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AT&T To Replace 17,000 Batteries

Posted by kdawson on from the fire-to-the-node dept.

An anonymous reader writes "After four fires in two years — see earlier Slashdot discussions for background — AT&T is going against its own independent lab findings and declaring that the Avestor batteries powering its U-verse network aren't safe and need to be replaced. This is the network that SBC was building out prior to acquiring AT&T. Following the latest broadband equipment cabinet explosion in Wisconsin, the carrier says it will swap out 17,000 batteries deployed in several states across its network."

4 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. But... why? by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe I just don't know, but why on Earth do these things explode? It seems to happen with alarming frequency given the ubiquitous nature of these things - how hard is to make batteries or wires that don't catch fire when using them? Something like this has been happening a few times a year, and recalls or replacements aren't enough - punishments are in due order for making shoddy, dangerous products.

    --
    I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
    1. Re:But... why? by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because customers demand quick-charge batteries - it's a dicey proposition - you have to measure the current draw pretty carefully, or the battery temperature itself. Picture filling a bucket with a firehose without overflowing the bucket and you get the idea.

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    2. Re:But... why? by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Except these are batteries in network cabinets. They are not in end user equipment. I doubt that they are quick charge batteries.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  2. There's nothing good hearted about this by ip_freely_2000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Call me a cynic, but I'm sure they put a formula into a spreadsheet and discovered the liability issues outweighed the "do nothing" option. I'm sure there's a Ford Pinto kind of memo on a AT&T server somewhere.