Exploding power banks: From recalls to bans on boarding planes, who is overstepping the safety threshold?

On June 26th, a news report about the full ban on boarding planes with power banks without the 3C logo once again pushed the issue of "power bank safety" into the spotlight after a few days.

The notice from the Civil Aviation Administration shows that starting from June 28th, passengers are prohibited from carrying power banks without a 3C logo, with an unclear 3C logo, or of recalled models or batches on domestic flights.

PConline called Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and Shanghai Pudong Airport, and both said that the regulation will be implemented starting from the 28th, and flights on the 27th will not be affected for the time being. However, some airports have already started implementing the regulations of the Civil Aviation Administration, and there have been scenes of "baskets of power banks being stopped" at the security checkpoints of many airports.

According to a report by Guangming Net on the 27th, Shenyang Taoxian International Airport has started implementing the relevant regulations of the Civil Aviation Administration in advance. The customer service staff said, "Flights departing from today have started implementing it." "Those without a 3C logo are not allowed."

Image source: WeChat official account of China Civil Aviation Network

It is worth noting that as early as the beginning of June, the National Certification and Accreditation Information Public Service Platform of the State Administration for Market Regulation announced a list of power bank brands and models whose 3C certification certificates were "suspended" or "revoked".

This involves power banks from multiple brands such as Romoss, Anker, Xiaomi, Pisen, Ugreen, Scud, Philips, Baseus, and Aigo. Among them, almost all of Romoss' 3C certificates for mobile power supplies are in the state of suspension/revocation/cancellation, involving 329 models and batches.

The time for the status change of these 3C certification certificates was concentrated at the beginning of June, not starting from the previous recall announcements of Romoss and Anker, but there are also some "common causes and results".

According to a report by National Business Daily, a relevant person from the China Quality Certification Center said, "We actively suspended (the 3C certification certificates of some brands) because in June, we conducted inspections on the key components, products, and factories of some enterprises and found some systematic risks, so we carried out some suspension treatments."

Regarding whether the power banks of this batch whose 3C certifications have been revoked, "still have a 3C logo for the time being", and are not of the previously recalled models can still be taken on the plane, both Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and Shanghai Pudong Airport told PConline that they are not sure, and everything should be subject to the on - site security check regulations.

The Beginning of the Storm

This "power bank incident" originated in mid - June when many Beijing universities suddenly issued notices banning the use of Romoss power banks.

The school authorities responded that they found that when charging, the 20,000 mAh Romoss chargers were more likely to explode compared with chargers of other brands and models. If you own and use one, it is recommended to discard it immediately to prevent danger.

According to a report by "Zhengzai News", at that time, a staff member of the Security Department of Gengdan Institute of Beijing University of Technology said that they received a safety reminder from the Municipal Education Commission, "The Municipal Education Commission must have issued it to all universities in Beijing."

Subsequently, Romoss responded that "it has not received a risk notice from the Beijing Municipal Education Commission", "there are deviations in the dissemination of relevant information, leading to public misunderstandings", and emphasized that "it always adheres to strict quality control standards, and all Romoss power banks have passed the national mandatory product certification or safety testing."

But only three days later, Romoss shot itself in the foot. On the evening of June 16th, Romoss issued a voluntary recall notice, recalling more than 490,000 pieces of three power bank products. Soon after, Anker Innovations, which has always had a good reputation in the mid - to - high - end market, also announced a recall of more than 710,000 power banks in China.

This is also the largest number of defective power bank products ever recalled in China.

Romoss said in the announcement that due to the raw materials of some battery cells, in a very small number of the recalled mobile power supply products, overheating may occur during use, and there may be a risk of combustion in extreme scenarios, posing a safety hazard.

The reason for Anker Innovations' recall also pointed to the fact that the lithium - ion batteries may overheat, leading to a risk of combustion. But in the announcement, Anker Innovations also stated that "in a recent quality and safety inspection, it was found that there were unauthorized raw material changes in some batches of industry - common battery cells from a certain supplier."

For a while, the focus shifted from the brand manufacturers to their upstream suppliers, and in subsequent reports, it was further pointed to the battery cell supplier Amprius.

As a company specializing in the R & D and production of consumer - grade lithium - ion batteries, Amprius is the largest supplier of soft - pack batteries in the domestic power bank field. In addition to Romoss and Anker, its customers also include many leading mobile power supply brands such as Xiaomi, Ugreen, and Baseus.

These are also the key brands whose 3C certificates were suspended/revoked at the beginning of June.

PConline found through inquiries on the State Administration for Market Regulation that currently, all 71 of Amprius' 3C certificates are in the state of suspension/revocation, and the involved products are all lithium - ion batteries, battery cells, etc.

Recently, an employee of Amprius revealed to National Business Daily that "they will take a vacation after finishing their current work."

The "Endless" Explosions of Power Banks

From the recall of millions of power banks to the outbreak of battery cell problems, many voices in the market point to the "disorder in the supply chain" caused by price wars.

Regarding the incident of Amprius privately changing the raw materials of battery cells, according to a report by Jiemian News, a supply chain insider said that this is inseparable from the current highly competitive power bank industry. The battery cell is the most important hardware cost expenditure for power banks, usually accounting for more than 50% of the cost, and is the first choice for brand owners to reduce costs.

"Brand owners require cost reduction, and suppliers also need to make money. Where can the profit be squeezed from? Either cut corners or outsource to some small and medium - sized factories." The supply chain insider said, currently, the price of new battery cells commonly used in mobile power supplies is between 10 and 20 yuan per piece. If inferior raw materials are used, such as using old batteries from recycled and scrapped power banks or new energy vehicles as battery cells, the cost can even be greatly reduced to one or two yuan.

