Samsung won't brick your Note 7 if you don't return it, instead will limit battery to 60% charge

[Master Disaster]

From September 20th Samsung will begin rolling out an OTA update to all note 7 limiting their batteries to 60% charge according to an advert in a Korean newspaper.  Of course it's not clear if this will be a worldwide strategy or not right now, hopefully Samsung will clarify this soon. 

Quote

Samsung will limit the batteries of South Korean Note 7 smartphones to 60% of their capacity following a recall of the devices.

The firm asked for Note 7s to be returned following cases of phones that exploded during or after charging.

An ad announcing the move appeared on the front page of the JoongAng Daily newspaper.

The software update to limit batteries seems intended to provoke users who haven't yet returned their handsets.

It will begin to be rolled out from 20 September, the ad says.

The Associated Press reported that a similar advertisement also appeared on the front page of the Seoul Shinmun paper.

It has not yet been confirmed whether or not a similar update will be pushed out to phones in other countries.

The recall of faulty Galaxy Note 7 affects 2.5 million devices.

In the UK, Samsung has offered to replace the handsets from 19 September and has asked customers to contact the retailers or mobile operators from whom they bought the phones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37349319

 

Seems... Odd. If the batteries are blowing up due to quick charging then how will this help exactly? 

[Jury]

Quick charging for a less amount of time would limit risk. Lets say 30 minutes till 60% then an hour for 100%. 

[kameshss]

can't understand. seems dumb though. what if people overcharge over 60%? that'll heatup the device, right?

[AlTech]

19 minutes ago, kameshss said:

can't understand. seems dumb though. what if people overcharge over 60%? that'll heatup the device, right?

Apparently the issue is hardware based with some kind of voltage regulator capacitors or some tech connected to the battery.

 

There are two of them in the Note 7. One of them is responsible for the blowing up Note 7s.

[Master Disaster]

I realise I posted in game boards, I've asked a mod to move it for me

[Aytex]

19 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Seems... Odd. If the batteries are blowing up due to quick charging then how will this help exactly? 

i think if i can remember its to limit the capacitors 

[o0Martin]

40 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

 

Seems... Odd. If the batteries are blowing up due to quick charging then how will this help exactly? 

There was a lot of speculation, the first being that it was caused by the usb-c to micro usb adapter, that was proven wrong, then it was down to fast charging, that was proven wrong, then it was just down to charging in general, and again, proven wrong, in the end Samsung made a statement that the Note 7 could explode even when off charge, and that's why they advised people to power down their phone 100% until they got a replacement. I guess 60% is below the limit of it becoming dangerous? 

[IhazHedont]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

Apparently the issue is hardware based with some kind of voltage regulator capacitors or some tech connected to the battery.

 

There are two of them in the Note 7. One of them is responsible for the blowing up Note 7s.

Here is an helpful schematic.

 

Basically the seperator that is supposed to act as a dielectric hasn't been properly designed , which leaded to its fast deterioration, causing the electrolytes to be in contact, which results in massive heats + pressure = kboom.

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, IhazHedont said:

Here is an helpful schematic.

 

Basically the seperator that is supposed to act as a dielectric hasn't been properly designed , which leaded to its fast deterioration, causing the electrolytes to be in contact, which results in massive heats + pressure = kboom.

So in that case limiting the max battery charge will do nothing? 

[TheReal1980]

So 60% of 3,500 mAh = 2100 mAh.

iPhone 7 (not Plus) = 1960 mAh.

[IhazHedont]

1 hour ago, Master Disaster said:

Seems... Odd. If the batteries are blowing up due to quick charging then how will this help exactly? 

Because the heat generated depends on time.

 

I don't know exactly about batteries (I'm not specialised for them), but for a simple conductor covered by its insulation, the generated heat (Q) = RI²t.

Samsung must have run some lab test to determine the safest time you can charge your phone before reaching a certain temperature that will lead to a prematured deterioration (because the only factor of insulation deterioration is heat).

[TheReal1980]

1 minute ago, IhazHedont said:

Because the heat generated depends on time.

