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Exploding DELL laptops.

E

elkinm

Platinum Member
Dell recalls over 4 million batteries.

Hearing a lot about this today, but then I saw the pics of how bad this can be.

The first thing that came to mind is what happens if one of these batteries goes off on a plane. Are we looking at a laptop ban coming soon?

Anybody had a really bad laptop battery failure?
 
OK, check this out.

Picture a plane, with exploding laptops on it. And of course Samuel L. Jackson...

What do you get?

Motherfvcking ExplodingDellLaptops On A Plane!

I'm sending the script to Hollywood right now.
 
Well if you see someone climbing on a plane with a sack full of batteries, change flights. 🙂

You would of course be seriously injured if a battery blew while you're using it on a plane. Sitting with it right in your lap or on the tray table, unable to go anywhere to get away from it. Heck it might even be MORE likely on a plane, due to the lower air pressure. Has anybody checked whether Denver has a higher percentage of batteries exploding? 🙂

Laptops would eventually be banned anyway, along with all other carryon; exploding batteries might just speed it up.

I wonder how many of those 4 million batteries they'll actually get back. Or how effective any recalls are from Dell, considering that you have to give them all your contact information in order to buy from them generally, so you're almost guaranteed to receive any notices they send out.
 
Originally posted by: lozina
OK, check this out.

Picture a plane, with exploding laptops on it. And of course Samuel L. Jackson...

What do you get?

Motherfvcking ExplodingDellLaptops On A Plane!

I'm sending the script to Hollywood right now.
Click to expand...

That is GREAT! I'm sure they'll use it. Hey, it's not any dumber than Snakes On A Plane.
 
Hi, Batteries usually only explode when being charged. If you are charging it on the plane then it probably can explode. Most or all laptop batts have a themal cutout to stop the charging if the batt gets too hot. The cutout could be the wrong temperture or defective.

Jim
 
Originally posted by: JimPhelpsMI
Hi, Batteries usually only explode when being charged. If you are charging it on the plane then it probably can explode. Most or all laptop batts have a themal cutout to stop the charging if the batt gets too hot. The cutout could be the wrong temperture or defective.

Jim
Click to expand...

Not true. Lithium-Ion batteries are rather volatile and could explode if there's any serious malfunction. LiIon batteries are considered "dangerous goods" when it comes to shipping them! (I used to work for an electronic parts supplier.)

I heard great stories of people blowing off limbs not using them properly (larger batteries than most laptops, but all LiIon batteries can explode real good!) 😀
 
Originally posted by: lozina
OK, check this out.

Picture a plane, with exploding laptops on it. And of course Samuel L. Jackson...

What do you get?

Motherfvcking ExplodingDellLaptops On A Plane!

I'm sending the script to Hollywood right now.
Click to expand...


lol😀
 
Only Dells should be banned. 🙂 BTW - the batteries question are Sony. 'Nuff said! And, all cases of these catching on fire have been when the Dell was operating on battery - no A/C. That sort of shoots down the fire while charging theory. This gives a pretty good summary of the problem: Times

 
I think the term here that is most relevant should be "Burst" vs "explode". Least for the size batteries we are talking about.

This is a common problem with Laptops and even some cel phones. In most situations, a user will encounter a swelled battery casing, or minor smoke, heat, and failure of the the pack to function.

For those expecting to find a laptop blown to bits by this, you are falling victim to the terminology being used.
 
Originally posted by: corkyg
Only Dells should be banned. 🙂 BTW - the batteries question are Sony. 'Nuff said! And, all cases of these catching on fire have been when the Dell was operating on battery - no A/C. That sort of shoots down the fire while charging theory. This gives a pretty good summary of the problem: Times
Click to expand...

Neat article. Dell's constant focus on providing the lowest cost competitive machines seems to be biting them eh? From my understandng, the others aren't recalling as they have more confidence in their design and packaging. * Though battery issues affect all of them,-just that Dell is having the most numerous mishaps.
 
Originally posted by: WackyDan
I think the term here that is most relevant should be "Burst" vs "explode". Least for the size batteries we are talking about.

This is a common problem with Laptops and even some cel phones. In most situations, a user will encounter a swelled battery casing, or minor smoke, heat, and failure of the the pack to function.

For those expecting to find a laptop blown to bits by this, you are falling victim to the terminology being used.
Click to expand...

So...the videos of laptops with flames shooting out of the battery compartment, and the soot and melted plastic, those were just "bursting"?
 
Originally posted by: WackyDan
I think the term here that is most relevant should be "Burst" vs "explode". Least for the size batteries we are talking about.

This is a common problem with Laptops and even some cel phones. In most situations, a user will encounter a swelled battery casing, or minor smoke, heat, and failure of the the pack to function.

For those expecting to find a laptop blown to bits by this, you are falling victim to the terminology being used.
Click to expand...


I think you should google exploding laptop videos, or just go to this link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14350403/
 
I bet there is going to be a LOT of Dell laptops purchased in the middle-east now. 🙂

Shouldn't Sony be responsible as well as Dell?
 
Here is the latest from Sony (the battery maker) as to what the problem is (and isn't):

"Lithium has been replacing nickel-cadmium and other materials for batteries used in a range of electronic devices since the early 1990s. The smaller, lighter batteries produce more power to drive increasingly demanding gadgets, such as laptops with high-resolution screens.

"Battery packs contain cells of rolled up metal strips. During the manufacturing process at a Sony factory in Japan, crimping the rolls left tiny shards of metal loose in the cells, and some of those shards caused batteries to short-circuit and overheat, according to Sony.

"Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates, called the situation "a nightmare for Sony" but said the recall wasn't likely to scare manufacturers away from using lithium-ion batteries.

"Well-made lithium-ion batteries are perfectly safe," he said. "This is a manufacturing problem and not an indictment of lithium-ion technology."
 
Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
Originally posted by: WackyDan
I think the term here that is most relevant should be "Burst" vs "explode". Least for the size batteries we are talking about.

This is a common problem with Laptops and even some cel phones. In most situations, a user will encounter a swelled battery casing, or minor smoke, heat, and failure of the the pack to function.

For those expecting to find a laptop blown to bits by this, you are falling victim to the terminology being used.
Click to expand...

So...the videos of laptops with flames shooting out of the battery compartment, and the soot and melted plastic, those were just "bursting"?
Click to expand...


And a result of plastics and composites caught on fire by the high heat. Explosions do not always produce fire. Fire does not equal an explosion happening.
 
Large aircraft use li-ion batteries as a power source. Even though the batteries do fail and do catch on fire in flight, the high altitude enviroment of the cabin (usually between 6 and 8000 ft) dosen't provide optimum conditions for a fire. The result is a small fire that is easily dealt with or goes out quickly. As the recall says, the batteries can "combust violently". If the battery in your laptop is sufficently hot to light on fire, youll feel it and you take it off your lap, or off the most likly melting tray table and remove the battery for fear it has a short and might cause a fire and take the nessary steps to allow it to cool. If it make you uncomfortable, tell a flight atendant, there are places on an aircraft to put items that may cause a fire that will reduce the risk to the aircraft and the flight crew can then be notified to end the flight early. Sufficient?

And as another note, apple, hp, dell and a few other companies use batteries off the same sony assembly line. As noted in an article posted by someone else, these incidents are not isolated to dell, they are just happening with the most frequency on dell equipment.

-TL
 
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