iPhone 6(S)/Plus Swollen battery…can I power on to erase?

[IrishVixen]

Update on post #13.
____________

No need to beat on me for my own idiocy here, I’ve done it plenty!

When I replaced my 8 a few weeks back, I went to drag out all my old iPhones for a side by side comparison shot, and discovered my 6s+ had swollen. No big deal, figured I’d haul it to Apple for recycling, except that I never fully erased it (it was my house iPod for a while, & it still shows as a trusted device in settings on my current devices, looks like its last listed iOS was 15.7.8, so it should be activation locked). To make things worse, apparently I cleaned out all my old devices from the list view in FindMy at some point. I have no idea what’s on it now, including banking info.

I know if an old device still tied to your Apple ID reaches a wifi network, it’ll show back up in FindMy. Can I (possibly) safely power it on long enough to erase it remotely? For now, it’s in a small fire safe, not worried it’ll explode on its own as that’s relatively unlikely without a puncture or charging, just concerned about what it’ll do if I try to power it up. Heck, I’ll be stunned if it even turns on at all. Battery’s probably drained. Which then leads to, do I pay to replace the battery only to erase & recycle? I suppose if I go that route, may as well go back to using it as an iPod for a year or two.

(And yes, going through the other old devices in the house, clearing them off and getting them ready to recycle now too.)

 

[Donoban]

Turn it on outside and erase it properly.

 

[eyoungren]

I've only had two iPhones that swelled, both of them the iPhone 5. Mine was replaced three times for battery swelling and my wife's once. The last time my own iPhone 5 battery swelled, I checked with Apple to see if I could still get it replaced. Unfortunately, it was too far down the years for that anymore.

So, I unplugged it and stuck it away in my garage for a year or so. I have plenty of other phones and this stopped being my primary iPhone in 2015. Eventually the battery swelling went down and I have continued to use it normally. Normally as defined by every so many months or so (or when I take an interest) I charge it and then use it for five minutes or so and then it sits again.

With my wife's iPhone 5, my daughter was the last to use it and it started swelling. Again, I took it off charge, put it in the garage and it sat there for about three years before I brought it in a month ago or so. No swelling now.

That's my experience. If you let it sit long enough, it will go down. The trick is to catch the swelling before it gets excessive or out of control. I had a battery on a garbage LG tablet I have pop the screen off. It was messed up to begin with and will ultimately be recycled.

Now, here's the thing. The last time I got my iPhone 5 replaced by Apple for battery swelling, they would not take my phone until the new one arrived in store. That was going to take about a week. So, with visions of fire and doom in my mind I asked about this. The techs in the back informed me that Apple genuine batteries have a sleeve around them. This sleeve is designed to protect the battery and it expands and contracts as the battery swells or deflates. There is only a fire hazard if that sleeve is punctured.

Take that as you will. When I had the phones I mention out in the garage, I made sure to stick them either on concrete or surfaces that wouldn't burn easily - just in case the genius was wrong. That said, I've not had a problem.

I do find however that most people don't have willingness to wait two or three years for battery swelling to go down before charging again.

 

[IrishVixen]

I do find however that most people don't have willingness to wait two or three years for battery swelling to go down before charging again.

Thanks for the insight. Nope, definitely don’t have that level of patience! Not terribly concerned about it exploding for now, it’s well protected from puncture in a fire safe. Screen’s popped up on one side about a millimeter. Really, my only concern is someone in the recycling/disposal process being able to access the data that I, in my thoughtlessness, may or may not have left on there under a mere numeric passcode. Non issue if I’d left it on FindMy, but since I didn’t, I can’t even set it to erase remotely if someone replaces the battery and powers it up. Stupid stupid stupid. Granted, odds are it’d lock up with bad passwords before they got anywhere with it, but still.

The more I think on it, I highly, highly doubt it’ll power on even if I tried, it’s been several weeks off the charger.

