O2 Joggler Forum

My laptop battery exploded today. Luckily I had just moved away from the machine when it happened. After evacuating my family (partner and 3 year old daughter) out of the house that was being filled with noxious fumes, I managed to get the laptop out of the house into the lean-to. It continued to burn vigorously until the fire brigade came round to put it out.

Luckily no-one was hurt. The laptop is a right off of course.

Had I been using the machine on my lap, or even sat in front of it, I may have had some serious burns. Had I not been at home, it could have burnt the house down. I'm very relieved that the outcome was that no-one was hurt, and the only damage is to the laptop and table it was sat on.

See attached a photo of the machine taken after it had been put out, and my house was safe to enter again (Fire Brigade used a fan to clear the house of fumes and smoke).

Thanks God noone was hurt!!!
Damn battery, that's incredible anyway!!!

Holy macaroni!

WHAT!!!! Thank god you're all safe.

I had no idea they could explode. Mine's on 24/7. Not anymore.

Woah!

Holy Shit Buzz you are so lucky.
Hope you are all ok
I bust my nc10 battery by leaving it in 24/7 and now just leave it out and will be removing all such batteries in future after looking at this photo.
I was recently given a laptop with a battery which won't hold its charge but had left it in ; it has now been removed.
Thanks for sharing this Buzz.

What a close escape. What make of lappy was it? Was it the original battery?

Any idea of the type of battery and what caused this? Are you sure this is not arson??

Thanks for the kind comments. The fact that no-one was hurt is of course the most important thing. To answer some questions:

Q: What make of lappy was it? Was it the original battery?

It was an acer travelmate 8104wmli with original battery and charger. the battery was old, as is the laptop, bought new in 2005/2006. The battery was virtually dead in capacity, and gave about 15 mins of use. Due to the design of the laptop, it sat better on the desk with the battery in imho, so I left it in. In hindsight that was a mistake. However you don't expect them to fail like this. I did stick my multimeter on the PSU which is still working fine. Infact when the battery starting pushing out jets of smoke, the laptop was still running for some seconds. I'm mostly lucky I managed to get it outside before it was engulfed in flames.

Q: Any idea of the type of battery and what caused this? Are you sure this is not arson??

Original battery supplied with the laptop (Li-ion afaik). I have since read on the net there was an acer battery recall in 2006/2007 but only in the US. Looks like mine wasn't safe either! No Arson, I mean, I was stood in the room with the thing when my missus shouted out to me, and I saw it going up in flames! after evacuating my kid and missus out the front, I held my breath (the fumes were choking), and went back it and managed to throw the laptop into the leanto (concrete floor). I then went back outside to check on everyone and have a good cough (I can't tell you how bad the fumes were!). I then went back in, and the laptop was engulfed in flames. At that point, due to the choking fumes, I called the fire service, who went in with masks etc, and put it out.

the big problem was when it went, it was like some pressure hose, with smoke /flames shooting out the thing under pressure, from the back/top (which was melting and catching fire) and out the sides (as I remember it).. the fumes were completely overwhelming. I wasn't actually able to stay in the room to say fill a bucket with water. I also wasn't sure that putting water on it was a good idea (lithium + water etc). I'm very lucky I managed to grab it to get it out of the house into the lean to before it went up completely.

Good grief. Very glad you managed to get it outside without injury - I did see some footage of a battery going up in flames some years ago and it looked exactly as you described. As the heat builds, so did the pressure. All surprisingly violent.

Now I'm acutely aware of the two knackered Dells and old PowerBook G4 in the back room.

Whoa!

Most important is that your family and yourself were not hurt and are safe.

very true. Thanks pete and others

Truly frightening.

Buzz, i'm not entirely sure that i should be praising your bravery or cool presence of mind for getting it out of the house. Obviously it saved your home which is fantasic, so well done, but you could have been seriouly injured!! Makes me realise i'd have been royally screwed. With homes these days locked up like fort knox there's not always an instant way of getting something out with great speed - through doors or windows. Especially if you add a bit of panic to the mix. And you're right of course - water and electrical fire is a massive no-no but how many people have an appropriate fire extinguisher - or any extinguisher for that matter? Might look into getting one.

I'm sure most of us have old laptops lying around or in use. So how should you safely use a laptop with a crappy battery - aside from replacing the battery that is? Remove it and only use mains? And always shut down when not in use, which i've never done until tonight?

I also think the forum needs a new icon. Something to suggest sympathy - I would say something that looks like a hug but it would have to be an awkward man hug/thump on the back/handshake kind of thing! Or a pint - that should be manly enough!

I'm glad you're all ok.

A friend linked this to me earlier after hearing my news:



it was quite similar in my case, except the time between smoking and exploding was much shorter, and the initial explosion more violent, perhaps due to more cells going off, or the design with a large battery covering most of the back of the machine.

Another similarity was the delay between the last "explosion" in the video and the machine being on actual fire. I guess I got lucky, as when I stuck the machine out the back door, it wasn't fully in flames, but after being explosive. And my machine went up in flames moments later, albeit more than in this video.

So I got lucky with my timing, that it didnt burst into flames or explode while I was moving it (I realise now, it could easily have done so, was a lucky night in all considering all the possible outcomes).

One more addition - after reading ilovemyjogglers post (Thanks !), I'm going to purchase a powder, or CO2 fire extinguisher! (note in the video above they talk about being careful what you pour on such a fire, so Im glad I got the fire service in to help)

OMG, that video is scary. That's the last time I let my 8 year old use my knackered Toshiba lappy that only runs if it's connected to the mains. Seriously, if that ever happens again just get everyone out the house & don't bother trying to pick it up

I always use my laptop on the sofa, using it on my legs, brrrrrrrrr... but I use to remove battery when I use the latptop connected to the power supply, to save life of the battery!

Wow, that's crazy scary! Very quick thinking and bravery saved your house and family.

My last laptop had a battery recall, but my battery serial number wasn't listed. I replaced it when it stopped holding a charge, but that was more out of convenience than safety. I knew that Li-ion batteries are a fire hazard, but I considered this to be a very rare occurrence, never knew anyone this had happened to.

I read about a Chinese man that was killed by a cheap knock-off mobile phone battery which exploded in his shirt pocket.

Holy crap !!
Glad you and your family is ok that could have been very nasty for you and family.
Taken the battery out of my acer aspire aoa150 !!

I would never normally post something like this but after BuZz's scary incident yesterday imagine my horror when I received a letter today from the manufacturer of my brand new tumble dryer informing me that it may be a faulty model and I quote:

"...it is possible that an internal part can fail and overheat, leading to a risk of fire" and to "...stop using it immediately and unplug it..."

I couldn't dial the helpline number fast enough. They confirmed it is one of the faulty models but was modified before being delivered and should be fine. Hope they've not made a mistake!