Are swollen batteries dangerous?

[elf69]

I lent my 17" macbook pro (A1229) to a friend while I got parts to fix their old windows 7 PC.
In meantime they actually love OSX and want me to buy them a newer macbook, they like my 2009 unibody so will get one of those.

Anyway when I gave them to pro it had 98% battery health.
They use it only on mains so I went round sunday to fix and reinstall the windows tower and move data back to windows.
Battery only 65% health, not a big problem...

After a reboot battery no longer showed in menu bar only that plugged in.
Then laptop was wobbly when typing, the battery had swollen up and bust open the battery casing.

So powered down and removed battery.
Is the battery dangerous in this state?
How do I dispose of it safely?

Ordered a new 3rd party battery

 

[David58117]

Yes its dangerous!

Put it in a bathtub, call the firedepartment and tell them what is happening, and that you're concerned it may explode.

 

[elf69]

No need take the micky!

I know lithium polymer batts are dangerous but I am not sure on the lithium ion batteries.

Not sure is safe to toss in rubbish.

 

[Fzang]

Dispose of it at your nearest recycling facility. Don't throw it in the trash.

 

[Janichsan]

I know lithium polymer batts are dangerous but I am not sure on the lithium ion batteries.

They are as dangerous. Remove it now and take it to disposal.

 

[elf69]

I removed it right away.

Machine works fine without it, just less power on USBs so HDDs not work.
Like I said bought a replacement now.

 

[Floris]

the liquid swimming around inside most lithium ion batteries is highly flammable

if it gets deformed, the point of least resistance causes the flow, resulting in a short - some shorts catch fire.


ask samsung.

 

[elf69]

Will stormfront take the battery from me as have no recycle center near me.

Bit of a drive to get to one.

 

[SuprUsrStan]

Swollen batteries are no more or less dangerous than regular batteries so long as they remain just swollen. Exploding or leaking batteries on the other hand...

 

[elf69]

swollen and casing open so can see the silver bag inside.

not extreme open up yet just about 3-5mm, pushed the plastic side away from the aluminium side of battery in one corner.

looks like they had been using it on main all time they had the machine.
Which is somewhere between 4 and 8 weeks.

not on 24/7 but when in use plugged in all time.
I advised run a full cycle once week as had very low cycle count and I did not know how long they where going to use it until I could fix the tower pc.

only has 275 cycles on it.

 

[chrfr]

Will stormfront take the battery from me as have no recycle center near me.

Bit of a drive to get to one.

Apple will recycle batteries and devices for free in the US, but I'm not sure about the UK. You might check with them if you have an Apple Store nearby.
Note that the MacBook Pros run at half CPU speed when there is no battery installed, so you'll definitely want to get a battery in the computer if performance matters to you.

 

[elf69]

yes bought a 3rd party battery, I hope it a good one as cost £45, I decided NOT to buy the ebay £16 battery.

I have sent email to my local(ish) stormfront store about the battery.

I have possibly sold the macbook pro so hope battery arrive soon.

 

[elf69]

Apple will recycle batteries and devices for free in the US, but I'm not sure about the UK. You might check with them if you have an Apple Store nearby.
Note that the MacBook Pros run at half CPU speed when there is no battery installed, so you'll definitely want to get a battery in the computer if performance matters to you.

just tried to use my time machine backup.
Slow is a joke 35 hours to restore from time machine!

my time machine is not more that 120GB from my other macbook, done it before but with a battery much faster.