Notebook computers have a longer lifespan than ever before, so battery swelling due to aging and overuse is an increasingly common problem. If you are dealing with a swollen battery, here is helpful.
Lithium-ion batteries have an amazing impact due to their size. They are powerful enough to run our laptops for hours on a single charge. They are the core of the latest smartphones and can even be used as the power unit behind cutting-edge electric cars such as the Tesla family. But lithium-ion batteries do have their limitations. Given the powerful functions of laptops in the past few years, we rely on our machines more than ever. This has an impact on batteries: they also last longer than ever. Sometimes, this means that they show the limitations of technology.
You may have encountered this situation: your laptop or mobile phone that you have used for many years suddenly stops working, or it may just start to show signs of swelling inside your body. The phone screen starts to protrude, or the seams open, or the laptop keyboard protrudes ugly. This may be due to a large bubble gradually or suddenly appearing in the battery. But why does this happen and what can you do?
We talked with some engineers and experts from computer manufacturers and related companies to learn more about what you need to know about expanded batteries and what to do if you have batteries.
Battery expansion is the result of two things: energy density and heat. The swelling is the result of heat and gas accumulation due to excessive current flowing inside the battery cell in an uncontrolled manner. This is because the materials inside the battery will decay or be stressed or physically damaged over time.
A given laptop battery is composed of multiple independent batteries, and the problem may only occur in one or more. You will often see laptop batteries described as four-cell or six-cell, indicating the internal structure of the battery. (Some laptops, usually business models, will provide you with a choice of battery capacity/battery number at the time of purchase, but this is rarer than in the past.) In fact, laptops are rarely equipped with removable batteries (in a sense The above said that you can swap them in and out without opening the case) will exacerbate the problem.
Arthur Shi, the chief technical writer of iFixit.com, said: "The reason these batteries swell is that the electrolyte between the separator coatings degrades. When it degrades, it turns into a gas." "Now the electrolyte is degraded and things are no longer insulated. , So they start to short-circuit and then cause hot spots. This will eventually cause it to run away thermally, which means it may even cause a fire."
The most common cause of battery swelling is overcharging. Shi said that keeping the battery in a high state of charge can put pressure on it and make it degrade faster.
Phil Jakes, chief engineer and director of strategy and technology at Lenovo, said: “In applications where the system is plugged in 24/7, the possibility of battery expansion will increase after many years.” Another thing that drives it is heat. . The battery does not like to get hot, when the battery temperature exceeds 100 degrees, the chemical process will start. "
Another common cause is mechanical damage to the battery. This may be due to a blow to the laptop itself, or damage caused when replacing it (or messing up other components around it). Hitting hard surfaces and denting the housing can cause expansion, as can exposure to excessively high temperatures. In addition, damage to the exterior of the device may be transferred to the battery and cause the battery to overheat and expand.
Now, these signs may be subtle or impossible to ignore. As the battery expands, your device may slowly change shape. For example, your laptop keyboard may start to protrude, or when you place the device on a flat surface, you may notice that your device shakes suddenly, and if you look from the edge, the lower part of the case will swell a bit. Or it may be as mysterious as certain keyboard keys become difficult to press.
If your laptop is easy to open (in other words, it has simple screws at the bottom of the case), you can remove the bottom cover, and in many cases, check the physical state of the battery in this way. If it looks puffy or round, it may mean that it is swollen. The most important thing is: when checking whether the battery is swollen, please be careful because the battery is under pressure. Wear protective goggles and do not poke or pry the cells.
A swollen battery is not always obvious when it occurs or at the beginning. It depends on how much expansion space it has in the laptop case. For thin laptops, there is usually little or no. The size of the expanded battery can range from a small bump to one large enough to turn your laptop into a seesaw or even pop up a touchpad. (Yes, we have seen it.)
Once the battery starts to expand, it is likely to continue to work with lower efficiency. Or, your laptop may just continue to work when the AC power plug is plugged in, but it freezes or loses power soon after the power cord is unplugged. In the end, don't ignore it; sooner or later the battery will not work properly, and once it starts to swell, it cannot be reversed. Your only solution is to replace the battery.
Of course, according to the experts we talked to, there are some ways to prevent this from happening again, or first of all:
Do not leave your device plugged into the power supply all the time. The battery is periodic and must be discharged and charged to work effectively.