 

I don't know exactly about batteries (I'm not specialised for them), but for a simple conductor covered by its insulation, the generated heat (Q) = RI²t.

Samsung must have run some lab test to determine the safest time you can charge your phone before reaching a certain temperature that will lead to a prematured deterioration (because the only factor of insulation deterioration is heat).

But did´t someone have it at work and it blew up in his pants? Don´t think it has to do with charging, if it is used hard (games et.c) it will become hot and boom/burn.

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, TheReal1980 said:

But did´t someone have it at work and it blew up in his pants? Don´t think it has to do with charging, if it is used hard (games et.c) it will become hot and boom/burn.

That was an S7, not a Note. Yeah, I know right! 

[TheReal1980]

Just now, Master Disaster said:

That was an S7, not a Note. Yeah, I know right! 

Wait... So a Note 7 will go KaBooooom when it is charged (fast), S7 will go tsssss/burn when used..... what is going on?

 

Btw, I remember Angry Grandpa when he hit the S7 with a hammer, you will see what happens when it starts to smoke, imagine that happening in your pants LOL! Imagine having Facebook installed (which sucks battery as good as Asa Akira sucks something else), you´re on your bike going about your business and tssssssssss.......smoke smoke smoke ........BOOOM!

 

 

[Master Disaster]

8 minutes ago, TheReal1980 said:

Wait... So a Note 7 will go KaBooooom when it is charged (fast), S7 will go tsssss/burn when used..... what is going on?

 

Btw, I remember Angry Grandpa when he hit the S7 with a hammer, you will see what happens when it starts to smoke, imagine that happening in your pants LOL! Imagine having Facebook installed (which sucks battery as good as Asa Akira sucks something else), you´re on your bike going about your business and tssssssssss.......smoke smoke smoke ........BOOOM!

 

 

Wow, that's pretty energetic. Wouldn't call it an explosion when watching it but if that happened in my trousers I'd say my phone exploded. 

[IhazHedont]

26 minutes ago, TheReal1980 said:

But did´t someone have it at work and it blew up in his pants? Don´t think it has to do with charging, if it is used hard (games et.c) it will become hot and boom/burn.

Then the seperator might have been severly damaged during the last quick charge.

The dude maybe used his phone, which caused heat generation, put it back into his pants, then the separator broke,=> kboom.

[Castdeath97]

50 minutes ago, TheReal1980 said:

So 60% of 3,500 mAh = 2100 mAh.

iPhone 7 (not Plus) = 1960 mAh.

Not really actually. The battery percentages won't line up, at 0% (in the OS) the battery still has some charge left, the software does that to prevent the battery from completely running out.

[TheReal1980]

1 hour ago, Castdeath97 said:

Not really actually. The battery percentages won't line up, at 0% (in the OS) the battery still has some charge left, the software does that to prevent the battery from completely running out.

Ok, thats maybe 80-100mAh max left before it shuts down?

[Castdeath97]

3 minutes ago, TheReal1980 said:

Ok, thats maybe 80-100mAh max left before it shuts down?

I don't know, depends on the phone. But I'm pretty sure it's substantial enough to keep the battery alive.

[ThinkWithPortals]

60% of the Note 7's battery is still more than the iPhone 7 Plus's battery at 100%

[sean2102]

lol

[79wjd]

29 minutes ago, ThinkWithPortals said:

60% of the Note 7's battery is still more than the iPhone 7 Plus's battery at 100%

Too bad the Note 7 also draws more power. IIRC the 7 Edge's battery life is like 15% better than the 6s+ (while the battery is like 30%~ larger). 

[Doobeedoo]

Well sucks this happened, but really good they're doing all the right steps to solve the problem.

They'll replace it with safe battery and be done with it, all good.

 

I guess they made focus more on Galaxy S8 now heh.

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, Doobeedoo said:

I guess they made focus more on Galaxy S8 now heh.

"Galaxy S8, now with louder BOOMS!" 

"None of this, is it on fire or did it explode crap, with the Galaxy S8, you will know!"

[Master Disaster]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

"Galaxy S8, now with louder BOOMS!" 

Galaxy Note 8: Fireworks edition.