Swollen iPhone battery.

I have an old iPhone 3GS that has been sat for about a month with no front on (glass, digitiser and LCD) as I've been waiting for a replacement LCD. New LCD arrived today so went to fit it when I noticed the logic board was bulging out in the middle. Removed the screws holding the logic board and it shot out of the phone as if it was spring loaded revealing a very swollen battery that looked ready to burst.

What I want to know is has anyone had any experience of this and will the now slightly bent logic board still work. There doesn't appear to be any physical damage to the board apart from a slight curvature. Don't want to splash out on a new battery if its a waste of time.

http://i1241.photobucket.com/albums/gg518/Steroc/46B31409-78F7-4834-9072-DEFDB5B974FA-18323-000005214D995D24.jpg

Its a LIPO do not take any risks, if its swollen an un-reversible chemical reaction is taking place, worse case scenario it sets on fire. Most likely they have discharged to a too low voltage, if a LIPO goes below 3v a cell an irreversible chemical reaction takes place.

Best thing to do, wire a bulb to the battery until no life is left (put it outside) then submerge in salt water for a week and dispose.

Its a LIPO do not take any risks, if its swollen an un-reversible chemical reaction is taking place, worse case scenario it sets on fire. Most likely they have discharged to a too low voltage, if a LIPO goes below 3v a cell an irreversible chemical reaction takes place.

 

Best thing to do, wire a bulb to the battery until no life is left (put it outside) then submerge in salt water for a week and dispose.

Argh!!!??? My god - is this soo bad? Do they come with warnings???

Argh!!!??? My god - is this soo bad? Do they come with warnings???

Oh Yes! Batteries have been known to spontaneously combust occasionally:

iPod Nano recall over fire risk

Oh Yes! Batteries have been known to spontaneously combust occasionally:

 

iPod Nano recall over fire risk

 

Cheers m8 - did not know that cell phones could do that - thought it was just laptops! Thanks again.

Cheers m8 - did not know that cell phones could do that - thought it was just laptops! Thanks again.

Not a Iphone lover or hater just that I like Samsung but if you do a search for 'iphone burst into flames' you may be surprised

You can do the same for Samsung, Nokia, Blackberry ect it seems no phone is exempt

Not a Iphone lover or hater just that I like Samsung but if you do a search for 'iphone burst into flames' you may be surprised

You can do the same for Samsung, Nokia, Blackberry ect it seems no phone is exempt

That is correct, because it is the batteries that are at fault, not Apple or Samsung's engineering!

Remember when Dell had a battery recall several years ago? They went to quite some lengths to divert all the blame onto Sony.

Actually, the website is still up here:

http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

Slightly off topic but I've lost my iPhone charger and have been using the iPad charger. It does charge a lot faster and the phone gets warmer than usual when charging. Could I been damaging/shortening the iPhone batteries life?

Slightly off topic but I've lost my iPhone charger and have been using the iPad charger. It does charge a lot faster and the phone gets warmer than usual when charging. Could I been damaging/shortening the iPhone batteries life?

Not sure on Apple devices but my Android ones are clever enough to only pull the amps they can handle, I often plug my phone into my tablets 2amp charger, it charges faster as the stock one is .5 amps and the phone can handle 1amp.

I have an old iPhone 3GS that has been sat for about a month with no front on (glass, digitiser and LCD) as I've been waiting for a replacement LCD. New LCD arrived today so went to fit it when I noticed the logic board was bulging out in the middle. Removed the screws holding the logic board and it shot out of the phone as if it was spring loaded revealing a very swollen battery that looked ready to burst.

What I want to know is has anyone had any experience of this and will the now slightly bent logic board still work. There doesn't appear to be any physical damage to the board apart from a slight curvature. Don't want to splash out on a new battery if its a waste of time.

 

http://i1241.photobucket.com/albums/gg518/Steroc/46B31409-78F7-4834-9072-DEFDB5B974FA-18323-000005214D995D24.jpg

Mine did the same recently..changed battery and phone is now running like new. I doubt you've done any damage to the logic board. Make sure when ordering battery it's the same reference number as the damaged one.

On reflection unless you've had it since new the damaged battery could have been fitted by an oik using the wrong referenced battery.

I have an old iPhone 3GS that has been sat for about a month with no front on (glass, digitiser and LCD) as I've been waiting for a replacement LCD. New LCD arrived today so went to fit it when I noticed the logic board was bulging out in the middle. Removed the screws holding the logic board and it shot out of the phone as if it was spring loaded revealing a very swollen battery that looked ready to burst.

What I want to know is has anyone had any experience of this and will the now slightly bent logic board still work. There doesn't appear to be any physical damage to the board apart from a slight curvature. Don't want to splash out on a new battery if its a waste of time.

 

http://i1241.photobucket.com/albums/gg518/Steroc/46B31409-78F7-4834-9072-DEFDB5B974FA-18323-000005214D995D24.jpg

I'm afraid you WILL need a new battery. Swelling of batteries is a very common phenomena when a battery reaches the end of its life, and the chemicals inside react, most likely oxidising after contact with the air or water, forming crystals of oxides which expand and swell the battery. (This can also happen if a battery is dropped in water and not carefully dried). The ordinary alkaline AA, AAA, and other such batteries always swell if life-expired and left lying around, and especially so if damp. Phone batteries are of different composition from standard alkaline batteries, but generally a similar process of oxidation can happen, as with Ni-Cad rechargeable batteries too.

I'm afraid you WILL need a new battery. Swelling of batteries is a very common phenomena when a battery reaches the end of its life, and the chemicals inside react, most likely oxidising after contact with the air or water, forming crystals of oxides which expand and swell the battery. (This can also happen if a battery is dropped in water and not carefully dried). The ordinary alkaline AA, AAA, and other such batteries always swell if life-expired and left lying around, and especially so if damp. Phone batteries are of different composition from standard alkaline batteries, but generally a similar process of oxidation can happen, as with Ni-Cad rechargeable batteries too.

Cheers for the replies everybody. I know that I'll need a new battery, that bit is pretty obvious (besides the fact the battery is now over twice the thickness of the phone). The main question I was asking is has anyone any experience of whether a bent logic board that appears to have no other damage will still work. Didn't want to shell out for a new battery if it wasn't going to work. New battery ordered now so guess I'll find out soon. Cheers everyone.

Mine did the same recently..changed battery and phone is now running like new. I doubt you've done any damage to the logic board. Make sure when ordering battery it's the same reference number as the damaged one.

 

On reflection unless you've had it since new the damaged battery could have been fitted by an oik using the wrong referenced battery.

Had it since new so should be the original battery, having said that though had it sent of for repair through insurance to a supposedly Apple approved repair centre for a cracked screen. When I got it back they'd also replaced the back with a sub standard part (as the silver Apple logo peeled off after 2 days) and their was a bit of paper in the camera lens. So stripped the phone down myself to remove the paper to discover 6 screws missing and a phone full of dust. So possible they could have changed the battery too for a non original. New one ordered but it doesn't quite match the reference but have done my research and am sure it's compatible.

EDIT: New battery arrived. Phone now working fine. No damage done.