Apple Downplays Fiery iPod Incidents

Apple Downplays Fiery iPod Incidents

www.kirotv.com

An exclusive KIRO 7 Investigation reveals an alarming number of Apple brand iPod MP3 players have suddenly burst into flames and smoke, injuring people and damaging property.

It’s an investigation that Apple has apparently been trying to keep out of the public eye.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Own an iPod? How about an iPhone? Bet you never thought that Apple, the company that could do no wrong, could ever be responsible for something like this, yet here it is, with a conspiracy to cover it up to boot. Not only is Apple trying hard to cover it up but it looks like they've got the feds covering for them as well.

Nick Marchica, who worked for the CPSC for 28 years, explained it to Clancy this way: “The feds, the government guys came in. They looked at this thing and they said, 'not yet. Might be a problem down the line if we get more information, but not yet.' We can’t ask this company to recall the product.'”

So what does it take? An iPod bursting into flames and setting a house on fire, killing an entire family before the feds decide that an investigation is warranted? I wonder how many lobbyists Apple has in their pockets to keep this one under wraps?

www.kirotv.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 21-7-2009 by sos37]

wow this is something I haven't heard of yet. I have 2 ipods and an iPhone and so far neither have burst into flames. My iPhone has over heated though. I'd freak if it caught on fire! I hope Apple does something about this. I am an apple fan and I'd hate to see them not take responsibility for this.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I was talking to my brother in law who is the IT at the largest Sports programing company in the US and his take as an avid Apple user is that those who worry about loosing data are over charging the batteries and not letting the batteries run down enough to keep them regulated before a recharge. When a unit over heats from the battery instead of on AC current while plugged in is not a good sign! If you all remember Sony and others that bought certain types of batteries for laptops had a similar problem and a recall was ordered. I would hope that a recall occurs without loss of life or serious injury!
Zindo

PS it might be the charger circuit and recharger at fault also. Improper regulated charge rates or over charging!

[edit on 7/21/2009 by ZindoDoone]

they've had fire starter gear for years. laptops, ipods and phones but nobody wants to talk about it.

their hardware is junk. the good stuff is stolen from other companies (see their settlement with Creative).

www.tweaktown.com...

they know they have a problem, they are getting away with it here but, as stated in the article, other countries are seeing recalls

iPods contain lithium ion cells and the charge cycle on that type is not a particularly complicated.

It could be shoddy batteries made in the presence of contaminants like metal particles which can short the plates and produce a runaway reaction (see Sony battery fires).

Charging can be controlled by a dedicated chip or through partial software control of regulators. If a dedicated chip is buggy then there isn't much Apple could have done about it if their design is proper. If it's heavily reliant on the OS to watch for signals then shoddy OS programming could be at the heart of it. If hardware safetys utterly fail then not much can be done there either.

The charge controller should never leave the current on continuously even if plugged. It should only top off again when the voltage has sagged below a specified threshold and then turn off. LiIon cells are never to be continuously trickle charged like NiCd or NiMh cells.

A degraded battery can produce more heat during the charge cycle due to increased internal resistance but thermal regulation should be in place to switch off the current if the temperature rises above a certain threshold. Sometimes software is held responsible for watching an interrupt signal in that case.

I believe most of the older ipods use the Phillips pcf50605 power management IC which is partially controlled by the OS.

mine over heated while plugged into the car charger and I was on it for hours in a row while driving from
Florida to Alabama LOL it hasn't done it since but then I freaked. Once it cooled down it was fine.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

I know for my powerbook g4 the batteries i had were recalled for what idk they never said. I brought mine in and they gave me brand new ones.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by EnlightenUp


You explained it much better than I. Thanks for the input and explanation! I could not relate what I was told word for word but it was much like what you posted!

Zindo