There’s a UBreakIFix in town, I’ll see tomorrow if by some amazing chance they have the battery in stock. If so, I’ll wait there for a fix and will chalk up the cost to my own idiocy in not erasing these old hoarded devices sooner. If not, Apple’s in the next town over & I’ll see what they say can be done.

 

[eyoungren]

Thanks for the insight. Nope, definitely don’t have that level of patience! Not terribly concerned about it exploding for now, it’s well protected from puncture in a fire safe. Screen’s popped up on one side about a millimeter. Really, my only concern is someone in the recycling/disposal process being able to access the data that I, in my thoughtlessness, may or may not have left on there under a mere numeric passcode. Non issue if I’d left it on FindMy, but since I didn’t, I can’t even set it to erase remotely if someone replaces the battery and powers it up. Stupid stupid stupid. Granted, odds are it’d lock up with bad passwords before they got anywhere with it, but still.

The more I think on it, I highly, highly doubt it’ll power on even if I tried, it’s been several weeks off the charger.

There’s a UBreakIFix in town, I’ll see tomorrow if by some amazing chance they have the battery in stock. If so, I’ll wait there for a fix and will chalk up the cost to my own idiocy in not erasing these old hoarded devices sooner. If not, Apple’s in the next town over & I’ll see what they say can be done.

I bought a new (to me) 6 Plus last August and uBreakiFix had a battery for it. I also took my son's SE2 in around September 2023 and they also had parts for that phone. I did read a short while back where someone had their 6s battery replaced at Apple. So, I don't think you should have a problem with uBreakiFix.

It'll run you around $100 though, just so you're aware.

 

[IrishVixen]

I bought a new (to me) 6 Plus last August and uBreakiFix had a battery for it. I also took my son's SE2 in around September 2023 and they also had parts for that phone. I did read a short while back where someone had their 6s battery replaced at Apple. So, I don't think you should have a problem with uBreakiFix.

It'll run you around $100 though, just so you're aware.

Yeah, I figured around that much. I’ll likely take it, a fire resistant glove, and a fire extinguisher out to the driveway in the morning and try to power it on…when that as expected does nothing, I’ll sigh & pay out for a new battery just to erase it. Peace of mind is priceless.

Then for the rest of the still intact and long ignored pile o’ devices, I’ll prioritize making sure they’re all erased ASAP. Lesson learned going forward, I erased the 8 & an old iPad already tonight.

Thanks again for your advice!

 

[Donoban]

Yeah, I figured around that much. I’ll likely take it, a fire resistant glove, and a fire extinguisher out to the driveway in the morning and try to power it on…when that as expected does nothing, I’ll sigh & pay out for a new battery just to erase it. Peace of mind is priceless.

Then for the rest of the still intact and long ignored pile o’ devices, I’ll prioritize making sure they’re all erased ASAP. Lesson learned going forward, I erased the 8 & an old iPad already tonight.

Thanks again for your advice!

Don't pay money to change the battery, it will turn on once you connect it to power.

Don't do it on the driveway, if the worst does happen you'll have a burn mark to deal with. Do it on grass or put a piece of wood down.

If it's flat, unlikely it will explode champ. Pls post back here with the result

 

[IrishVixen]

Don't pay money to change the battery, it will turn on once you connect it to power.

Don't do it on the driveway, if the worst does happen you'll have a burn mark to deal with. Do it on grass or put a piece of wood down.

If it's flat, unlikely it will explode champ. Pls post back here with the result

Will report in either way. More concerned about setting the nearby woods on fire than I am about burn marks on the driveway, so the grass is out, but I think an old cookie sheet would be my best bet for a fire & scorch resistant surface on top of the concrete.

Thanks for your input!

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

In my own experience, these swollen batteries in modern rechargeable mobile devices would usually only be at risk of exploding if they are constrained from expanding or compressed.

Dropping it or sitting on it would be the worst you can do.

But the chassis of the device and the internal cables could also constrain the expanding battery.

-I wouldn't worry about it exploding if you don't put any force or pressure on it. You should be able to turn it on and erase it with little risk of it exploding.