Put your laptop in a cool, dry environment. Hot and humid weather conditions will put more pressure on the battery and shorten its service life over time.
When buying a new battery, please buy it from a reputable manufacturer. It is usually better to buy alternatives from the original laptop manufacturer than to buy the cheapest compatible option from a third party.
If the battery becomes old or depleted, and the laptop can replace the battery by itself, replace the battery. Manufacturers test their batteries to last for three to four years. Ideally, the batteries will not degrade, but they will. If you start to see signs of damage, swelling, or depletion of the battery (in the last case, it can only last for a short time), replace it now instead of later.
Not all doom and melancholy. Manufacturers such as Dell and Lenovo have been committed to using smart battery technology in their laptops for years, allowing batteries to track their usage throughout the day to avoid overcharging.
Take Dell as an example. Dell’s distinguished engineer and technology strategist Rick C. Thompson said: “The battery will continuously monitor how you use the system and put you in these different modes.” “If the user allows us to use context-based charging to control the battery, We will not fully charge it. We charge it to 80% to 90% and only charge it before the start of the next day."
Battery accessibility (ie being able to enter the case and change the battery) in modern laptops is a very complicated package. The internal structure of most laptops is different and slightly different. Some are just equipped with non-replaceable batteries because the case is not designed to be opened. For Apple's MacBook, some ultrabooks running Windows (especially some Microsoft Surface Laptop models) and some Chromebooks, sometimes the battery cannot be replaced. Therefore, the first step is to talk to your laptop’s technical support staff to understand your options. If your battery starts to swell, now is the time to take action.
When evaluating battery swelling, perform the following steps:
Evaluate whether you can even touch the battery yourself. Contact the laptop manufacturer's support hotline or online resources for your product, and ask about your choice through the "official" channel. Some popular models also have (unofficial) online tutorials to show the battery replacement process.
Check the warranty coverage and whether it still applies. (Unless you pay for the extended warranty period, after a few years of ownership, the answer may be no.) Please note that if you are confident enough to try to replace the battery yourself, doing so may invalidate the warranty if there is any remaining. In addition, sometimes the laptop battery has a shorter warranty period than the main laptop itself.
Be realistic about the conditions required to complete the job. If you want to try to fix it yourself, please don't try to fix it with just any old tools. You may need a special screwdriver or two (star-head screws are common on laptops), and websites such as iFixit sell special kits for Macs and other machines. Depending on the product and manufacturer, swollen batteries may be the kiss of death for some laptops. Thompson said: "Batteries can have a UL list or rating to determine if they are suitable for customer service or customer technician service."
The most important thing is: at the first sign of battery swelling, back up all important data as soon as possible and stop using the laptop.
The only way to dispose of an old, swollen battery is to dispose of it. When using lithium-ion batteries, be careful not to puncture the battery when handling or removing it from the PC. Do not use metal tools to pry the battery, or bend the battery in an expanded state. (Metal tools may pierce the case and cause a chemical reaction; we did this by mistake when replacing old smartphone batteries and caused some very small fires.) The swollen battery also contains gas you don't want to breathe in.
If you replace the battery yourself, be sure to pack it in the box immediately after taking it out. Do not dispose of the battery in the trash can or other places. This is an environmental taboo and exposes sanitation workers who may be exposed to batteries to health hazards. Always dispose of batteries (whether they are swollen or not) at an authorized battery treatment facility. Your system manufacturer can provide you with clues on the disposal process and location. In addition, a quick Google search should point you to the correct battery disposal site. You can also contact your local government and waste disposal department for instructions.
Large retailers may also be the easiest route, depending on where you live. "I strongly recommend that people take them to Best Buy, or a local [tech] retailer, or even Home Depot, where there are [battery] recycling bins," said Jacks. "Even good lithium batteries can cause serious damage to the waste stream."
Enjoy the performance provided by your device and lithium-ion battery and its new smart upgrades, but please note that they should be treated with care and respect. If not, it may be more than just a battery that needs to be replaced.
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Chance Townsend worked as an editor at PCMag in the summer of 2021 and is now a freelancer. He is a graduate student at the University of North Texas, and his favorite time of the day is unlimited mimosa brunch. He spends most of his time in front of the computer screen, but when he is away, he is either in the kitchen or feeding the ducks in the local park.
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