What is Digg?61 Comments
- flipmeat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+47A bulging battery is _definitely_ a real threat and should be placed outside in a ceramic or concrete container to hold in any potential explosion or fire. Call Apple right away, and get that thing away from loved ones and property. If it's bulging, the contents inside are _under a lot of pressure_. Even if it is just kind of smoldering, if it opens or explodes, hot, highly toxic chemicals could burn and poison you all in one go. Lithium is not to be messed with!
- Eallan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25Damn sony! Oh wait...
- ploop, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18You're thinking of NiCad and NiMH. I'm not saying that Lithium salts can't be toxic, but they're not *that* bad. Cadmium salts, on the other hand...
Plus @MrFoof82 Lithium is *not a heavy metal*. Get a periodic table. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14This happened to me. I called up apple support the day after I noticed it and at first when they heard that I had a 17" the guy on the phone was kind of skeptical and put me on hold so he could do some "research". When he came back on the line he sounded much more tense than when I'd left him and emphatically told me not to put the battery back in the computer. They shipped me out a new battery overnight and I sent the defective one back without any problems at all.
Great customer service. - rshu4you, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14@pj88
" when they heard that I had a 17" the guy on the phone was kind of skeptical "
Bragger - MrFoof82, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15Mod parent up.
Lithium fires are extremely dangerous, and there's likely nothing in your home or office that could easily extinguish one. Most fire extinguishers are Class BC or Class ABC --- you need a Class D extinguisher for lithium and other heavy metal fires. These typically use powdered copper metal or sodium chloride (NaCl), sometimes with a combination of sand, to smother the fire out. Even Halon can't efficiently extinguish a lithium fire.
Lithium fires tend to have a temperature floor of about 700C (~1300F).
Consumer Li-ion products aren't "as bad" as some of the old military grade stuff. Some of the old military cells (early 90s) had power density equivelant to a 1/4 to 1/2-stick of TNT.
Seriously, if a Li-ion battery pack is getting really hot, stop using it immediately. Return it ASAP. If it's bulging, put it in a lockbox or something if you can. - Ham1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This same thing happened to me! 17" MacBook Pro. My battery was bulging slowly over time. It was also getting weaker and weaker until one day it wouldn't work unless it was plugged in. I didn't recognize how bulged it was until that day.
- ploop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Nope.
- krellor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6bbrosmer: "it seems like they just expand and are no real threat."
engadget: "As we have all learned, swelling is typically the final stage before explosion."
Dunno, might want to reconsider the no real threat assumption. If it was me I'd get an RMA after backing up my data. - turpenine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I really like how they default to overnight shipping, so even if you don't live near an apple store you won't be without your computer for long. I wish more companies did this.
- Vazelos, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Despite pressure on making profit as quickly as possible, companies need to realise that hardware is not like software that you can patch over the internet if you find some bug the day after the release. Service packs for hardware (Sony batteries, Macbook Pro initial problems, Xbox 360, PS3 etc) are not acceptable!
- Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5pfft, only 17"?
- ploop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It shouldn't diminish the battery life, if the batteries are properly designed. Li-Ion batteries aren't like your alkaline batteries. They have some smarts (software running in an onboard microcontroller) in them to prevent overcharging. The way they work is they quick charge up to a set percentage, and then slowly trickle-charge the remaining. If they didn't work that way, they would explode in a giant shower of hot metal and fire the first time you tried to charge them.
- Jubalicious, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This happened to me too. The first time I noticed something was wrong was when the button on my track pad wouldn't depress on a click... I took out the battery and sure enough it was bulging causing the underside of the track pad to push up. Luckily my MacBook Pro was still under warranty so I took it to the nearest Apple store and they replaced it for free once they saw the engorged battery.
When this first happened I had read on different forums about the same thing happening to other 17 inch MacBook Pro owners. I am surprised they never issued a recall like they did for the 15 inchers. - FresnonserF, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I had my battery replaced earlier this week for the same reason...random shutoffs and a swelling battery. I didn't know this was a widespread issue.
- SirBotchness, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Why don't you make a bug free computer and show them how its done.
- delay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This happened to me, I hadn't really heard about the dangers of handling an expanded battery. I just brought my 17" macbook pro (1st version) to an apple store and they replaced it immediately for free. It happened on my system when it was not plugged in.
- Merrick178, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'm not a scientist but doesn't this have to do with an overcharging of batteries? I heard that somewhere but it's probably wrong. Feel free to correct me if I am.
Scary thought your laptop could just explode on your lap... I've seen videos of different devices exploding and it's pretty unnerving. - broohaha, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Happened to me with my MBP17. Got it replaced at the Apple Store without any questions.
Mine got so swollen that hitting the mouse button required a forceful tap in order for the button to register being pushed. That's because the battery was pushing up against the mouse pad too much. - MechaFenris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You have to be bored :)
FWIW: 1st gen 15" MBP... no swelling. ;)
YMMV. Apple's good about replacements. At least they're not Sony. :P
To those who won't buy another Apple laptop.... You just don't know what you're missing. :) - turpenine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you drain the battery to 60% and put it in the fridge instead of your laptop is will last for years and years and years. (there was a previous digg story on this, but I can't find it)
- binkjuice, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This happened to my MacBook Pro 17" as well. I took it right away into Genius and they took care of it right on the spot luckily since they had the battery in stock.