I've been forced to do this a couple of times with no consequences (I don't even think I've even seen a battery explode myself irl. But maybe I'm forgetting. Idk.)

I've even unknowingly kept using an iPhone with an expanding battery and nothing happened: The display had been bulging slightly for over a month and I just thought it was missing internal adhesives from already having the battery replaced once, two years ago. My iPhone cover was pushing it down a bit which made the bulging appear less prominent (very stupid, I know.)

These batteries can be extremely volatile. Except when they are not which is why they're all around us in just about everything.

I'd take the chance and erase it and then get it fixed or disposed.

 

[Jackbequickly]

These batteries do not just blow up instantly. They catch fire due to thermal runaway. It does not happen instantly and would required at least a few minutes. Take the phone outside, turn it on and see if it boots up. I am doubting it does. It will start to get warm way before it bursts into flames. I would open it up and pull the swollen battery out and microwave the rest of the phone for about 5 seconds and it will be erased. Enjoy!

 

[winxmac]

When a device is not working properly and I do not have the money or time to have it repaired, I make sure to erase all data before I put it to storage... In your case, as you said, it's been years so better to be safe than suffer a potential data breach... If you think about it, spending money for repair would be better than suffer the effects of a data breach... If you're going to spend anyway, go for the lesser amount...

 

[IrishVixen]

Follow up: It was a cool and dry morning, so I hauled all my safety gear outside to tackle this. (No microwaves were involved, sorry.)

The damn thing actually powered up! My 8 wasn’t holding a shut down charge for more than a week, so this was pretty shocking. The erase process took what felt like forever, but it did finally go through.

But, here’s the warning: while it didn’t get particularly warm, the gap between screen and side definitely increased, almost immediately. Not huge enough to panic over, but enough that I was pretty nervous during the wait to finish erasing. Those chemicals were definitely excited by having to work.

After power down, it went back into the fireproof bag and is sitting outside for a bit further cool down before I put it & the bag back into the fire safe until I can get to Apple for recycling. If the weather was going to stay cool, I’d store it outside in a protected dry space until then.

The safest advice here is still to leave it to the professionals, and when I take it in to Apple, I’m going to ask about their process for devices that can’t be erased for whatever reason before bringing them in for repair or recycling. Lessons learned: Erase your old devices as soon as they stop being your primary device, and don’t turn off FindMy on old devices until you‘ve erased them!

Thanks to all who offered help!

 

[eyoungren]

Lessons learned: Erase your old devices as soon as they stop being your primary device, and don’t turn off FindMy on old devices until you‘ve erased them!

Below is my phone history from 2007 to today (the white iPhone 5 was my wife's). When a device of mine switches from primary to secondary and then beyond that, financial apps are removed (they aren't needed and won't function on old iOS versions). Based on whatever I use them for, I may still maintain older versions of apps (such as Dropbox) and I do keep them on FindMy.



Eventually, these are going to stop functioning - at which point they become display items on my tech shelves. There's always a danger of course that someone could break in, steal these phones, scavenge them and get some of my private data off them of course. But that's going a very long way for theft of opportunity.

With regards to battery swelling, you can see the two iPhone 5s I referred to earlier. Considering that I have phones back to 2007 (with many of them still working) it just really isn't an issue to wait for me.

PS. Not seen in this pic is a 3GS, a 4 and a 4S. But neither of those three phones were ever a primary phone for me.

 

[IrishVixen]

Below is my phone history from 2007 to today (the white iPhone 5 was my wife's). When a device of mine switches from primary to secondary and then beyond that, financial apps are removed (they aren't needed and won't function on old iOS versions). Based on whatever I use them for, I may still maintain older versions of apps (such as Dropbox) and I do keep them on FindMy.

View attachment 2392081

Eventually, these are going to stop functioning - at which point they become display items on my tech shelves. There's always a danger of course that someone could break in, steal these phones, scavenge them and get some of my private data off them of course. But that's going a very long way for theft of opportunity.

