Originally published January 24 2005
Bad batteries could be causing cell phones to explode
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A Pennsylvania man has made national news recently telling his story of waking up to find his cell phone smoking as it charged on his nightstand. Experts say his is not an isolated case. Off-brand batteries can sometimes cause phones to explode, they say. Officials strongly recommend that consumers buy replacement batteries only from their phone's original manufacturer.
You may have heard the stories about exploding cell phones.
Well, now Consumer Alert has heard from a viewer who was horrified when his cell phone battery blew up.
Ron McCarty, of Langhorne, Pa., said he woke up to find his bedroom filled with smoke.
"So, we went to sleep about 3 a.m.
I woke up and the bedroom was filled with smoke.
I woke my wife up," McCarty remembered.
McCarty said his cell phone had been plugged into his charger on his nightstand.
He was startled awake by an explosion and found his battery in the floor.
McCarty said the phone was still on his nightstand and there weren't flames -- just smoke -- but he said it was very scary.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said it has received 84 complaints in the last year about various brands of cell phone batteries exploding.
"When counterfeit batteries are manufactured, usually overseas, those batteries may not include the proper electronics that are required for the specific application," said Jim Vernon, of Microchip Technology Inc.
He said he called NBC 10's Consumer Alert when he couldn't get the company to respond, so the Consumer Alert team called Motorola.
The company sent McCarty a new cell phone and told NBC 10 that it would pay for the damage done to his home.
McCarty said he is still waiting for an estimate from his insurance company.
"Such incidents, while rare, can happen with consumer electronics products.
It's premature to speculate on the cause until we have a chance to study the handset."
Kyocera recalled over 1 million phones because of bad batteries from a bad vendor and Verizon has recalled some of its batteries, too.
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