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HP Recalls 70,000 Laptop Batteries
angry tapir writes "Hewlett-Packard has recalled Lithium-Ion batteries used in some of its laptops, as they pose a fire hazard. The recall covers about 70,000 batteries used in the company's HP and Compaq-branded laptops. The affected laptops can be found here."
Every one of these incidents seeks to assure us that there is a flaw in the manufacturing process.
I am beginning to suspect that there is a flaw in the design of today's lithium batteries.
That being they are being manufactured in a country with historically poor quailty control and an incentive to cut corners whenever possible.
That is the exact truth and I can only imagine that business people are well aware of this and as in the case of other safety recall situations, they factor these things into the business plan. Cheaper to make, the risk of recall costs, rise in margin, risk to business name/reputation. I'm sure it all works out for them.
I am beginning to suspect that there is a flaw in the design of today's lithium batteries.
Modern lithium batteries are designed to achieve the the highest energy density possible. I suspect they do this by cutting as close as possible to the limits. The higher the energy density, the greater the chance of a short circuit and the greater the chance of a meltdown if something shorts out. Sure, they could design safer batteries, but those would weigh more and last less time on a charge -- not exactly the attributes the market is demanding. There may be exceptions, but in general if you want to store more energy in a smaller space with less weight, it is inevitably going to be more volatile.
I wonder how long it will be before the TSA makes these batteries illegal on planes.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
This is the 4th recall of batteries by HP in 5 years... You would think, okay maybe the first is a fluke, everyone screws up sometimes. The second time, you get a bit worried, but four times? I think someone in HP needs to work out how much each of these recalls is costing them per year, maybe those figures will convince them that manufacturing them to a higher standard wouldn't be a bad idea.
Wow! I didn't know they were making lithium ion batteries in the United States!
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Without my Li-Ion battery, I'll have to start using the stove to cook meals.
My HP dv9000 is horrible when it comes to overheating. I specifically bought a laptop cooler to keep it cool and operational. Google "hp dv9000 overheating" for a number of people with similar issues.
I wonder how much of the overheating is from the battery simply be improperly designed, or if the laptop's own design heats up the battery more than normal.
Thanks Joe Biden!
--- rapper/producer/bachelorette party stripper
We're well past that sort of chickenshit bad quality control.
Lets see the Chinese try to build a bad laptop battery that takes down the world's financial system in a whirlwind of pure fraud when it catches fire!
USA!USA!USA!
Why not simply state it as it is:
"3rd world battery manufacturer failes to deliver on contractual quality guidelines and costs HP a shitload of dough recalling 70,000 batteries, while themselves shrinking our of existance with full pockets."
or
"HP continues trend of failing to learn the lesson that using the lowest bidder does not cost less afterall; recalls 70,000 substandard 3rd party batteries made in some country you will never go to buy guys with names you can't spell who in total make less than your anual salary."
There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
Actually, the issue is NOT the individual cells, it's a problem called cascade failure and is usually do to the failure of a terminal seperator inside the battery causeing a short. The individual cells are actually quite stable, but like a 9volt touching a coin in your pocket, the can get very hot very quickly. At about 600 degrees, they combust internally and expel steam, which can chain react heating nearby cells to combustible temps as well.
The space inside the battery pack that hits 600 degrees can be extremely small, not mutch larger than the head of a pin, which might make the battery case feel only "uncomfortably warm" just before explosion starts (which is an extended process of a slow burn explosion, but a "boom".)
Li-Ions are often seen "shooting fire" while combusting.
More often than not, this actually isn't manufacturing defect per-se, but batteries being exposed to flexing, alternating hot/cold environments, being dropped repeatedly, and other things that may not actually damage the outside of the pack, but cause internal compression damage eventually leading to a short or failure.
There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
The linked recall notice says "After removing the recalled battery from their notebook computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives."
If I wanted a desktop computer, perhaps I'd have bought one?
Slightly disreputable, albeit gregarious
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7bEkk5GHwg
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
It almost saddens me that my battery stopped taking a charge exactly a year after the warranty ends. I almost wish I had an exploding battery just so I might get a free one.