Could Your Dell Battery Be a Time Bomb?
Could Your Dell Battery Be a Time Bomb?
Could Your Dell Battery Be a Time Bomb?
The Potential Danger Inside Your Dell Laptop
In August 2006, the computer manufacturer Dell recalled 4.1 million of its laptop batteries because of a potentially lethal fault - some were liable to burst into flames. Dell batteries in laptops made between April 2004 and July 2006 were found to be faulty after several incidents in which a Dell laptop battery caught fire or even exploded.
In June 2006, a Dell battery caused a notebook to burst into flames at a conference in Japan. The following month, firefighters in Illinois were called out to extinguish a burning laptop which had partially destroyed the desk beneath it, while in Nevada, a burning Dell battery in the a pickup truck ignited ammunition in the glove compartment, triggering an explosion in the engine. Dell officially admitted to several similar incidents, while other reports suggested that hundreds of burned and melted laptops had been returned to the manufacturer.
Miraculously, no-one was injured in any of these incidents. But Dell's recall of the batteries was at the time the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Not Just a Dell Battery Problem
The recall highlighted the potential dangers of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are one of the cheapest type of Asus laptop battery available, which makes them very popular with electronics manufacturers. They can be found not only in laptop computers, but in other devices such as mobile phones, cordless power tools, digital cameras, camcorders, and MP3 players. While incidents of lithium-ion batteries catching fire are comparatively few, the huge number of electronic devices now used by consumers means they do present a considerable risk.
The Dell batteries in question were found to contain microscopic particles of metal, a by-product of the manufacturing process. It is believed the explosions were caused by these particles piercing the separator inside the batteries, causing them to short-circuit. This set off a chain reaction within the cells of the batteries which made them overheat extremely rapidly, increasing the temperature of the IBM batteries by a few hundred degrees in the fraction of a second. It was this fault which prompted the recall of such a large number of Dell battery products.
But it was not just Dell batteries that were found to have this fault. The batteries were made by Sony, who sell laptop batteries to many of the world's major computer manufacturers. Many other laptop manufacturers were forced to recall large numbers of laptop batteries for safety reasons.
Are You Using a Faulty Dell Battery?
But how many of the faulty Dell batteries were actually returned to Dell? While the laptop fires sparked news stories around the globe, and Dell issued a public safety recall of the batteries, many people may still have missed this information. Could you be one of them? Are you using a Dell laptop manufactured between 2004 and 2006? If so, could your Dell battery potentially become a lethal hazard?
A list of the affected laptop models, along with information on how to identify a faulty Dell battery, can be found at the Dell web site. Sending the battery to Dell and waiting for a safe replacement means spending time unable to use your laptop, so it is a good idea to find a Dell spare parts supplier online who can supply you with a replacement Dell battery which won't burst into flames.
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