Keep a safe distance from your laptop

[NeoGen]

Especially if it's a Dell... :lol: :lol:
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32723

[AMDave]

Eeek.
When I type like crazy on my laptop, I am "on fire".
It's not meant to be the other way around!

Jokes aside, I rarely use my laptop on battery only and it has only once ever gone below 50% charge in the last 12 months. I tend to use mine more as a "portable" and take the power pack with me and use it whenever possible.

I wonder what the circumstances for this was and which battery manufacturer was involved, as I doubt that Dell manufacture their own and there is a high probability that these batteries may be in use in other brands as well.

Don't forget the the Laptop battery recall for replacement initiated by "another manufacturer" in the past (which I only learned of by checking the local fire service website for dangerous products when I had a power double-adapter that was in doubt) They were able to discern a particular series of serial numbers that were affected and order replacements by specification (which is just like them - a good outfit). It will be interesting to see if Dell can meet that benchmark and do the same.

I have a smoke detector installed directly above my PC rack and desk.
I'll check the battery in it again right after typing this.

I want to know the finding from this asap.

[AMDave]

My smoke alarm is fine.
Have you all checked your's lately?
Don't have one? Get one.
They save a lot of lives.
I've got 4.

I wonder if they plugged in a 250v power pack to a 110v supply (or vice versa). No. Dell stated a problem with the battery. I realy want to know the details. It's waiting time.

[NeoGen]

Dell started recalling those batteries...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060815/ap_on_hi_te/dell_battery_recall

There's a nice thread already on Dell's forums here:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_power&message.id=43162

And from what they say, you can check if your battery is on the recall list here:
https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/


Have fun with those batteries :P

[vaughan]

Phew! Lisa's XPS battery is one number different to one of those listed.

Yes got multiple smoke alarms in this place AMDave but I'm curious as to why you have only 4 lives left? ;) Sounds very feline to me :)

I had a replacement battery from HP for my Compaq NX9010 a couple of years ago as part of some alleged recall issue. Still going strong 24/7.

[Strongbow]

Apple, HP, IBM & Fujitsu all recalled batteries over a year ago.

It cost my company, Fujitsu Siemens, vast sums of money to recall nearly 250,000 batteries and replace them. Not everyone returned them of course and this is why we still have this http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/support/batteryexchange/index.html page which has been there for well over a year even though we individually contacted each registered customer.

Laptop manufacturers pretty much get all their PSUs and Batteries from the same component manufacturers and typically a defect affects us all, so why did Dell not recall earlier like the rest of us instead of just sitting on the fence saving vast sums of money and hoping that no battery would explode? beats me!

[Murray]

Dell started recalling those batteries...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060815/ap_on_hi_te/dell_battery_recall

There's a nice thread already on Dell's forums here:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_power&message.id=43162

And from what they say, you can check if your battery is on the recall list here:
https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/


Have fun with those batteries :P

Thanks Neo, Just checked, and my battery is A OK:)

[NeoGen]

blackheath, one question for you.
All the companies that sold those batteries and had to recall them lost alot of money, but what about the company that manufactured the said batteries? (In Dell's case it seems to have been Sony) They gotta pay for it too, and even harder, don't they? I mean, after selling them they can't expect to be off the hook in case something goes wrong, right?

[gamer007]

Sigh, another thing for Sony. 1st, the price of the PS3 over the roof, and now defected batteries. :roll:

Will Sony ever get on the right track again?

[Strongbow]

blackheath, one question for you.
All the companies that sold those batteries and had to recall them lost alot of money, but what about the company that manufactured the said batteries? (In Dell's case it seems to have been Sony) They gotta pay for it too, and even harder, don't they? I mean, after selling them they can't expect to be off the hook in case something goes wrong, right?

I take back my point made, slightly, as I don't think last year's recall was due to Sony so I can't point a wavy finger at Dell for that!

Of course all manufacturers get compensated for recalls by their incumbent supplier, but the bad press can cripple a product line very quickly which can lead to literally millions in lost revenue. Going by the way Dell is brandishing the blame on Sony I'd be very surprised if it doesn't end up in the legal courts.

[vaughan]

Sigh, another thing for Sony. 1st, the price of the PS3 over the roof, and now defected batteries. :roll:

Will Sony ever get on the right track again?
Dunno but you can add my Sony Trinitron 15" CRT monitor that lasted ONLY 3 years. When I took it back for repairs (colours went weird) the Technician said "oh they are only meant to be used for 8 hours a day Mon - Fri". I replied "bullshit, my Rank Arena colour TV is still going strong after 20 years".

Also had a Sony 68cm colour black elephant - oops I mean - TV that needed a new picture tube after 18 months. Fortunately David Jones (retailer) was able to get Sony to replace that under extended warranty I took out.

With those two experiences with Sony audio-visual devices I will think long and hard before buying another Sony.

[gamer007]

My current Dell P991 Trinitron CRT monitor has lasted me for years, no problems so far. We also have a Sony TV for several years as well, it's starting to die now. You can see green dots appear everywhere every so often.

But nothing serious so far. But just becuase I have good experience with them doesn't mean everyone does.

[AMD-USR_JL]

Sigh, another thing for Sony. 1st, the price of the PS3 over the roof, and now defected batteries. :roll:

Will Sony ever get on the right track again?

