One of the biggest news from last year was the various fire incidents and eventual recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. It is claimed to be the biggest and most expensive consumer product recall in history. Close to 3 million units were returned and incurred losses hit billions of dollars. After the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, reports of fire outbreak of the device sprang up from various corners.
The South Korean OEM, changed their battery supplier to another company. This didn’t stop the explosions either, so the company stopped sales of the device. Initial hypothesis assumed that the explosions were caused by the batteries or manufacturing defects. Samsung then launched an official inquiry into the matter. The report is out, and here’s the official statements as to why the phones blew up. To save face, Samsung chose to call the them Battery A from Manufacturer A and battery B from Manufacturer B.
What happened to Battery A
Battery A was supposedly from Samsung’s in house company. The investigations discovered that the corner of the battery casing was too small. This caused the negative electrodes in the corner to bend. This makes it easy to short-circuit the battery, hence the explosions.
Another contributing factor was that the negative electrodes were too long. This makes it bend on the curve on the long side of the battery.
What happened to Battery B?
Battery B was sourced from a different manufacturer after the initial explosions. It also had issues of its own. Samsung investigations revealed that poorly controlled welding created high, and sharp welding blurs. Normal charging and discharging of the batteries makes the blurs scrape through the insulation between the battery layers leading to explosions.
Another contributing factor, was that most of the batteries didn’t have insulation tapes.
How Samsung plans to stop future explosions
To prevent a repetition of this misfortune, Samsung says they have they have “reassessed every step of the smartphone manufacturing process”. They also set up an extensive 8-point battery safety check process for future devices. The company also setup a Battery Advisory Group – made up of external advisers, academic and research experts. This will ensure safety and innovation on their future battery releases.
Are you satisfied with this report? Would you still buy a Samsung device after this? Your thoughts.