backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 8 comment(s) - last by SmokeRngs.. on Dec 8 at 3:18 PM
It looks as though Sony isn't the only battery company that can't stand the heat

Sony isn't the only company having battery problems the days. It was announced today that Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and NTT DoCoMo Inc. are recalling 1.3 million batteries used in cell phone handsets.

The batteries were manufactured by the Sanyo GD Soft Energy Co. subsidiary of Sanyo Electric Co. DoCoMo has received confirmation of one incident in which a battery ruptured after overheating, while another seventeen cases are being investigated.

The actual cause for the overheating batteries has been linked to defective electrode plates that can pierce a battery cell's internal insulation. From that a point, a short circuit can occur causing the cell to overheat and rupture.

As a result of the recall, Mitsubishi FOMA D902i, D902iS and D903i handsets have been taken out of production and customers are being contacted with instructions on how to identify and get replacements for defective batteries.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Oh dear...
By killerroach on 12/8/2006 6:22:50 AM , Rating: 2
Why is it all these faulty batteries are popping up in devices that could potentially do some serious damage to you should the battery explode? I mean, having a battery laptop explode in use could (in theory) do damage to your nether regions, and a cell phone battery, should it explode in use, is next to another vital region... I think only Murphy's Law explains why it's been these devices with bad batteries, and not, say, PDAs or camcorders (which would be held at arm's length) or something not held at all, like an answering machine...




RE: Oh dear...
By MrCoyote on 12/8/2006 10:34:04 AM , Rating: 2
This is happening because manufacturers are being cheap and cutting back on cost of making products. This affects safety. I've seen many products available to the consumer that have questionable safety because how cheaply they look and are made.

This is the same as Firestone and their tires rupturing. Firestone developed a "new" process of making tires. Actually this "new" process would've saved them millions in the long run, because the tires were cheaper to make. They went cheap . Unfortunately look what happened. Now it looks like companies won't learn to make better products unless people are injured and killed.

I would rather pay a higher price for a quality product than to buy one poorly made and with questionable safety.


RE: Oh dear...
By Jackyl on 12/8/2006 10:44:20 AM , Rating: 2
I agree. Today's products are mostly all junk and throw away. It is not like the past when products were made better WITH CARE. Look at TV's for example. They are encased in flimsy plastic cases. They are throw away. They used to actually be considered a piece of furniture, made with wood-grain cabinets. To get quality furniture, you better go to a small town where someone is handcrafting it.

Face it. The USA has lost it's ability to make high quality products for whatever products remain to are being made here.


RE: Oh dear...
By bobdeer1965 on 12/8/2006 1:18:55 PM , Rating: 2
NO WE HAVEN'T LOST OUR ABILITY TO MAKE GOOD PRODUCTS IN THE USA. Imported products that undercut quality products prices are the reason. And a general public that just cares about the lowest price no matter what.

One exception is hand tools. Mac tools, Sears Craftsman, and Snap-On to name a few are MORE expensive to buy but have a lifetime warranty and last a long time. But if you buy cheap imported sets costing 20 bucks or whatever you will be buying more soon. This is one of the exceptions to the rule that people will spend more on.

If a manufacturer came out with the most expensive battery and it was the best but your Cell Phone cost an extra $50 bucks then you would probably buy something else.

So it is basically the consumers fault. If the majority would pay more for quality then our stores would be oozing at the seams with more expensive QUALITY products.


RE: Oh dear...
By kamel5547 on 12/8/2006 1:51:53 PM , Rating: 3
Sure but why would I want an expensive quality piece of technology equipment? My phone lasts longer than a year and yet I replace it after a year. My PC last longer than three years and yet I replace it after 3. So and and so forth. The truth be told there is no reason to spend money on superior quality as far as technology equipment goes, sure your equipment may last years longer but it will be outdated and quite likely the results of suing it will be lower quality than if you simply replaced it.

I think consumers make a very smart decision in many respects, lifetime warranties only help if you don't lose the item warranted and you still have the original reciept in most cases. Odds are 5 years down the road when it breaks you won't be able to find the reciept...


RE: Oh dear...
By therealnickdanger on 12/8/2006 10:35:20 AM , Rating: 2
I think it has more to do with the explosive (pun intended) growth in the cell phone and laptop sales over the past several years. Manufacturers can't seem to satiate the lust for these devices and they all require batteries. Sooner or later, QA is skipped or ignored in the interest of getting a contract or making the release date.


RE: Oh dear...
By SmokeRngs on 12/8/2006 3:18:15 PM , Rating: 2
Actually, one of the reasons you hear more about laptop and cell phone batteries is because they are high use and especially in the case of cell phones, high abuse. Many of the problems with batteries I've heard have to do with hard impacts which damage the battery first. I've seen so many cell phones and laptops dropped it's funny. Each fall causes stress which can damage the battery over time.

Most of the time, you probably aren't doing things with your answering machine that would cause it damage. Most people don't use their camcorders as much as laptops or cell phones. Thus, this drops the rate of problems you will hear from them and it's not just the damage aspect. In the case of the camcorder, you probably don't charge the battery as often. Less use just means less chance for problems.


Take a deep breath and..
By michal1980 on 12/8/06, Rating: -1
"Nowadays you can buy a CPU cheaper than the CPU fan." -- Unnamed AMD executive









botimage
Copyright 2009 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki