This sounds kind of dubious but apparently an Atlanta man named Danny Williams was walking in an airport and his iPod Nano started to flame up. A “glossy piece of paper” protected him from life-threatening burns. Apple is being good sports about it and is offering him a new iPod after Willams went to the local news station with the story. The reporter got no quote from Apple, probably because it never happened.
My question is this: I know laptop batteries hold a lot of juice, but this is an iPod Nano. What specifically can discharge that fast and that powerfully that it could cause the case to overheat and burn, even in that small space. Is this even possible, electrical engineers?
This happened to my friends Zune, he sent it back before I could get any photos );
i despise apple, but you gotta ask why did the guy have the docking cable (if that it what it is) on while it was in his pocket?
Also, if this actually happened at an airport, the story would end with the guy being tackled by five TSA employees who then dragged him into a cell and interrogated him for 17 hours trying to figure out who his Al Quaida contact man is…
It’s not that they hold a charge that is enough to burn pants, it’s that the components used in the lithium ion batteries used are quite nasty when there is a failure–a la exploding laptop batteries.
And I am an electrical engineer. :)
Well, another person hit the $$$ lottery and yet again, it isn’t me :-( hahahhaha
Jon
So totally dumb. That guy is a total noob! I found wallpapers that blast this fire Nano guy http://www.iphonesavior.com
His pants were on fire, but not because his Nano went up in flames, but because he is a filthy liar. Liar!
There is a reason why Lithium Ion batteries haven’t been used in bigger setups, like hybrid/electric cars, even though they would be perfect energy-wise.
john @ hp is right. That dock cable looks mighty suspicious.
The iPod’s don’t use Lithium Ion, they use Lithium Polymer, similar but different. And yes they can flame quite nicley, for a variety of reasons. A bad charger circuit can set them off, or physical damage. The cells themselves are in a plastic bag. The cells look like flat rectangles.
I use Lithium Ion’s for flying RC airplanes, and have destroyed a few sets, usually from physical damage.
Anyone who uses these for a hobby soon learns to charge them in a metal or ceramic can, just in case. Check out the below video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OsBc8RqSKU
And yes I am an engineer with a lot of battery experiance.
By the way Lithium ION’s are used in some electric vehicles, check out the Tesla car