"Swell ... Now Dell' Cells Are Puttin' Me Through HELL!"

G

George Macdonald

So why Dell laptops and not laptops in general? Are the batteries for
Dell laptops somehow of different internal construction than Powerbooks
or Thinkpads or Vaios or Toshiba or Winbook?

Well the silence is umm, deafening and one *does* wonder about manufacture
(sub-contracting ?) according to "client expectations"... and/or "squeezed
budgets"?? Apparently the FTC, and/or maybe some other govt. agency is
looking into it.
 
R

Robert Redelmeier

Well the silence is umm, deafening and one *does* wonder
about manufacture (sub-contracting ?) according to "client
expectations"... and/or "squeezed budgets"?? Apparently the
FTC, and/or maybe some other govt. agency is looking into it.

What I've heard (unconfirmed) is that the Dell [Sony] batteries
had an internal materials/sealing defect that allowed cells to
short over. Given the energy available in just one shorted
cell and the likelihood that the leak would heat and grow,
I can see where containment could be lost.

This will obviously be design, manufacturer (or even lot) dependant.

-- Robert
 
N

nobody

AFAIK these batteries are not interchangeable. Different geometry
could make one more prone to internal short than the other.
Well the silence is umm, deafening and one *does* wonder about manufacture
(sub-contracting ?) according to "client expectations"... and/or "squeezed
budgets"?? Apparently the FTC, and/or maybe some other govt. agency is
looking into it.

FAA and Homeland Security definitely should be looking. No bombs
needed to bring down a plane - just have a Dell placed aboard.

NNN
 
G

GSV Three Minds in a Can

from the said:
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips George Macdonald
Well the silence is umm, deafening and one *does* wonder
about manufacture (sub-contracting ?) according to "client
expectations"... and/or "squeezed budgets"?? Apparently the
FTC, and/or maybe some other govt. agency is looking into it.

What I've heard (unconfirmed) is that the Dell [Sony] batteries
had an internal materials/sealing defect that allowed cells to
short over. Given the energy available in just one shorted
cell and the likelihood that the leak would heat and grow,
I can see where containment could be lost.

Add Apple to the list. 8>. I've been saying for a long time that the
energy density of Li batteries was approaching that of your run of the
mill explosives ...
 
G

George Macdonald

AFAIK these batteries are not interchangeable. Different geometry
could make one more prone to internal short than the other.

FAA and Homeland Security definitely should be looking. No bombs
needed to bring down a plane - just have a Dell placed aboard.

Not sure what is happening is sufficient to bring down a plane but I do
wonder what an on-board "security" agent might do to me if my laptop blew
up like that mid-flight.
 
G

George Macdonald

Well the silence is umm, deafening and one *does* wonder
about manufacture (sub-contracting ?) according to "client
expectations"... and/or "squeezed budgets"?? Apparently the
FTC, and/or maybe some other govt. agency is looking into it.

What I've heard (unconfirmed) is that the Dell [Sony] batteries
had an internal materials/sealing defect that allowed cells to
short over. Given the energy available in just one shorted
cell and the likelihood that the leak would heat and grow,
I can see where containment could be lost.

Yeah well the "defect" is supposedly what I described a couple of posts
back. From this article
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060815/dell_battery_recall.html?.v=39

"Battery packs contain cells of rolled up metal strips. During the
manufacturing process at a Sony factory in Japan, crimping the rolls left
tiny shards of metal loose in the cells, and some of those shards caused
batteries to short-circuit and overheat, according to Sony."

As for the err, energy, I've already posted this a couple of times:
http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA514947 where EDN
has a couple of "Techflick" videos which are quite spectacular.
This will obviously be design, manufacturer (or even lot) dependant.

In this case, "production process design"?:)
 

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