Sorry about off-topic. PS3 is expensive because of the Blu-ray drive. M$ just announced that the HD-DVD add-on drive will be $500 USD. Sony must really be loosing some money since Blu-Ray is suppose to be more expensive to make than HD-DVD. The cheapest stand alone Blu-Ray player is $1000+ USD.

[NeoGen]

In a year and half from now they'll both cost $60 or so, like dvd drives cost nowadays...

People have to be really crazy or really needy to buy those things at launch... :roll:

[gamer007]

I agree. When I was in Best Buy, Fry's Electronics, etc., there were Blu-ray players, HD-DVD players, etc.

Fry's had a whole aisle full of HD-DVD and blu-ray movies! I wonder how many people are actually buying it.

[vaughan]

In a year and half from now they'll both cost $60 or so, like dvd drives cost nowadays...

People have to be really crazy or really needy to buy those things at launch... :roll:
That's the black art called Marketing :!:

You have to create enough hype and cudos associated with the project that the buyer wants the product so bad that they will pay (almost) anything for it.

Look how well Nintendo did (still does I suppose) with the Pokemon craze.

[Steve Lux]

Hm,, I haven't seen anything in here that anyone who did well in high school chemistry didn't learn: Lithium is very reactive in the presence of moisture, water to be specific. (as are a few other metals)

http://www.iun.edu/~cpanhd/C101webnotes/modern-atomic-theory/movie/lithium-reac.html

( ^^ Requires QuickTime to view ^^ )

Imaginge the potential thermal delta when there is far more lithium and far less water to dissipate the heat from the chemical reaction. Heat is one of the greatest enemies of battery longevity, so I imagine that Sony included venting in their battery design to dissipate the heat generated.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

I strongly suspect that someone spilled a water-based liquid onto the laptop. While the venting may have been enough to allow the water to enter the lithium-ion battery, there is obviously no way to dissipate the heat generated by the subsequent chemical reaction. It seems apparent to me that the chemical reaction generates enough heat to auto-ignite the laptop's plastic casing.

Sony really should have done a better job of engineering their venting methodology. Perhaps they should consider heat pipes or some other form of passive heat dissipation. By-the-way, this same issue exists with the new lithium-ion portable tools that have become so popular. It's best to not let them get wet.

[Strongbow]

a quick read...

note: A UPS plane caught fire when landing a shipment of Lithium-ion batteries...

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=17978&hed=Who+Will+Batteries+Burn+Next%3f

[NeoGen]

Any Mac owners around here?
According to the news, Apple is also recalling 1.8 million of Sony's batteries...
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060824/ap_on_hi_te/apple_battery_recall

[AMDave]

That's confirmed today.
I wonder how many more manufacturers will have to follow suit?
This is going to hit the Sony bottom-line really badly.

[NeoGen]

Apple's laptops are catching fire too now. Pity they don't have a photo of it. :lol:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060829/ap_on_hi_te/japan_apple_battery_recall

[Steve Lux]

MMMMmmmmmm...... Roasted apples!

More info about Lithiun Ion battery failures:


Existing Lithium Ion Batteries
Rechargeable lithium ion batteries currently use graphite for the negative electrode and typically lithium cobalt oxide for the positive electrode. The electrolyte is a lithium salt dissolved in an organic solvent which is flammable.

During charge, lithium ions deposit inside the graphite particles. However the rate at which lithium ions can deposit is limited by the electro-chemical properties of the graphite, and if they can not enter the graphite particles they, instead, may collect (plate) on the negative electrode's surface as lithium metal. This can occur if the ions are deposited too rapidly on the graphite electrode as might be the case if the battery is charged too quickly. If this plating occurs, the battery will severely degrade in performance and in extreme cases, will short, causing overheating and thermal runaway - a major fire hazard.



That was from this link: http://www.b2i.us/profiles/investor/ResLibraryView.asp?BzID=546&ResLibraryID=16946&Category=856

According to thier site articles they have the next better thing in Lithium ion battery technology.

[NeoGen]

It's Toshiba's turn now...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_hi_te/japan_toshiba_battery_recall

4.1 M from Dell
1.8 M from Apple
340 K from Toshiba
-----------------------
>6 M Total

This is almost as big as Intel's recall many years ago of the early Pentiums because of the FPU bug! :lol:

[Strongbow]

Anyone with a Fujitsu / Fujitsu-Siemens laptop is fine as we do not use Sony batteries in our range of laptops!

[Strongbow]

Forget multiple cores it's battery season! :)

Plastic batteries...
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2006-07/06-022.html

I like the idea of moulding cases out of this stuff, thinner laptops, phones etc...

[Nflight]

Imagine the possibilities, build the solar panels with these polymers, as the sun goes down the remaining charge is diminished overtime till the sun goes back up in the sky.
A self contained onsite charging system, all-in-one solar factory!

Another brainstorm, use the tremendous charging capacity as an accumulator to store excess juice for those times when you need excess electrons. (Example: charging the laser pulses at Sandia National Labratory as they work on the Fusion reactors/tokomaks)

Just thinking off the cuff here! :roll:

[Strongbow]

...charging the laser pulses at Sandia National Labratory as they work on the Fusion reactors/tokomaks)

Just thinking off the cuff here! :roll:

:shock: :shock: :shock:

...and there's me 'thinking off the cuff' around just small phones and laptops! :lol:

I'm going back to bed! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Strongbow]

...and now USB rechargeable AA batteries :roll:

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/peripherals/0,39029462,49283728,00.htm