Anyone ever had a swollen laptop battery?

[True Dough]

I dropped my laptop on the floor today. First time I've ever had that happen.

Picked it up and the trackpad popped out at the bottom left corner. I spent a while trying to snap it back into place. It just would not reinsert in that corner.

So I Googled it and I saw warnings that it's the battery underneath the trackpad that's damaged. It's known as "swollen" or "spicy" battery.

You're supposed to stop using the laptop and get a replacement battery ASAP because the damaged one can be a fire hazard.

Oh joy!

I'm lucky to have my old laptop still kicking around and still functioning, although it's a tad slow.

[SonOfNebanaube]

1. Then...

The battery you find is reconditioned and in almost no better state...

[Thomas Hurt]

2. Had a work laptop battery swell up and pop open the casing, same with an old Nano I had.

Definitely time for a new laptop unless the repair is reasonable.

[Marie Marie]

5. Had that exact thing happen to a phone battery. I knew that wasn't good so I set it

on the log holder in my fireplace just in case, until I could get a new phone Battery was so swollen it bent the metal casing. I handled it just enough to transfer the data to my new phone, praying it wouldn't burst into flames. Asked the man at a electronics and phone repair shop if he would take it in for recycling and he looked at it and said "NOPE!", which I understood. Took it to Best Buy, showed them and asked them if they would take and they said "SURE". Go figure.

[Tetrachloride]

3. an ipad as an alternative can be affordable

either as a main or as alternative/backup

[LearnedHand]

4. Yup and it's very dangerous

You should unplug it but don’t try to fix it yourself. Take it to a repair shop to have them remove the old one and get a replacement battery. Srsly, it’s a fire and/or explosion danger.

[niyad]

6. Not my laptop, but a previous phone. I was having issues with the phone,

took it to a repair shop. The tech showed me the swollen battery, which was pretty scary. She explained what could happen with it. I ended up buying a reconditioned phone that worked well until I upgraded to a 5g.

[Tasmanian Devil]

7. I've had many swollen batteries over the years

Not worth panicking about, but replace them before their expansion into the other components causes them to break. In my ancient laptops that would be risk of damage to the trackpad.

So .. don't panic, but consider them a source of ignition and fire until you get rid of them. I.e. store them someplace where they won't burn your house down if it ignites!

[TomWilm]

8. My bike battery wass swollen, but usable for years anyway...

... but I always kept and charged it outdoors, in good distance from any flammable items.

[Niagara]

9. Did you figure out how to replace the battery yet?

How much is the battery replacement cost compared to buying a new laptop?

[True Dough]

10. It's a bit of a story.

I'll try to keep it brief.

Best Buy won't touch it due to the explosion hazard.

I found an independent guy who will replace the battery. If I buy the battery through him, it's $180. I sourced one online (new and a match for my particular laptop) for $120. So I asked him if he'd install one that I found for cheaper. He said he would, but that the one-year warranty he would offer with his battery is no longer applicable. So I'll live without that warranty.

All told, with labor and taxes, it should come to a little over $200, maybe $225.

The laptop is an ASUS Rog Strix. It's a gaming laptop, even though I'm not a gamer. I splurged on it. Most expensive laptop I've owned in my life at close to $1,500. Usually I get something in the $700-$800 range. But my aunt has had two gaming laptops that have lasted her nine years and six years (so far) with no problems until the first one finally died.

So I figured I'd try that route. It hasn't gone as well for me. Besides this repair (no fault of the manufacturer on this occasion), I had to send it in for repairs twice under warranty because the keyboard was freezing/locking up on me. That problem still exists intermittently. Sometimes it resolves itself, sometimes I have to restart it.

Sigh.

[Niagara]

11. Fantastic for the independent battery guy

I hope it all works out for you. I guess I didn't realize how costly laptops were, especially gaming laptops.


I know how badly it can be dropping devices. I was rough on my last 2 or 3 phones. Yikes!!

[JoseBalow]

12. "swollen laptop battery"

Is that what we're calling it now?

[True Dough]

13. Jose,

it sure beats a floppy disk!