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Swollen batteries were a result of design/manufacturing defects. It was certainly a common issue 5-10 years ago but should hopefully be a thing of the past by n

Swollen batteries were a result of design/manufacturing defects. It was certainly a common issue 5-10 years ago but should hopefully be a thing of the past by now. Modern batteries should never swell, but will still wear out over time. Smarter battery management should be able to extend their lifespan.

barkingcat 6y ago
I don't think you can conclusively say "Modern batteries should never swell" since there's always the possibility of manufacturing and design defects in new batteries too. It's the battery equivalent of the halting problem in software. No manufacturing and design process is perfect, there will always be errors. If you do find a perfect design and manufacturing process, I think you wouldn't be posting here on hackers news but would be drinking champaign with Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
- geekles 6y ago
  The word "should" implies non-conclusivity.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - barkingcat 6y ago
    "Never" implies conclusivity? Either way, you wouldn't use "should never" when it comes to batteries, which still has bulging, quality issues, etc throughout the entire technology industry with cell phones bulging, phones catching on fire, batteries on airplanes themselves being damaged, car batteries catching fire. It's very well known that modern lithium ion battery tech isn't all that "failsafe" so using the words "should never bulge" in this context is very deceptive. It is more likely that any battery using current battery tech in consumer devices will buldge within a certain number of charge cycles (which might be higher than the useful lifetime of the device), but it's very likely that the battery will bulge. https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-note-7-battery-fires-heres-why-they-exploded https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-note-7-battery... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner_battery_problems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner_battery_... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle_fire_incidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle_fire_...
thewebcount 6y ago
In some cases (like the AppleWatch), a swollen battery upon failure is an intentional design choice, apparently. At least that's what they told me when my Series 0 battery swelled up and caused the face of the watch to pop off. They claimed they do it intentionally so you know it has to be serviced and can't be used anymore. Probably different for laptops, though.
k3liutZu 6y ago
> Modern batteries should never swell, but will still wear out over time. Unfortunately they still do. Saw at least 2 Dell's and 2 macbook pro's with swollen batteries in the last 1-2 years, and this just in the colleagues in my immediate vicinity. It's pretty scary when the touchpad starts to misbehave and you realize the whole macbook starts to bulge.

barkingcat 6y ago

I don't think you can conclusively say "Modern batteries should never swell" since there's always the possibility of manufacturing and design defects in new batteries too. It's the battery equivalent of the halting problem in software. No manufacturing and design process is perfect, there will always be errors. If you do find a perfect design and manufacturing process, I think you wouldn't be posting here on hackers news but would be drinking champaign with Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

geekles 6y ago
The word "should" implies non-conclusivity.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- barkingcat 6y ago
  "Never" implies conclusivity? Either way, you wouldn't use "should never" when it comes to batteries, which still has bulging, quality issues, etc throughout the entire technology industry with cell phones bulging, phones catching on fire, batteries on airplanes themselves being damaged, car batteries catching fire. It's very well known that modern lithium ion battery tech isn't all that "failsafe" so using the words "should never bulge" in this context is very deceptive. It is more likely that any battery using current battery tech in consumer devices will buldge within a certain number of charge cycles (which might be higher than the useful lifetime of the device), but it's very likely that the battery will bulge. https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-note-7-battery-fires-heres-why-they-exploded https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-note-7-battery... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner_battery_problems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner_battery_... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle_fire_incidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle_fire_...

thewebcount 6y ago

In some cases (like the AppleWatch), a swollen battery upon failure is an intentional design choice, apparently. At least that's what they told me when my Series 0 battery swelled up and caused the face of the watch to pop off. They claimed they do it intentionally so you know it has to be serviced and can't be used anymore. Probably different for laptops, though.

k3liutZu 6y ago

> Modern batteries should never swell, but will still wear out over time. Unfortunately they still do. Saw at least 2 Dell's and 2 macbook pro's with swollen batteries in the last 1-2 years, and this just in the colleagues in my immediate vicinity. It's pretty scary when the touchpad starts to misbehave and you realize the whole macbook starts to bulge.