Laptop Users Please Read

The spreading multi-manufacturer laptop battery problem is significant and dangerous. Apple's, Toshiba's, more Dells and now Lenovo's - each manufacturer has help available. For those with an interest here is a TomsHardware link with more information.

Victor K.

[edit on 29-9-2006 by V Kaminski]

Apparently Sony (the maker of the batteries in all those computers) had a real problem with those batteries, and that also shows that a Lithium battery is a dangerous thing.

Some time ago, it could be seen in many sites and magazines, articles about the new polymer batteries, those batteries were supposed to replace the Lithium batteries because they had many advantages over those, what happened to them?

Seems that the IEEE is "working" on such a protcol for improved standards and let's hope it doesn't get lost in endless wrangling over nuance like other "stuff" (an example the two seagulls fighting-over a french fry show of wireless standards).

Engaget has an article - www.engadget.com... (there are others) From our 30 or so Lappies at work about half have been affected. A fear I have is that there are literally hundreds of "generic" or "knock-off" battery "suppliers" that may try and take an advantage of the situation and flood the market with even poorer-quality cells.

One would hpoe that a solution without the ability to start a chemical fire on contact with air will be found - how many airline incidents have there been? At least some... with the UPS cargo incident being sorta publicized. There are examples from other sources - including construction sites - the odd "trailer site-office" has caught fire and have had chargers for hand-held tool battery packs in them.

Sardion2000 has mentioned chemical "batteries" that run on alky (Toshiba) but these are a ways off yet and do hold some promise... they do work - saw a demo offsite at the Toshiba suite during CeBit last year. There needs to be a better more timely fix.

Victor K.

38'

Dell's bill so far has been $267 millon USD... chump change - even for Michael Dell? Feels like a "Bridgestone Tire" - tip of the iceberg? Maybe.

[edit on 30-9-2006 by V Kaminski]

Originally posted by ArMaP
and that also shows that a Lithium battery is a dangerous thing.

I have RC cars, and helicopters I use Li-Pos in. They are VERY dangerous, They more than likely will not explode but they will melt down and cause a fire, if they are even shorted for a second or two.

There is something strange in this.

The worldwide battery market is huge, if anyone comes with a good, efficient, reliable battery, they could make a fortune in a little time.

So, what is holding back the advances in battery technology? Are the new ideas too expensive? Or what was once announced as a new advance in battery technology turned out to be that good after all?

Are we at the physical limit of chemical to electrical power?

Li-pos are advanced. Cuts weight by 2/3 and giving twice the holding power.

There may be more examples - of "good alternatives" but none that can be easily purchased or used... MIT: has their Micro-Turbines on silicon - that do hold promise but as was mentioned to me "Who wants an internal combustion battery?" That'd be a tiny catayltic-converter and exhaust pipe huh? Stay out of the jet-wash of my laptop? LOL. What does NASA use on their PGT's (pistol grip tools)?

I bet In garages and basement workshops, kitchens there are folks with an answer, too. Necessity the the Mother Of All...

Victor K.

38'



[edit on 30-9-2006 by V Kaminski]

These guys stuff might be interesting... TRU they claim completely safe... Li-Fiber? OK. Sounds too good to be "true". LOL. Always a "Catch-22". Never fails.
BTW: The Swales PGT Part Number: GE1557000 has EVA-changeable LiOH's... sure hate to have on of those "go off" during depressurization of the ISS airlock...
Has anyone heard of preferably had experience with Li-Fiber batteries?

Victor K.

38'

[edit on 30-9-2006 by V Kaminski]

Why don't laptops have solar cells? Of course not instead of batteries, but in addition. Maybe it would be too complicated or too expensive...?

Btw, I heard that these bad batteries are also in IBM Thinkpads sold after July 2005.



edit: never mind. I just found out that there are laptops using solar cells.
www.pcworld.com...

[edit on 2006/9/30 by Hellmutt]

The MSI concept does seem sound... but will there be enough lumens in office-light? Neat idea... I've tried Canadian Tire generic solar panels for maintenance-charging car/bike.ATV batteries and I have no complaints. They only produce limited wattage and require moderate daylight but who knows... maybe they'll figure out a way to require less-juice for laptops too. Sales and many other people who fly are in a serious pickle.

If you think about "they" must have seen this problem coming... that bothers me. What have they done to insure Q&A-wise that the new replacement cells won't fail in the same manner? I'm betting not much.

Victor K.

38'

[edit on 30-9-2006 by V Kaminski]

Makes one wonder if this is just a bad case of manufacturers trying to cut corners to make more profits, or if there's a major sabotage conspiracy going on (i.e. from China) to hurt the market or something?


[edit on 1-10-2006 by ufia]

Why would China try to hurt the laptop market?

Lenovo also had the same problem, with the same Sony batteries.

If this is a conspiracy, then it is a conspiracy against Sony batteries, I can not see who would gain with that.

I more see it as Frank Borman so succinctly put it, "A failure of imagination." (Re: The Apollo Fire Senate Investigation. This goes beyond the realm of "just a bad battery batch" to that of "bad battery batches".

I'd also add that the sealing tooling for such batteries (crimp-rolled) may wear with time making for a higher potential failure rate... Q&A testing seems to have been an afterthought... or at least not held in high enough regard to matter and as time passed it may have been buried by legal considerations and constraints.

There are other battery manufacturers with a pedigee less than that of the perceived manufacturing quality of Sony who do make a similar cell casement for a whole wide variety of "stuff".

As was mentioned once the battery cell(s) get hot enough they can leak and that interaction with air creates a chemical fire and an electrical fire in one... nasty.

Even if the cells were sealed better (to a higher pressure and to a lower pressure) wouldn't that potentially make them less likely "to go off" or is it just a more energetic release if it was to fail?

It would seem prudent at our offices to have battery use only allowed when the machines are actively tended by a user while moving from office to meeting rooms all other laptops that need to be "up" and unattended will run on AC only. Even that's not without some risk owing to the numbers of fire-hazard related recalls of such adapters and cords from Dell, Sony, HP/Compaq, IBM etc...

I wonder if we'll see a massive dumping of battery stocks currently in use and in-channel at fire-sale prices followed by a squeeze on supply and raising prices ultimately for the same defective junk with a Q&A label saying "Tested OK: Inspector 13"? Wink, wink, nod, nod, nudge, nudge, eh?

Victor K.

38'

[edit on 1-10-2006 by V Kaminski]

The American government agency (CPSC) after a very long time has finally announced a laptop battery recall. A Link to the CPSC item.

www.cpsc.gov...

Victor K.

43'