A cautionary tale: PSP battery explodes during charging

Attention PSP owners: here’s a reason why you should always, ALWAYS take care when hunting for a replacement charger for your portable piece of PlayStation gaming joy – else, the same thing that happened to PSP owner Bob Nixon may happen to you as well, causing no small amount of grief for both your pocket and gaming needs.

And if you ask, no, it’s not about bricking – it’s about the inadvertent destruction of your PSP, as Bob’s handheld literally exploded off his nightstand.

So what actually happened? It seems that Bob had bought a generic replacement charger for his PSP, after losing the original on a trip. The PSP had been left to charge for an hour or so, while Bob chilled out in the living room watching television.

Suddenly, he smelled something burning – and as he walked around the house to investigate, he heard a loud bang. Yes, that was the PSP exploding, with so much force that it popped off the nightstand and into the floor.

Upon further investigation, Bob found out that it was the battery itself that exploded – the pack reduced to tiny bits and pieces all over the room floor, with the explosion leaving a black mark on the nightstand itself. Bob believes that it was his choice of what charger to use that led to the battery’s demise – he should have checked first with Radio Shack staff before purchasing it.

Let this be a lesson for all of us who want to keep our handhelds safe: third party products may be convenient and affordable, but some of them may cause more harm than good to our gadgets.

Attention PSP owners: here’s a reason why you should always, ALWAYS take care when hunting for a replacement charger for your portable piece of PlayStation gaming joy – else, the same thing that happened to PSP owner Bob Nixon may happen to you as well, causing no small amount of grief for both your pocket and gaming needs.

And if you ask, no, it’s not about bricking – it’s about the inadvertent destruction of your PSP, as Bob’s handheld literally exploded off his nightstand.

So what actually happened? It seems that Bob had bought a generic replacement charger for his PSP, after losing the original on a trip. The PSP had been left to charge for an hour or so, while Bob chilled out in the living room watching television.

Suddenly, he smelled something burning – and as he walked around the house to investigate, he heard a loud bang. Yes, that was the PSP exploding, with so much force that it popped off the nightstand and into the floor.

Upon further investigation, Bob found out that it was the battery itself that exploded – the pack reduced to tiny bits and pieces all over the room floor, with the explosion leaving a black mark on the nightstand itself. Bob believes that it was his choice of what charger to use that led to the battery’s demise – he should have checked first with Radio Shack staff before purchasing it.

Let this be a lesson for all of us who want to keep our handhelds safe: third party products may be convenient and affordable, but some of them may cause more harm than good to our gadgets.