With regards to battery swelling, you can see the two iPhone 5s I referred to earlier. Considering that I have phones back to 2007 (with many of them still working) it just really isn't an issue to wait for me.

PS. Not seen in this pic is a 3GS, a 4 and a 4S. But neither of those three phones were ever a primary phone for me.

Love it! I’ve kept (almost) all of mine all this time as well, from my first iPhone (8 gig version, the mid cycle update, while my late husband had the very first generation 4 gig) and first gen iPad, all the way up to the current ones. My iPhone 4 is still jailbroken…and let me tell you, I still miss both the functionality I added to that device and the custom icons. Up until now, everything still worked, though figuring out where I hid my 30 pin cables is sometimes a challenge.

But at some point I started to feel that really cool clutter is still, well, clutter. I gifted a working Macintosh Plus to a young woman earlier this year because she badly wanted to hack around with one…it was probably a good 15 years older than she is. I *may* keep the 4 and my first iPad for now, and I’ll certainly make sure there’s nothing in the way of critical data on them, but for the most part, I think I’ll send the rest on their way.

 

[Brandon42]

I have a 4 and 5 that have swollen batteries. I just disassembled them and will be prying off the storage chip and then smashing the chip. Faster than trying to power on and erase.🔨

 

[DCIFRTHS]

Follow up: It was a cool and dry morning, so I hauled all my safety gear outside to tackle this. (No microwaves were involved, sorry.)

The damn thing actually powered up! My 8 wasn’t holding a shut down charge for more than a week, so this was pretty shocking. The erase process took what felt like forever, but it did finally go through.

But, here’s the warning: while it didn’t get particularly warm, the gap between screen and side definitely increased, almost immediately. Not huge enough to panic over, but enough that I was pretty nervous during the wait to finish erasing. Those chemicals were definitely excited by having to work.

After power down, it went back into the fireproof bag and is sitting outside for a bit further cool down before I put it & the bag back into the fire safe until I can get to Apple for recycling. If the weather was going to stay cool, I’d store it outside in a protected dry space until then.

The safest advice here is still to leave it to the professionals, and when I take it in to Apple, I’m going to ask about their process for devices that can’t be erased for whatever reason before bringing them in for repair or recycling. Lessons learned: Erase your old devices as soon as they stop being your primary device, and don’t turn off FindMy on old devices until you‘ve erased them!

Thanks to all who offered help!

I thought that Apple, and most other retail locations, refused swollen/damaged batteries. Please post back after you visit Apple.

Glad you were able to erase it!

 

[eyoungren]

I thought that Apple, and most other retail locations, refused swollen/damaged batteries.

I've had Apple accept four iPhone 5s with swollen batteries. Three of mine and one of my wife's. Each time it was a simple exchange for a new phone.

The last time however, they did not have the phone in stock so I had to wait for them to get it. I was told at the time that devices with swollen batteries are sent to a central Apple location for recycling. This particular location deals with swollen batteries and has the necessary equipment to remove them as well as contain any potential fires.

The Apple store does not replace the batteries there at the store.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

A friend of mine called to ask me this same question about his iPad that had swelled up & lifted the display out of the enclosure. He didn't believe me that it was a big deal and called the Apple Store afterward. They told him it was fine and that happens all the time, no biggie, he can go right on using it. He now thinks I'm some kind of paranoid nut who doesn't know anything about anything. Thanks Genius Bar guy. Guess we'll "wait & see" on the whole house burning down thing.

 

[Andeddu]

It’s so strange that I have a 2005 laptop and 2010 laptop, iPad’s dating back to 2012, and a 6S which had a 7 year old battery (now replaced) and I have never personally witnessed battery swelling.

It’s possibly something to do with the cold climate.

 

[AL2TEACH]

Iphone 4(long time ago) battery swelled up because I would put it on a charger when I wasn't using it. Took it to a shop and exchanged the battery. My thinking is when a battery swells get rid of it.