Exploding laptop battery demonstration

[scotth_uk]

Howdy All.....

Heard about the exploding laptop batteries - at last a lab reproduction for your pleasure (including entertaining voiceover)...

http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcsafety/video.asp

 

[stats007]

Don't you just love American commentary...

 

[grober]

Holy Smoke!

HOLY SMOKE BATMAN THAT FIEND "LITHIUM ION MAN " STRIKES AGAIN!

 

[Rory]

I've seen pictures of one bursting into flames in a meeting room and it seemed altogether more intantaneous than that.

 

[masqueraid]

There she blows!

 

[Birdman]

And I only wanted to burn a DVD.......

 

[Simon]

Imagine that on an aircraft I wonder if the danger is being addressed?

 

[BTB 500]

Lithium Ion Polymer (LiPo) cells have a very high energy density ... a lot of power stored in a small space. So if abused they certainly can produce fireworks. However the safety circuits built into all commercial applications are pretty fail-safe and will prevent problems 99.99999% of the time.

Remember there literally are millions of LiPo packs being charged and discharged every day - virtually all mobile phones have them for a start. Percentage-wise the number of incidents is absolutely tiny.

I fly r/c planes for a hobby, and LiPos have revolutionised electric power to the extent that I've totally switched from IC engines to electric now. But this is much more risky than using LiPos in cellphones/laptops/etc., which are only ever charged with a matched and dedicated charger.

The packs I use vary in capacity and cell count, and a single charger is used for all of them - which must be manually set to the correct voltage (cell count) and current. Make a mistake (that the charger's software doesn't catch for you ) and a fire WILL result. Cells can also be physically damaged (e.g. in a crash), and over time the individual cells within a pack can get out of balance. None of these risks apply to a sealed 'plug and play' setup like a laptop, unless of course there's a design/build flaw.

People forget that 'old technology' batteries like NiCd and NiMh had some risks too. Although the electrolyte in them wasn't flammable, the rigid metal cases could burst explosively if over-charged (I have seen this happen).

 

[Sp!ke]

Imagine that on an aircraft I wonder if the danger is being addressed?

For a while, Dell Laptops were banned on most major airlines. However the problem wasn't limited to Dells but any laptop with a certain batch of Sony Batteries.

On my last flight (Saturday), if you had a Dell or a Mac laptop the cabin crew had to check your battery serial number against a list of effected batteries before you were allowed to use it on the aeroplane.

 

[masqueraid]

if you had a Dell or a Mac laptop the cabin crew had to check your battery serial number against a list of effected batteries before you were allowed to use it on the aeroplane.

You can Toshiba to that list as well now!

I'm still cynically thinking "what a good job Sony made of this" - no sign of the battery production run for the Vaios being affected

 

[fuzzer]

For a while, Dell Laptops were banned on most major airlines. However the problem wasn't limited to Dells but any laptop with a certain batch of Sony Batteries.

On my last flight (Saturday), if you had a Dell or a Mac laptop the cabin crew had to check your battery serial number against a list of effected batteries before you were allowed to use it on the aeroplane.

Levono had a battery recall too...

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=BATT-LENOVO

 

[GrahamC230K]

Lenovo should recall their laptops full stop.

 

[Rory]

Lenovo should recall their laptops full stop.

Why do you say that? After years of Dell & HP, I recently bought a T43 and think it's marvellous.

 

[GrahamC230K]

One I could cope with.

 

[scotth_uk]

Lenovo should recall their laptops full stop.

I have a brand spanking new T60, and in real terms it is every bit as good as the T2X's and T4X's that I 've had. HOWEVER, I have two issues.

1) It has an annoying problem, which I believe to be hardware - when returning from a suspended state, the machine fails and just cycles through different colours on the screen without so much as attempting to restart windows. This is rubbish, and shouldn't be happening on a machine of today.

2) Just inconvenience really - annoying when you work for a company that has many thousand Thinkpad workstations around the world and your new T60 uses a different power connector and dock connector. If I forget my power lead, I am stuffed!

 

[Sp!ke]

Using the suspend feature is the cause of most 2.5" HDD failures - my advice would be to shut down every time or hibernate if you must.

Park them heads dammit.

 

[scotth_uk]

Sp!ke,

I don't understand why - the drive powers down doesn't it, with automatic park?

 

[big x]

You can Toshiba to that list as well now!

I'm still cynically thinking "what a good job Sony made of this" - no sign of the battery production run for the Vaios being affected

Actually some Vaio batteries have been recalled in Japan and the US but not here.You have to remember we are regarded as second class citizens with lower consumer rights.

adam

 

[Rory]

I have a brand spanking new T60, and in real terms it is every bit as good as the T2X's and T4X's that I 've had. HOWEVER, I have two issues.

I agonised over which to buy, but settled on the T43 as there seemed to be fair number of little issues with T60.

2) Just inconvenience really - annoying when you work for a company that has many thousand Thinkpad workstations around the world and your new T60 uses a different power connector and dock connector. If I forget my power lead, I am stuffed!

This has happened to me too many times - now I always buy a second power supply (or get a docking station which includes PSU) so there is always a PSU based permanently in the laptop's bag.