On Wednesday afternoon, I noticed that my phone was no longer sitting flush in its case.

It took me a few minutes to realise that this was a big, honking sign of danger.

The battery in my smartphone had probably started to swell - a possibility with any rechargeable electronic device. In the tight confines of my phone’s innards, the swelling battery was pushing the screen away from the body of the phone. That’s why the case no longer fit.

Our devices are powered with chemical-packed batteries that can die or fail in potentially catastrophic ways.

Swelling batteries in electronics can, in rare cases, spark a fire or explosion. Billions of products with rechargeable batteries are used every day, which means you might someday have a swollen battery in your phone, laptop, smart ring, wireless headphones or other device.

I’ll describe the signs of a swollen battery in electronics, what to do if this happens to you and how to safely repair or dispose of your device afterward.

The more our devices and our world are powered with helpful but flawed, chemical-packed batteries, the more we should take seriously what happens when they die or fail in potentially catastrophic........

© The Age