix my problem. Why would I want to spend another 150 on a phone that could possibly do the same thing?? I think it's ridiculous how they couldn't give me a good reason why this happened. And tell me why would anyone want a phone like this? After 2 years your battery can expand? People like phones that last. The tech guy gave me such obsurd reasons, that it can happen to even car batterys and all that. Like hello.. I'm talking about a phone where people use it everyday.
Apple techs.. Supervisors.. Etc. get on this problem! Seriously
It's NOT FAIR!!!
Interesting, but doesn't seem very useful. The person is claiming damage from the iPhone 3Gs, but doesn't appear to want to offer any proof other than their word and they refuse to disclose any medical record or proof of damage, if there is any. Anyone can do that.
a)No proof of medical visits. Any person involved in a personal injury lawsuit needs at least one physician's signature proving the damages. You just don't have a case without any record of the damage.
b)If the phone got so hot, he should have pulled it away from his face. This is more user negligence though.
c)(Not so much a concern but a peculiarity)The author's perfect credit score is listed at 990. Only a small percentage of people use the VantageScore rating system. Most people use FICO, which maxes out at 850.
There is little evidence to back up this story other than some blacked out scanned documents. Yes, it could happen, but this story can't be proven true.
iPhone 3GS Battery Expanded and Pushed Out Front Glass
NHCharmedOne
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Originally Posted by Howmander
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