What causes laptop batteries to overheat?

What causes laptop battery to overheat?

With the Usa Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Dell and Apple Computer announced large recalls of laptop batteries in the summertime of 2006, and then Toshiba and Lenovo. Sony manufactured the many recalled dell laptop battery, along with October 2006, the business announced a unique large-scale recall. Under the right circumstances, these batteries could overheat, potentially causing burns, a blast at the or even a fire.

To understand why that happened, it's beneficial to know a small amount about how batteries work. Batteries have a negatively charged terminal plus a positive terminal. Inside a battery, energy from electrochemical reactions causes electrons (electronegative particles) to get at the battery's electronegative pole. Charged particles are drawn to opposite charge, considering connect battery power to some circuit, the electrons will flow from the south-seeking pole, with the circuit and to the battery's electropositive pole. Put simply, the battery generates a moving charge, or electricity. (Observe how Electricity Works you bet Batteries Benefit more details).


The reaction that generates the electrons varies, with regards to the style of battery. In a very lithium-ion battery, there are pressurized containers that house a coil of metal and a flammable, lithium-containing liquid. The manufacturing process creates tiny items of metal that float inside the liquid. Manufacturers can't completely prevent these metal fragments, but good manufacturing techniques limit their size and number. The cells of the lithium-ion battery also contain separators that keep the anodes and cathodes, or good and bad poles, from touching the other.

If the compaq laptop battery gets hot through use or recharging, the components of metal can move, similar to grains of rice in a pot of water. If your part of metal gets too close to the separator, it may puncture the separator and cause a short circuit. There are many possible scenarios for what will go wrong in the case of a brief circuit:

    When it creates a spark, the flammable liquid can ignite, causing a fireplace.
    If it causes the temperature inside battery to increase rapidly, battery can explode a result of the increased pressure.
    If this causes the temperature to slowly, the battery can melt, plus the liquid inside can leak.

­ There are numerous explanations why­ multiple laptop battery designs include been recalled previously several years. People want small, lightweight laptops that they use for long periods. Additionally they want their laptops to have bright screens and many processing power. For these reasons, laptop batteries must be relatively small, they also have to hold a great deal of energy and be very durable.

­ Making lithium-ion batteries that could hold more power for a longer period requires vital components, like the separators, for being small , thin. The decrease in size can make it more inclined which the batteries can fail, break, leak or short.

Read the next page to find out more­, including the best way to see whether the recall affects your laptop.
Lithium-ion acer laptop batteries and Electric Cars

As well as laptops along with electronics, lithium-ion batteries are being used in electric cars. However, these batteries are unlikely to catch fire because of numerous safety measures, including cooling and automatic shutdown systems.