Your Keitai Must Be Kotatsu-Proof

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Man wins damages after suffering burn from cell phone
The Sendai High Court on Thursday overturned a lower ruling, ordering Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. to pay around 2.21 million yen in damages to a man who suffered burns when his cell phone overheated. According to the court ruling, in May of 2003 the 54-year-old plaintiff was sleeping inside a "kotatsu," a covered heated table common in Japanese homes, with a cell phone in his pocket, when the cell phone overheated and burned his thigh. In July of 2007, the Sendai District Court ruled that the cell phone could not be said to be the cause of the burn, and the man appealed to the high court. In the ruling Thursday, the presiding judge, Takeo Koiso, said, "That someone might seek warmth under a kotatsu with (a cell phone) still in their pocket is a predictable scenario. The product can be said to be defective, lacking sufficient safety." A Panasonic Mobile Communications spokesperson said, "It's extremely disappointing that our argument was not accepted. We will carefully examine the documents of the ruling and consider our response."

[Coligny]

It's not the phone it's the lipo battery...

Those things can't take heat...

The Nissan Leaf will certainly bring us some interesting Bruckenheimer-esq scenario...

[Kanchou]

This lawsuit seems almost American in it's levels of frivolousness... but they actually won!

[Coligny]

This lawsuit seems almost American in it's levels of frivolousness... but they actually won!

Remember the exploding-battery in the Sony Laptop computers ?


Same shit different day...

Lipos are just -that- unstable...

But when something weighting next to nothing can power a medium size RC helicopter for 15 to 20 minutes, you should not be surprised when stuff get burned when they go wrong.
also, LiPo do not lose charge over time and therefore require to be purposefully discharged to a specific level before being stored, preferably in a fridge. Best temperature for use is between 20 to 25 degres C.
Overheating can trigger explosion,
over discharging can trigger explosion,
discharging at a rate over the specified spec can trigger explosion
overcharging can trigger explosion.
charging at a rate over the specified spec can trigger explosion
Drop or pressure on the body can damage them and trigger explosion.
If a pack appear bloated, a baaaaad chemical reaction already occurred, piercing them can trigger a fire.

Yes, the planet is not yet on fire because of them, but when one burst, it's not that surprising.