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Dell's Exploding Laptop Autopsy

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the determining-the-cause-of-aaaughh dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Dell has gone to the Consumer Product Safety Commission looking for help determining the cause of death for its exploding laptop. Dell has been blaming the lithium ion battery; the commission seems to have had a few problems with those batteries in the past."

8 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So there are two cases now? by andrewman327 · · Score: 4, Informative
    Actually, they already have lists of the affected batteries online. They apply to many manufacturers, and not to some Dell computers. I will try to dig up the link, as this is not at all a direct problem with Dell.


    Computer companies make almost none of their own parts, and keeping track of what comes from where must be a nightmare. Dell will change battery type (maybe battery manufacturer as well) and this problem will start going away in new laptops. Hopefully the old ones will have battery recalls for the most dangerous types, but the recall will affect many companies.

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    Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
  2. Links! by andrewman327 · · Score: 4, Informative
    For once my local NBC affiliate is really on the ball. They had a story about "exploding laptop batteries" months ago. I can't find the actual story, but here are two related links:

    1. HP laptops burning
    2. Cooked Apples
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    Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
  3. Re:Li-Po use in RC by weeboo0104 · · Score: 1, Informative

    That's why I still use NiCd's in my RC cars. I wasn't happy with the NiMH's because they were not very tolerent of high temps caused by either changing or discharging.

    Although it probabley would have been cool to watch an RC truck roll over and burn during our races.

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    It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
  4. Re:Plugged in? by frostoftheblack · · Score: 2, Informative

    Based on this picture http://www.theinquirer.net/images/articles/dell%20 banger2.jpg It doesn't appear to be plugged in, although I can't tell for sure.

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    Do not mark in this space. For official office use only.
  5. Re:So there are two cases now? by andrewman327 · · Score: 4, Informative
    "For example, I know someone who works in the oil industry out in Alberta and drags a laptop around from site to site to help keep track of stats. I don't know how many issues they have with fumes at the rigs, but I can easily believe that an exploding laptop would cause problems."


    Those computers are generally ruggidized to MilSpec (military specifications). Instead of using your friendly neighborhood Dell, he is probably using a Toughbook or similar unit. These are designed to operate without actually bringing air inside. There are a lot of rumours of these things actually stopping bullets in Iraq, though I can't seem to find a picture. I imagine that the batteries are just as tough, considering the operating enviroments they are designed for.

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    Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
  6. Re:More exploding laptop pictures by KD7LRJ · · Score: 2, Informative

    Crap! Here's a good link: http://kd7lrj.blogspot.com/2006/07/dell-laptop-bat tery-trouble-at-novell.html

  7. Bulletproof Laptop by SPQR_Julian · · Score: 5, Informative

    It took me some creative digging, but I found what you were talkingabout. I remember seeing the article in Popular Mechanics a couple years back when it first came out. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/compute rs/1279251.html

  8. Re:We beat the British back with Flaming Dells by chgros · · Score: 2, Informative

    the electrical battery (invented in modern times by good ol' Ben Franklin)
    Actually it was invented by Volta. If you read your link more carefully you'll discover that Franklin's batteries were actually banks of capacitors.