Since we've learned that lithium batteries can apparently just explode spontaneously, should I take some sort of action? Remove the batteries where possible and... store them somewhere? If so where? And what about old iPhones where the battery isn't very accessible?
Or am I just paranoid?
As a past electrical journeyman turned device engineer in a device lab about 5 years ago, you should be fine as long as all of your power supplies and cords are properly rated and not overloaded.
The only issue I ever had was a large 120v to usb-a power bank had an internal fan cease up after a number of years. In my past data center experience, a lot of server room fires were started by ceased bearings and increased heat, as well as the load spike from the locked rotor current.
We shut the power bank off and ordered a new one. And we didn’t leave it running unmonitored or overnight while we waited on a backup.
https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/energie-environne...
That said, I would definitely get rid of any swollen batteries or devices that are swollen ASAP. You can tell with phones as a swollen battery will generally pop the phone apart from the pressure of it.
As others are saying, you should also take precautions whether it happens or not. Place the devices in metal containers, pottery, or fireproof bags. Don't place them in a cardboard box filled with a bunch of other flammable items next to a shelf of books...
I have a few old devices too and just had a spicy pillow issue. Now it’s in a metal bucket waiting to be disassembled.
Manufacturing defects + thin anode/cathode wall. A quick search https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09504... came up for batteries in storage exploding risk. Long read, increasing in occurrence.
Do depleted, disconnected batteries suffer the same risk?