Bulging Lithium Ion Polymer Battery

The battery to my smart phone is bulging.

I have quit using it, and know that it is dangerous.

I know that I should take it to battery recycling center.

What should I do with it before then?

(I don't think I have anything fireproof to put it in.)

Toss it in a bucket of salt water.

I put it in a terracotta pot outside for the time being.

I'll put it in a bucket of salt water later.

How much salt per gallon of water?

half a cup of salt per gallon should give you sea water, a little more would probably be better. let it sit outside overnight to completely discharge the battery.

They’re never “safe” until you disarm them.

the smoke smells like hydrogen fluoride (hydrofluoric acid) which is essentially
a poison gas that destroys your lungs.

That’s why you do it outside. :laughing:

Same happened to me. No urgent action, just necessary precaution.
That thing did not bulge overnight, it took weeks, maybe even months.
Don’t do anything out of the ordinary with it. Like stabbing or submerging it.

These are chemical processes.
IF you want to take action, put it in a freezer bag, and put the bag in the fridge.
But putting it in a terracotta pot (out of reach and out of rain) is also fine.
Just dispose of it as soon as possible (not talking minutes, but days).

All it means is you’re overcharging it —- I’ll bet pretty high to make it bulge —-the easiest way to make it safe — hook a light bulb to it or something that will drain it to 0v—something to thing about is —your phone might make toast to a brand new battery if it’s overcharging

Speaking of battery gases, has anyone else seen that video of the crocodile chewing up a drone? Smoke and gases everywhere. Poor thing probably died :confused: They had been buzzing it with the drone of course. :person_facepalming:

I did some more research, and I'm NOT going to do this:

I'll take the bulging battery to a proper recycling center.

Why not just give it to a battery recycling location?

That's what I just said I was going to do.

For the same reason you wanted it out of your house you should not bring it into any other building in its current state. It should be fully discharged. Put it in a small plastic container with just enough water to cover it and put in a half teaspoon of salt. Let it sit outside for a day in the saltwater. Then rinse it with fresh water. At that point you ca.n take it anywhere you want.

I would like to think that locations that accept batteries for recycling have adequate safety measures in place. The batteries they accept are all old, malfunctioning, expired batteries. Its likely 90% of them are bulging in some way.

Bulging indicates it is damaged. So it is a DDR battery. Watch the video till the end. DDR batterys should not be transported or stored with other batteries. Home Depot Lowe’s and Staples apparently all have containers for regular recycled batteries but not DDR batteries

Lawn darts. Better’n tannerite.

That I’d like to see

Like I said, I did some research, and I am NOT going to do that.

"Do not put/store the battery in water."

https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/What_to_do_with_a_swollen_battery

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I looked online for instructions on exactly how much salt to add to the water, and I couldn't find one website (reputable looking or not) that recommended putting the battery in any type of water.

...

So, Oli, if you have a source, please provide a link.

I think I'll order a fireproof & explosion proof LiPo bag to transport the battery.