What Exactly is “Thermal Runaway”?
Recent events highlight the dangers of "thermal runaway."
These incidents serve as a reminder of the dangers of mixing charging devices and cords for electronic devices.
Thermal runaway occurs when lithium-ion batteries short circuit. This can typically happen because of an improper amount of power when charging a device that has lithium-ion batteries.
When the battery short-circuits, it generates a lot of heat, so much so that it becomes uncontrollable and can lead to real fires.
The best guidance in preventing a thermal runaway fire is to only charge devices with the chargers that they came with. Even if a charging port technically fits into a different device, it does not mean it is built to pack the same amount of power as the intended charger.