Yes, it's another exploding cellphone story

And now, the latest from the exploding cellphone front: Kris Munford, a 911 dispatcher for the Ogden, Utah, police and fire department, smelled something funny coming from her jacket (and we're going to skip the obvious and crude jokes here, okay?). Before she could do anything, her cellphone had burned through the jacket and landed on the floor, where it exploded, sending plastic shrapnel across the room. As usual, the culprit appears to have been the phone's battery. Munford was shaken but uninjured, and local TV station KSL-TV offered some helpful advice for anyone with a potentially explosive phone: "If it gets too cold outside, just pick up your cellphone. It may be one of those that puts out enough heat to start a fire." Heh, heh. Love that newsroom humor.

[Walter @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

Damnit they missed the most important part of the story-- was she using a 3rd party battery or not!? So far cellphone manufacturers seem to say this only happens with 3rd party batteries, so whats the deal here?

Second to that, its only a matter of time before cellphones are banned on airplanes entirely because their batteries are too powerful and can be used as a bomb.

Think about it, laptop+cellphone+iPod battery could do some damage, no? And when the fuel cell batteries start showing up that can hold months worth of energy, I'm sure there will be issues raised and dealt with.

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

Whats the phone make and model? Typically they have been Nokia's.

Was the chick hot?

So her # is 911? Sweet.

[Lars Groeger @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

Got a nice one on this thread too....
I once had my Siemens SL 42 heating up to a painful Level in my Trousers.....When i analyzed it, I found out that a piece of metallic Chewinggum Paper had been Stuck in the Charging Contacts...obviously conducting the heat reaction.....
I think a Hinch like at the K700 must become Standard.....


In case i just gave the solving Hint for the Exploding Cellphone thing please honor my name and donate me some money.....

[Galley @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

I have to leave my Toshiba VM4050 in my locker at work. Several times a week, it will be completely dead after just three hours. There's been a few times that I have picked it up and it is very hot. I think that it's using so much power searching for a signal. The only place I can get a signal inside the plant is near the big windows in the break room. :-( I've already had the battery replaced, so I know that's not the problem.

[Evan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

Yeah..I have the Toshiba 4050 too. When I visit my mom in the boondocks where she lives, it goes to analog mode looking for a signal. The battery time gets cut by 80%. Where my phone standby time in Manhattan would be 36 hours with occassional use, it would last 6-10 hours in Greenwich, CT.

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

As Walter said, was it 3rd party?
Perhaps cell manufacturers are adding this 'feature' to assist people in choosing genuine replacement parts.
Next up, people's inkjet printers start exploding, shortly after refilling the cartridges...

[j @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

Her phone was indeed a Nokia with the factory battery.

[antonio @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

sorry to say, but if that's the real picture of the destroyed phone, it's not a nokia. Looks like a Moto, or some other clamshell phone, and nokia barely has clameshells :-D

[Eion Murdock @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

The article says that it's a Motorola - well-spotted, Antonio :)

I'm still waiting to see the first round of lawsuits over exploding batteries.

[Mary @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

The phone in the picture is the Motorola V300 which is the one I have... defintely need to know if it was the factory battery or not.

[Cort @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

The local news paper here in Salt Lake City yesterday reported that the lady had a motorola V300 with tmobile and that she only had it a couple months and had never changed the battery.

[alatari @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

Last part of the article said they suspect Coslight batteries which were missed in a recall could be responsible.

[bren @ Dec 19th 2005 1:38AM]

uh oh #11.
hopefully this doesn't become a new trend in cellphones.
I don't really dig the idea of mine exploding in my pocket =