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What the hot weather can do to your phone or tablet

How to protect your phone from heat damage
iPhone
Posted at 6:00 AM, Jun 21, 2024

The heat wave hitting much of the country right now can be harmful to our bodies and to our pets.

But the same is true for our phones and other tech devices.

Whether you're heading to the pool, hiking or just running errands, accidentally leaving your phone in a hot car for a half hour can cause it to overheat and do some serious damage.

Eileen Wood recalled a frightening incident with a hot phone.

"I was outside at a pool, and it beeps and just shuts off," she said. "You wonder what's going to happen after it shuts down."

It turns out many owners experience overheating phones and tablets.

At a U Break I fix by Asurion store, Alex Hausfeld said your phone shutting down and requiring you to wait is a good thing.

"That is the device's way of protecting itself," he said. "It is trying to prevent you from using it as much as it can."

Hausfeld said the worst thing you can do is leave your phone in the sun poolside or leave it on a hot dashboard with the sun beating down.

"Leaving it in a hot car is basically baking your phone," he said.

He said more than half an hour can cause the battery to swell up.

"Ultimately a total meltdown of the device, where people would risk losing data," he said.

It can even be a fire risk.

"We actually had a phone in here not too long ago where the battery had combusted inside the phone," he said.

If your phone slows or shuts down from the heat, Hausfeld said "put it somewhere cool, put it in front of the fan or the AC in your car."

But he said do not put it in a fridge or freezer, which could crack the glass.

Finally, Hausfed said to think twice about having it on the dash during a long drive.

Mom Joy Seidel, who we found leaving a grocery store in a hot parking lot, said she will be very careful the next few weeks.

"Not leaving it in the car for sure, and just keeping it out of the sun," she said.

So be very careful in the hot sun and around the pool so you don't waste your money.

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