PSA: My brother's old phone almost caught fire in his drawer

I was helping him clean out his place in Phoenix last weekend and found his old Galaxy S7. The battery was swollen like a pillow. He said he'd just left it there for maybe two years after upgrading. I mean, I knew about battery bloat but seeing it in person hit different. Made me check all my old gadgets in a box. Anyone else had a close call with an old device they forgot about?

2 comments

2 Comments

veramartin20d ago

Honestly this is why we need better systems for this stuff. It's not just phones, it's like every gadget with a rechargeable battery becomes a tiny time bomb in a junk drawer. The hassle to dispose of them properly feels designed to make people give up and just keep the risk at home. Makes you wonder how many potential fires are just sitting in nightstands and storage units because the safe option is inconvenient.

nathanwalker20d ago

Check the recycling rules in your city. Mine won't take puffy batteries at the curb drop-off, so you have to take them to a special place. Makes it way too easy to just shove the old phone in a drawer instead.

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