- skwead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@MrFoof
You're right, but you're talking about Li-Ion not Lithium-Polymer batteries that MB and MB Pros are using:
"There are many advantages of this design over the classic lithium ion design, including the fact that the solid polymer electrolyte is not flammable (unlike the organic solvent that the Li-Ion cell uses)." - NSResponder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2 If you see any change in size of a battery, DO NOT USE IT. This is a safety matter, don't tempt fate.
-jcr - cklol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have a 15" MBP and it is working fine after over 10 months of use!
- mikaella, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is scary! My MBP 17 core duo shut off suddenly during a meeting yesterday while i was showing some quicktime movies and jpegs. OSX reported some 25% remaining charge. The Battery isn't swollen but are there any other signs to look for? did anyone notice something prior to the swelling?
- goblindegook, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It only diminishes the battery's life if you don't use it at all. If you put it in and cycle it a couple of times every month, it should last you longer.
- hoosrdady, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I recently had to change the battery in my Archos AV480. Same thing was happening to me... the outer case started to swell and it started shutting off randomly. I went down to the local battery supply shop and the tech there told me they see this all the time with lithium based batteries. They call it "footballing" Apparently this typically happens when a lithium based battery no longer holds a charge but is in direct line between the external charging plug and the rest of the unit.. When the battery can no longer take a charge it will build up gases inside the foil pouch and swell. Most people ignore a dead battery and just go on using the plug to run their electronics instead of getting it replaced. This is the major reason why we should replace a battery when it won't charge anymore ;)
- spongebue, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1At the university I go to, every student gets a laptop. Those that are art students get a 15" (I think, could be 17") MacBook Pro as opposed to an HP laptop. I work where they fix the laptops, and have seen several batteries (maybe 5?) that have been swelling just like in that photo. Since I'm not there all the time that we're open, I'm sure there are even more that have actually have that problem. So while it may not be a very frequent problem, I can say that it definitely happens with these computers.
- COinOR, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2good thought. an apple store rep told me that if i left my powerbook at home and plugged in most of the time i should just take the battery out. supposedly it diminishes the battery's life, but i'm no scientist either.
- imamessy1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If it was the 15" they should check the serial to see if the battery was recalled. I was have 15" that was having random shut downs and short battery life unless plugged in and since updating firmware and getting a new battery (which came over night after filling out a little form), I've been problem free. They know the 15" ones have a problem.
- TexanPsycho, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1At least it's the batteries that are swollen...
- Firanide, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I just got my MBP 17" CD back from Apple on Friday, after I had a bulging battery problem too ( http://viramoth.com/hosted/mbpbattery ). They had to replace my screen too, because when the battery started swelling, it somehow fried the screen too.
Now this new battery is swelling too (although it's only a couple millimetres at the moment). I'm not terribly happy, as this is my only machine, and I need a battery so I can take it to school. - thatbox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2There's a predictable but still funny one from rshu4you a bit further up the page. No worries!
- rshu4you, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is Digg and no comments about swollen 15" and 17"ers???
Your losing your touch - Lounger540, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My 17" started just shutting off at 40% battery and would only charge to about 98% and then would flicker between charging and not charging every 15 seconds. I did a full discharge and left it out for half a day and it seems to be working fine again. I thought I did notice a slight bevel in the aluminum of the battery casing but thought it could just be from the soft adhesive too. Hopefully mine doesn't decide to blow in 2 months when my warranty is up.
- joshuba, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Posting a potentially explosive device sounds a bit dangerous and illegal.
- Royal0rleans, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My macbooks battery is swelling like crazy. not cool.
im high - arenas46, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2they can what more power?
- brianez21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Too much information.
PS - Your post rhymed. - SVPirate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1More Sony battery woes... When will this all end??!!
- DigDugDigger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3The battery on my Macbook Pro swelled up to about 2x its size... oddly enough after checking the Apple site my specific battery wasn't being recalled. Apparently it was behaving exactly as designed. :)
- IHatePants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Happened to me. Just got my replacement in last week. btw- there appears to be a lot of it happening to 17" MBPs, because they had to backorder my battery, took an extra week.
All in all, I still love my MBP, but damn, I wish they could have gotten me a battery a lot quicker. - mulling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, I get dugg down for sharing a firsthand account of my bad experiences? Was it because people think I'm lying, or because they don't like to hear the truth? Trust me, I'm not the only one having major problems with my MBP. I'm counting my blessings that the hard drive hasn't failed, which apparently is happening to other MBP owners.
I'm hoping to sell my LemonBook Pro now that it's out of warranty. Any of you fanboys want to pick up my awesome machine? I'll give you a great deal. - Dkittels, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Happened to me. I didn't know people were only expecting it from the 15 inchers, actually. Just got my replacement via AppleCare the other day.
- bbrosemer, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5This happened to me as well, however with the 17'' versions, it seems like they just expand and are no real threat. What I have seen with the 15'' version is that alot more of the battery "baggies" are packed in there per unit volume. Bascially I am saying is the 15'' is a much tighter fit then the 17'' version...
- retnull, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This happened to my 17in. When I brought it in to the Apple Genius Bar, I didn't have to say a word; the guy looked at it, said, "Oh, one of those", and replaced the battery. I was out in 5 minutes.
- CamperBob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Posting a potentially explosive device sounds a bit dangerous and illegal."
Yeah, no kidding. I don't know why you were dugg down, but if I have reason to believe that a lithium battery is about to do the China Syndrome thing, I'm not going to ship it back by air.
I have excellent karma on Slashdot and all that, but not enough to cover causing a plane crash. -
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