In fact, from battery cell production to assembly, and then to user use, the safety issues of power banks involve multiple - link factors. The explosion of power banks cannot be completely attributed to Amprius.

In recent years, incidents of power bank fires and explosions have occurred repeatedly. In just the past month, there have been 3 cases of power bank spontaneous combustion in the air.

Half a month ago, on a flight from Zhoushan to Jieyang, a power bank carried by a passenger started smoking during the flight, and it took 3 - 5 minutes for the passengers and the crew to extinguish the fire in time.

On May 31st, on a flight from Hangzhou to Shenzhen, the camera battery and power bank carried by a passenger started smoking, causing the flight to return and land 15 minutes after takeoff.

Many people think that the strict requirements of airplanes on power banks are "too restrictive", but in fact, it is a bottom - line requirement for flight safety.

Power banks are essentially lithium - battery products with a high energy density. Once a short - circuit, overheating, or thermal runaway occurs, a large amount of heat may be released instantly, leading to combustion or even explosion. This also includes why it has always been strictly prohibited to use power banks to charge electronic devices on airplanes - because the aircraft cabin is a pressurized environment, and the cabin pressure changes during takeoff and landing. Even when not in use, there is a risk of "thermal runaway" and spontaneous combustion due to friction. Not to mention the temperature changes and poor heat dissipation of the battery during use, which will undoubtedly increase the risk factor.

It is worth noting that currently, even high - speed railways and subways have clear requirements for carrying power banks. Taking the Guangzhou Metro as an example, the standard for carrying power banks is that the single rated capacity should not exceed 20,000 mAh, and the number should not exceed 5.

For high - speed railways, it is stipulated that the single - piece capacity of the power bank carried with you should not exceed 27,000 mAh, and the single - piece rated energy should not exceed 100 Wh.

In the past few years, the market demand for power banks has shifted from "being able to charge" to "being able to charge quickly". In order to achieve "charging half in 30 minutes", brands have continuously increased the output power of power banks.

Ten years ago, the output power of mainstream power banks was only 5W - 10W, but now 45W, 65W, or even 100W has become the standard. This improvement seems to meet the users' demand for fast charging, but it also makes the battery bear a larger current and generate more heat during charging and discharging.

Overheating of lithium batteries itself is likely to cause the decomposition of the electrolyte and gas expansion, which may lead to swelling, combustion, or even explosion. During high - power fast charging, the internal resistance of the battery cell generates more heat, especially when the heat dissipation and management systems are substandard, the probability of thermal runaway increases significantly.

Not to mention those no - brand power banks on the Internet. For only 20 - 30 yuan, they claim to have a high capacity of 10,000 mAh, triple - port fast charging, and multi - protocol compatibility. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The battery cells, circuit boards, and shell materials will of course also become the core for cost reduction.

Previously, many bloggers' evaluations found that when disassembling a 20 - yuan power bank, the battery cell was incredibly small, and there was even a sandbag stuffed beside it to make up the weight. The protective components on the circuit board were all missing, the plastic shell could be broken with a single break, and charging it was like roasting a sweet potato - this is not a mobile power supply, but a mobile fire source.

What Exactly is 3C?

"3C" is actually the abbreviation of "China Compulsory Certification", which is an "access threshold" set by the state for some products related to safety.

Just like electric vehicles need to be registered and drugs need to be approved, products such as power banks, electric vehicle batteries, and rice cookers also need to pass the "3C certification" before they can be sold.

A qualified 3C - certified power bank usually has a small "CCC" logo printed on the product shell and a corresponding certification number, which means that this product has passed multiple standard tests such as voltage, current, temperature control, and flame retardancy.

Then why do some of the power banks we own not have a 3C logo?

The reason is that mobile power supplies were not initially included in the scope of mandatory certification. It was not until 2023 that the State Administration for Market Regulation issued an announcement including mobile power supplies in the mandatory 3C certification catalog, requiring that starting from August 1st, 2024, products without a 3C certification certificate and the certification logo shall not be manufactured or sold.

To put it simply, for power banks that were launched before August 2024, the 3C logo was not mandatory.

But with this safety crisis, it also means that in the future, all power banks must "work with a certificate". In addition to changing the 3C certification from a "optional item" in the past to a "hard threshold", more importantly, it makes more consumers pay more attention to the potential risks of power banks.

Currently, China's mandatory standards for mobile power supplies are mainly based on the "Safety Technical Specifications for Lithium - Ion Batteries and Battery Packs for Portable Electronic Products" issued in 2022. However, technological development is faster than regulatory standards. Although some defective products of illegal merchants can pass the basic national standard tests, they actually have safety hazards.

Especially with the popularization of the PD fast - charging protocol and the increase in the fast - charging power of mobile phones to between 30W - 100W, the functions borne by mobile power supplies have become more and more complex, but the industry standards have not been updated.

Jiemian News also said that the original mandatory standards have weak supervision over secondary suppliers such as diaphragm and electrolyte manufacturers and have failed to establish a perfect traceability system.

Not to mention that if it weren't for this "scandal" of Romoss and Anker, most users would hardly have noticed that as early as half a month before the incident, the 3C certifications of many batches of power bank products had been suspended or even revoked.

Image source: Donggu Detective

Currently, almost all Romoss power bank products have been removed from e - commerce platforms. When searching for "power banks", "3C certification" has also become a prominent keyword. But except for Baseus, Romoss, and Anker, other brands have not yet issued recall announcements.

It is worth noting that today, a netizen posted that the camera battery without a 3C logo could not pass the security check. Currently