Extremely stiff touchpad - caused by expanded battery?

[Lennyvalentin]

My MBP's (13" 2011, as noted below) touchpad can hardly be clicked anymore. I have to use near levels of violence to push it down sufficiently that a click registers; things like dragging icons or resizing windows, right-clicking and so on is therefore almost impossible.

The touchpad has been this way for a few years now, and I'm not sure why it happened in the first place. I know for a fact nothing has been spilled or dropped into the chassis that could explain it, only thing I can think of is the battery beneath it swelling. Is this a common occurrence on MBPs of my age/generation?

For that matter, are touchpad malfunctions such as this a common occurrence?

 

[Tenashus1]

Had to have my top case replaced on my 2015 MBP due to a swollen battery. Covered on AppleCare. Lid wouldn't close properly, touchpad wouldn't work properly. I think the battery was defective from the time I bought it because the new keyboard feels a lot better than the original ever felt.

 

[tubeexperience]

Remove the bottom case and see if the battery has expanded or not.

 

[DeltaMac]

Swelling battery on a 6 or 7 year-old laptop is not too unusual. It is a simple task to take the bottom cover off, and remove the battery. Swelling will be pretty easy to see.
AND, you can leave the battery out for a bit, and boot up, check your trackpad. If it clicks the way you think it should, then the battery is swelling enough to block that mechanical movement of the trackpad.

 

[Lennyvalentin]

It is a simple task to take the bottom cover off, and remove the battery.

Thanks for your reply! Reason I haven't opened my MBP up is because last time I did, I effed up putting one of the screws back in, wrecking the threads and head of the screw (and the driver bit I used, incidentally...) It was easier to ask for advice/help first. But it does seem like swollen battery; the trackpad flexes easily on the right side where the HDD bay is, but not on the left side which is right over the battery.

Is it dangerous to use a laptop with a swollen battery under its own power? I have kept it hooked up to mains almost all the time for the past couple years because battery life has been pretty bad, and lugging this heavy old thing around is barely worth it when it loses upwards of 1% battery per minute. I wouldn't want it bursting into flames when charging it; that would suck...!

 

[jerryk]

Thanks for your reply! Reason I haven't opened my MBP up is because last time I did, I effed up putting one of the screws back in, wrecking the threads and head of the screw (and the driver bit I used, incidentally...) It was easier to ask for advice/help first. But it does seem like swollen battery; the trackpad flexes easily on the right side where the HDD bay is, but not on the left side which is right over the battery.

Is it dangerous to use a laptop with a swollen battery under its own power? I have kept it hooked up to mains almost all the time for the past couple years because battery life has been pretty bad, and lugging this heavy old thing around is barely worth it when it loses upwards of 1% battery per minute. I wouldn't want it bursting into flames when charging it; that would suck...!

If it is swelling you should get the battery replaced ASAP. A battery thermal runaway and subsequent fire is nothing to mess with.

 

[DeltaMac]

If your battery suddenly swells more, you do risk damage to the case and other parts of your MBPro, such as the trackpad actually pushing its way up through the upper case.
If you are already using it on AC power only, then you would not notice much difference if you disconnect and remove the battery completely.

 

[Atreyu25]

Yea my trackpad is doing the same. Off to repair.