Filed under: iPod Family, Tips and tricks
How to Make an iPod Bomb
Okay. Not really. But here's what to avoid doing to keep your iPod (or any device with a lithium-based battery for that matter) from exploding: don't soak it in water. If you do happen to soak it in water and try to see if it works immediately after removing it from water, don't try to take it apart yourself to see what is broken. It's wet. That's what is broken.In any case, a kid in Australia accidently left his iPod in his dirty laundry and it ended up going through the wash, he decided to take it apart and boom! The iPod popped open, burning the cover, and emitting some toxic fumes. The boy inhaled the fumes and was treated for breathing difficulties afterwards but is okay, albeit sans an iPod.
I, myself, have dropped multiple cellphones in the toilet multiple times (cell phone on belt clip, belt clip hits toilet seat as I'm pulling up my pants, cellphone plops into recently flushed toilet). None of them have broken. Why? Because I follow very careful steps whenever I get electronics wet. I dry them off with a towel. I don't turn them on to see if they work, as running electricity will fry the circuits. I remove the battery, if it is removable (with a towel between me and the battery). I then let it sit and dry out for a good 48 hours. And then if it was dropped in the toilet I nuke it with some anti-bacterial spray to boot.
[via iPod Hacks]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
arkowi said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
thanks for the insight into your toilet habits CK.
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Random said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
You really shouldn't take apart any device with a built-in battery unless you're a trained technician. Thank god the kid didn't pour water into his CRT monitor and then try to take it apart.
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C.K. Sample, III said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
What can I say, arkowi? I overshare. It's what I do. ;-)
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arkowi said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
hey, its what makes the internet go round.
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Pedro said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
I just learned more about you then I cared to know CK. I don't know what was worse... the comment or the mental picture!
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Blair Robinson said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
As a side note, if you ever drop something into salt, you're probably screwed. If you do, keep it submerged, and place the elctronic device into a bucket of distilled water (or whatever water you have until you can get to distilled water), and then bring it to a repair shop that can remove salt water. Probably not worth it for something like an iPod, but it might be for some things.
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Jay said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
The mental image is worse; absolutely.
But here's the question: why did the 'Pod 'explode'? There's no reason I can think of that taking the cover off should have made the battery more likely to rupture than otherwise. It probably would have done the same thing even if he hadn't touched it. If the water caused the battery short, it caused the battery to short. Rather than "don't open the case," my advice would be "run like hell" and don't touch the thing at all for a day or so if it get's really soaked. Doubly so if it's been dropped in saltwater, or some other liquid with lots of electrolytes--detergent probably counts. And set it on something non-reactive and fire resistent.
Once you're pretty sure it's not going to turn into a fireball, open the case--carefully, in case the battery has leaked--and let the inside dry out.
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Stu said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
I dropped a cell phone in a toilet at a bar...as it was flushing a few years ago. Never saw that phone again.
Stu
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C.K. Sample, III said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
Stu, the CHUD have your cellphone!
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Paul S said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
The boy punctured the lithium polymer battery with a screwdriver. That is what caused the "explosion".
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Iso Grifo said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
Okay, I've asked around, and everyone I know says they pull up and buckle up before flushing. So I'm saying you absolutely did NOT drop your phone in a recently flushed toilet. I'm saying there was indeed fecal matter in that toilet your phone was swimming in. Not cool, man.
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C.K. Sample, III said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
Iso,
LOL
Wrong, but funny. It's always happened in the same stall at work; it's a smallish stall and though I would normally do as you and your polled friends describe, in those cramped quarters, I instead flush then stand (for fear of doing exactly what I describe in the post: dropping something in the toilet).
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Jay said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
"always happened"? And your employer continues to trust you with electronics? I think I'd start tying things to my employees the *first* time they dropped something in.
Anyway, why is everybody talking about s**t? This is TUAW, not TU Win95 W.
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Andrew Kaufmann said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
I was out in a thunderstorm once, and when I got out of my car my cell phone fell into the little raging rivers that form on the sides of roads during a storm. The water immediately grabbed the cell phone and so there I was chasing my cell phone down the street -- and then I made a mad dive for it as it approached the storm drain... and the water won. My phone was gone. Some sewer rat somewhere is probably using my minutes.
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tnkgrl said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
A friend of mine who is a painter once dropped her entry-level Moto phone in a bucket contaning water (and brushes) contaminated with latex paint. The phone was on at time...
20 minutes elepased before she noticed! She then immediately removed the battery and let the phone and battery dry. Two days later she connected the battery and the phone worked!
Of course from then on her phone started turning itself off at random so she replaced it. But still, I was amazed that it still worked :)
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Adrian said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
This has actually happened to me! Not only once but twice... first with a Samsung cellphone which was almost brand new. I dropped in the toillet while at the office, when I was taking out of my pocket (while sitting) to answer a call. Took it out immediately and didn't turn it on, as I figured it would cause a short circuit. I took it to my car, separated the battery and left it on the dashboard for about 8 hours (in Florida summer sun!). When I came back out, the phone was dry and I put the battery back in place, crossed my fingers and turned it on... and it was alive! As you can imagine, after such incident I changed the phone the following week... something about taking the phone to my face... yuck!
The next time it happened was actually a freak accident. My dogs (pugs) were playing and running around the pool at my house when I heard a splash... one of the dogs jumped into the deep end! Needless to say, I ran out of the kitchen (which leads to the pool area), and leaped into the pool to save my dog! Unluckily, my Nokia 7610 happened to be in my pocket at the time, and ofcourse, got soaked completely. By the time I noticed, I thought it was too late. Anyhow, I left it by the window in pieces, while I took my dog to the vet (he swallowed a lot of chlorined water, dangerous to some smaller breeds), and when I came back, some 3 hours later, I finished drying the phone with a towell and put the pieces back together and turned it back on. It turned on fine, but the phone's audio was irreparably damaged. I had the phone changed. And the dog is fine now.
I have also dropped an almost full open can of Diet Coke onto my G4 PowerBook. Nothing serious happened, at least not in functionality... no explotions or short circuits... but the surface suffered physical damage on the lower left corner, where the can's full weight fell and now there's a large dent. Not very aesthetically pleasing on such a beautiful computer as a Powerbook...
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Brett said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
Adrian, nice story, but I thought this was an Apple blog, not "Adrian's Creative Writing Exercises." Check out blogger.com and you can write as much as you like! :>
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ScottBruin said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
I was actually talking to a chemical engineering major about something related to this tonight.
One of his teachers also works for the local narcotics department and explained to his class that meth labs blow up because of contact of water with sodium (sodium the metal, not salt).
He told his class that if meth producers (hello to any out there) wanted to reduce this risk, they should use the lithium from a Lithium Ion battery, because it's *less* volatile than sodium.
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max cascone said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
I jumped into a lake with my phone and keys to save a runaway kite... phone and car remote died. After a while, the phone would power up but not the screen. I considered it gone and left it in my car for literally two years. When i was cleaning the car out to give it to my mom, i found the phone, turned it on and it worked! I couldn't believe it.
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Bill Campbell said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
CK.................TMI. (Too much information)
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