It spends all day by your side and even sleeps beside you, but all that attention can make your smart phone your worst enemy.
Around the country — reports of smart phone's catching fire. Newschannel 5 On Your Side uncovers what causes smart technology to burst into flames and how you can prevent a disaster.
Charred pillows, melted plastic: the aftermath of a smart phone catching fire, in many cases, phones bursting into flames while charging under pillows like a Samsung phone in Texas earlier this year.
Recently, one woman saw her phone burst into flames suddenly while on a flight to Honolulu.
And here in St. Louis County, it’s not unheard of.
“We had one catch fire here. We set it down and it burnt through the screen,” said Derek Tullock, the general manager of CPR cell phone repair.
No one's seen the danger more than those who make a living putting those smoldering pieces of plastic back together.
“Something extreme has to happen to it rapidly in order for it to happen. That's when you see the fire,” said Tullock.
So, what causes these phones to catch fire in the first place? Tullock says, charging water damaged phones can cause the batteries to catch fire. You can tell if a phone is water damaged by the size of the battery. Tullock says the battery will often expand and the screen of the smart phone will bulge.
But charging a water damaged phone isn't the only thing that can cause a smart phone to go up in flames.
“You normally get instantons bursts when the battery is punctured, crushed,” said Tullock.
Newschannel 5 on Your Side watched as Tullock put this theory to the test by puncturing 10 cell phone batteries of all different makes and models. Look at them smoke, spark, melt and even bubble
“Fire, nine times out of 10, will ignite,” said Tullock.
Tullock say even a hard fall can cause the battery to spark and start a fire.
The bottom line from the St. Louis Fire Department:
“If you put it under your pillow it might not happen the first time, or hundredth time, but there is the possibility that it can heat up particularly with some of these batteries. Batteries could melt, there's heat. It's a bad combination,” said Captain Garon Mosby.
Experts say cheap charging cables and off-brand replacement batteries often manufactured in china can also cause smart phones to overheat. There are more than 23 reports of cell phones and chargers catching fire and shocking users according to the consumer product safety commission.
