Question re: leaving an old iPhone permanently plugged in

[dogtired78]

Hi Everyone,

I'm working on my garage / workshop and my brother-in-law dropped by with an old 32" LCD tv that he was going to toss after remodeling his company's lounge. He gave it to me in exchange for some work I did for him a while back.

Anyway, I cleaned it up, tested it (it works fine and even has a built in DVD player), and mounted it on my wall. I connected my wife's old iPhone to the TV using an HDMI splitter and now I'm able to stream Netflix and Verizon FIOS (our cable tv provider) from the web to the phone to the TV. I tried it yesterday and it was pretty neat to get CNN in the workshop!

My question is: what would folks recommend in terms of leaving the iPhone plugged in 24/7? It's not a phone anymore...just a tiny computer. I'm concerned about battery fires - I've seen the horror stories of fires from lithium batteries in phones even when they weren't plugged in.

I'm thinking of creating a little metal bucket-like mount for it to sit in out in the garage. Do you think that would be sufficient (in conjunction with my smoke detectors) to mitigate a fire risk?

 

[jim1987]

Couldn't you just removed the battery?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Couldn't you just removed the battery?

The phone wont work without the battery! And iPhone dont have batteries that are easily removable!

I would keep it in a fire proof box for sure!

The charge controller should keep th battery in check. I know that when my iphone battery gets too hot the phone stops charging the battery and merely just shows the phone as being plugged in!

 

[Morrison]

Get a roku box to stream Netflix.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Why not just unplug the thing when you're not using it?

 

[rsanter]

Plug into plug strip
Turn off plug strip when you leave
Turn on plug strip when you return

Bob

 

[Syberia]

Once the battery is charged, it should be taken out of the loop and pose no more risk than if the phone was off.

 

[G_P]

I would not keep it charging 24/7. Eventually the battery is going to fail and it may then overheat and catch fire. Put it on a timer so that it is not getting power at night. Set the timer to have it charging during the times you are commonly in the shop.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

On most cell phones, the charging is controlled by circuitry inside the battery itself. When the green light comes on indicating a full charge, the charging is stopped by the circuitry and will not start up again, until the power cord is removed and then plugged back in. That has been my experience, not saying all phones work that way, but I know quite a few do.

Knowing lithium batteries however (think Boeing 787) I would not want it plugged up however, when you are not using it.

Charles

 

[purplezr2]

Timer is what I would use

 

[dogtired78]

All great suggestions, guys. Thanks. I think I'm going to run it on an independent switch. That should minimize the risk of a battery leak.

 

[383 240z]

why not just plug it in when the video stops playing? What iphone is it? My 3 has been plugged in 27/7 for about 2 years now, I use it has a music source in the shop, no problems. However my iphone 5 has had the battery replaced already, I was leaving it plugged in 9-10 hours a day while I was at work and it was cooked. No fire, it never even got hot, just would not take a charge. Keith

 

[dogdog]

those have internal charge controllers, all li-ion batteries have them on the battery itself per cell.. I think it's the chargers that caused those battery explosions/fires.

 

[dogtired78]

I'd read somewhere that Apple was saying a lot of the problems were aftermarket chargers. I just want to be careful. My big fear is a fire in the garage.

Thanks again for all the input, guys. It is much appreciated.

 

[plow]

Wire a plug into the light switch.

 

[pedrodagr8]

I'd read somewhere that Apple was saying a lot of the problems were aftermarket chargers. I just want to be careful. My big fear is a fire in the garage.

Thanks again for all the input, guys. It is much appreciated.

Many of the battery fires have been from faulty batteries not the chargers. Basically during assembly of the battery, pieces of metal would become dislodged and can float around inside the battery. Once that piece of metal bridges two terminals within the cell, all hell breaks loose. It's a dead short within the battery.

A bad charger is much more likely to kill the phone and or the user than cause an explosion.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

 

[wyliesdiesels]

On most cell phones, the charging is controlled by circuitry inside the battery itself. When the green light comes on indicating a full charge, the charging is stopped by the circuitry and will not start up again, until the power cord is removed and then plugged back in. That has been my experience, not saying all phones work that way, but I know quite a few do.

Knowing lithium batteries however (think Boeing 787) I would not want it plugged up however, when you are not using it.

Charles

It seems that this is what the iPhone does, because once my phone is done charging, the charging lightning bolt goes away and is replaced with an electrical plug icon....

 

[87jeepwrangler]

more info on how you connected an iPhone to the TV using an HDMI splitter please.

 

[dogtired78]

more info on how you connected an iPhone to the TV using an HDMI splitter please.

It's an iphone 4 so it still uses the old plug. I found this splitter for sale from Apple a few years back. Basically, it plugs into the phone and ports out to an HDMI and a charger.

I'll see if I can find a link to show you what I'm talking about.

Here it is, except this one is for the newer phones with the new plug:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009WHV3BM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Todd.Brock]

My kids have an old iPod nano plugged into their clock radio for 4 years now. No issues. Had to reset not once. Those little things have been pretty damn reliable.

 

[Todd.Brock]

He is talking about an apple cord. Bother have a 30 pin and a hdmi cable. My wife bought me one but I didn't need to plug my iPad into the tv.