I have used an old iPod Touch in my PiP to source music and podcasts for the last year or so, it stays plugged into the USB port all the time. The port is, of course only energised whilst the car is 'ready' and my records indicate I drove for just under 300 hours in the last twelve months i.e. well under an hour a day average. The weekend I took it out to update it from my computer and noticed the screen had been pushed off because the battery has expanded to some three times its normal thickness. It is a write off. Bumbling around on the internet sources some comments from people that this is the charger's fault. I thought the state of charge was controlled by the iPod not the charger but I suppose if the voltage supplied was very high this could be a problem. I have seen no evidence of over voltage from the port when I measure it, just the expected 5Vish. Any similar experiences or thoughts?
More likely the iPod got too hot while charging in a hot car. Other Apple batteries of that vintage had the "bloating battery" issue. Google "Macbook bloating battery".
The iPod was six years old. I understand that "battery bloat" as seen in the Macbook is rare in the iPods but I suspect that I am just unfortunate. This is in the UK and the weather has been cool, The car is garaged and I don't like it hot so it is always parked in shade. I doubt if the temperature in the car has been over 30ºC 86ºF in the centre compartment even in the sun, certainly never over 35ºC. Well within the published specs. I really am asking if this is a commonish thing in the Prius that we just haven't talked about or if I am simply unlucky.
Yeah I'd say you were in the unfortunate column. 6 year old lithium batteries in portable electronics had a tendency to do that anyways. Hmmm rereading that sounds misleading. I should probably put it like this Lithium Ion batteries made in 2009 or earlier have a tendency to fail like that. Sometimes not all of them are perfect and this may be a case in point. I have a 1st gen iPod Touch and works fine but the car says it doesn't support this accessory when I try and hook it up.
Is it a pouch-style battery? I hope you are aware that this type always swells with use. The designers are supposed to leave enough space in the compartment to allow for it, but 3x is clearly not within the expected range. I've heard of products that suffered more swelling than expected or than the mechanical design allowed for, but haven't kept up enough to know anything about your particular product. So, in a sense, it is the charger's fault, because it happens only when the charger is plugged in.
