OT - Chinese Welder Dies From Cell Phone

Came across this on another discussion group....

Not only laptops, but now also cellphones can transform into dangerous explosive toys. A 22-year-old welder in China was killed after his Motorola cell phone exploded in the man's chest pocket. Motorola officials are working with Chinese authorities to figure out what caused the explosion. The phone reportedly was exposed to high temperatures before it blew up. Xiao Jinpeng, a welder at the Yingpan Iron Ore Dressing Plant in Jinta county in western China's Gansu province, was killed on June 19 when the battery in his cell phone exploded, according to an Associated Press report from Xinhua, China's state news agency. The Motorola cell phone was in Xiao's chest pocket, and had reportedly been exposed to high temperatures before it exploded, Xinhua said. Rib fragments pierced Xiao's heart following the explosion. After emergency treatment failed, Xiao reportedly died at a local hospital.

While there have been several reports of injuries in the past, this appears to be the first fatality resulting from a cell phone battery explosion. It has not yet been determined whether the battery was an original Motorola battery or not, according to reports. "Motorola's priority is, and always has been, the safety of our customers, and all Motorola products are designed, manufactured and tested to meet or exceed international and local standards for consumer safety and performance," Motorola spokesperson Jennifer Erickson told TechNewsWorld."At this time, preliminary evidence suggests that it is highly unlikely that a cell phone caused this accident; however, we are cooperating with the Chinese authorities to determine and investigate the root cause," Erickson added. "Of course, our thoughts and prayers are with the individual's family and friends," she said.

Reply to
Too_Many_Tools
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Sounds a little hard to believe. I would like to hear some more details about it.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus9598

It appears that this incident is not the only time a cell phone has exploded.

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TMT

Reply to
Too_Many_Tools

Important safety tip here. Don't leave items in your pockets when welding. It's a common cause of burns.

starbolin

Reply to
starbolins

Naw! The poor bastard was probably offed by a stray AK-47 round from a nearby war. Or someone may have been aiming at the boom box he had up against the other ear.

Bob Swinney

(snippage)

Reply to
Robert Swinney

More people in Iraq are killed by cell phones then any where else on earth

Reply to
cncfixxer1

You could always google the man's name...

Reply to
mb

Touché !

Reply to
Robert Swinney

Very very true!

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Reply to
Gunner

No, there have been a number of exploding batteries, no serious injuries however. I think in many cases the problem was found to be substandard off brand and / or counterfeit name brand batteries.

Reply to
Pete C.

It DID happen in China, home of the counterfeit "anything".

Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

Probably got a blob of molten metal that ate into the plastic covering of the lithium ion battery. Lithium is very explosive stuff.

I have heard of welders having butane lighters explode when a molten blob eats through the plastic, but only by hearsay. Never actually seen it happen, but I believe it could.

I worked in a welding shop where a guy got a molten blob of steel in his work boot. So molten blobs can fall into strange places and stuff can happen. He healed up ok, but it took awhile and I am sure it hurt like hell. Dave

Reply to
dav1936531

Re the butane lighters: I definitely remember reading the news articles about this. As I remember there were two cases, both had a butane lighter in their shirt pocket and sparks/slag from welding melted the case and ignited the butane. If I remember correctly one man died.

Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)

Reply to
Bruce

I remember hearing that story almost 30 years ago, it may have even been on the flyers mentioned in this Snopes article, which places the origins at about that time.

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Reply to
Ned Simmons

Actually if you watch the news there have been alot of battery recalls...especially with laptops with the optional barbecue grill feature. One of my neighbors had a new Dell start on fire...while I was there. We are sitting at the table drinking beer and talking and I said "Do you smell burning plastic or do I need a shower?" The laptop (new - 3 days old) at the other end of the room burst into flames at that moment. After the flurry of activity that followed where the laptop was tossed out the door into the pool, the post analysis indicated the fire started in the battery.

I believe that Dell is on the hook for about four million batteries...ticking fire bombs waiting to go off.

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Lesson learned...do not ever leave a battery/charger unattended or overnight...it could cost you your life.

And in case you were wondering ...yes... after the excitement we finished our beers...to celebrate that the darn house hadn't burned to the ground.

TMT

Reply to
Too_Many_Tools

Yeah, we got told in welding class to leave any lighters out of our pockets. And I posted a while back about the guy who posted about learning the hard way that earplugs can be a good idea when welding.

Reply to
z

I had an overheating battery in my LG3200 cell phone. It was made by Sony. The thing was 2 weeks out of warranty. A new battery was over $100 CDN from the dealer. I found one at Battery World for $40.00. The off brand replacement has given no trouble in 2 1/2 years.

Steve R.

Reply to
Steve R.

When I was a drive in manager, in one store the staff lunch room was directly across from the office. After finishing some work in the office, I noticed smoke coming from the staff room. An expensive leather purse and a disposable were burning on the table, and as I entered, the curtains on a nearby window went up. I tore down the curtains, stamped the fire out, and used a CO2 extinguisher on the rest. It look like sunlight ( it was August) set of the lighter, which started the purse burning, which ignited the curtains. There was no apparent source of ignition for the butane. The smoker in question had been enjoying her vice outside. The cheap company didn't care about the fact that I saved their building. They just bellyached about the cost of refilling the extinguisher!

Steve R.

Reply to
Steve R.

Hide quoted text -

Time to find a new company to work for.

I once worked for a company which had a fire and refused to allow the employees to leave their workareas. As the smoke started coming out the ceiling vents, I decided it was time for this employee to leave...told the boss if he didn't like it he could fire me. I heard later that the fire marshall fined the heck out the company for its handling of the situation. Later the company tried to have everyone take personal time for the fire...what a bunch of cheap bastards.

TMT

Reply to
Too_Many_Tools

No direct experience regarding cell phone surprises, but did have a coal pop into a boot one time. People wondered why I decided to start dancing around the fire. It was a big coal. And once had someone accidentally slip a new Bic into a stack of wood in a stove. All that happened was a hissing noise when the heat softened the plastic and shot the butane into the fire. And once set a spray can of ether in front of a candle, then shot the can from a safe distance. The escaping ether blew the candle out as it began a short rocket flight. No drama once the anticipation was over. Brian

Reply to
brian458666

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