Comments on: iPod Nano sets man’s pants on fire in airport

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 05:05:13 +0000

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

By: RS

RS — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:42:08 +0000

john @ hp is right. That dock cable looks mighty suspicious.

By: Magius

Magius — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:17:17 +0000

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.

By: ajadoniz

ajadoniz — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 04:45:39 +0000

His pants were on fire, but not because his Nano went up in flames, but because he is a filthy liar. Liar!

By: Brian Singer

Brian Singer — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 04:00:12 +0000

So totally dumb. That guy is a total noob! I found wallpapers that blast this fire Nano guy http://www.iphonesavior.com

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 02:58:06 +0000

Well, another person hit the $$$ lottery and yet again, it isn’t me :-( hahahhaha

Jon

By: ClockSkew

ClockSkew — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 02:57:27 +0000

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. :)

By: Sascha

Sascha — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:47:01 +0000

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…

By: john @ hp

john @ hp — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:58:50 +0000

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?

By: Marcus

Marcus — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:55:29 +0000

This happened to my friends Zune, he sent it back before I could get any photos );