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Just off the phone with apple.

they are sending me a new battery asap and sounded very concerned.

In saying this they could not confirm if it was indeed the battery that was causing the marks and have said that should any marks reappear with the new battery then further investigation would be required.

Credit to the support team for a very quick response.

Before putting in the new battery unplug your computer, use a good quality contact cleaner to clean the battery contact points on the computer. Do not spay the cleaner onto the contacts, spray it onto a q-tip. Do not do this to the contacts on the battery. Make sure everything is completely dry before powering up or putting the battery in. If you don't have contact cleaner you can use a high percentage rubbing alcohol, do not use Hydrogen Peroxide.
 
in general: degree work without backup is outright crazy...
external hard drives are not that expensive anymore

Any chance you could ask if he has ever noticed a black mark on his macbook pro between the battery and the battery release buttons, right where his has popped!

Iv noticed a few times that i get this black sort of charcoal mark that wipes clean in that area and first thot it ws my carry case rubbing off against the hot battery... i have since stopped using the carry case and the mark is still appearing!!!

I cannot afford to have anything happen to my laptop or send it for repair/replacement as it has all of my degree work on it.

Also did the was the battery replaced or the whole macbook pro???
 
in general: degree work without backup is outright crazy...
external hard drives are not that expensive anymore

Yawn....

Read on and you will see that i do back up, after everyday almost. I am not stupid you know!

This thread is for macbook fire and related issues... lets get back to the point already!
 
But your other sigs have said you have a wealth of other computers. It is why I keep my iMac. If the MacBook dies, at least I have something from which to work.


The other computers are what i have owned not what i do own.....

The imac is no longer in my possesion and the ibook now belongs to my girlfriend... not that it could handle any of the work i am doing anyway hence the reason i upgraded!

Not everyone can afford to have multiple computers, especially students in their final year of college.

PS for all of those waiting to have a go too... i have applecare, do look after my laptop (its my pride and joy), im not a PC switcher, this is not my first mac, i love apple and am not just having a go at them and do backup regularly......
 
Returned Exploding Battery of MacBookPro 17" in February....

I had the same problem with the battery of my MacBookPro 17" bought in May 2006, the battery health was from the beggining on never 100% (displayed by iStatPro) and suddenly it began to decrese rapidly in January until one day i found my laptop mas not standing flat on the desk, I turned it and saw a 1cm higher curvature on the battery as if it was going to explode, took the battery out and called Apple.

They picked up the battery and sent my a replacement battery in 2 days.... They asked me iof I wanted to have my laptop checked also (but I said no) since it works ok and with the replacement battery I have 100% health.

What I must say is that during the period from MAY 2006 to JANUARY 2007 , I did had some unexpected SHUT-OFFs from my computer while using only battery power. (I thought it was because a bug in the system) but I know now it was the battery. So if you are experiencing this! Talk to Apple and force them to switch your battery too.

Christian






Apple's laptop batteries are once again feeling heat after one MacBook owner's laptop caught fire, apparently stemming from the battery.

macbook_batt_fire_300.jpg




According to the user, the laptop was charging at the time but not in use (asleep with lid shut). Last summer, multiple PC vendors (develop Li-Ion battery standards.

Apple has historically used Li-Ion batteries in its iBook and PowerBook laptops, but has opted for Lithium Polymer batteries (Li-Poly) in its MacBook and MacBook Pro computers. One of the supposed advantages of Li-Poly batteries is reduced combustibility.

While the incident is certainly disturbing, it is unknown how widespread the issue is. Currently, there are no safety recalls affecting the MacBook or MacBook Pro, and Apple has yet to respond to the incident.
 
Forget the Mac Book, did any one else notice the nasty couch and crack house like linoleum floor? Where does this person live? lol :p

Thats the dogs couch outside on his verandah. I guess he didn't want to put the charred MacBook inside the house for obvious reasons.

I hear he was to get a MacBook Pro as a replacement tonight directly from Apple as well as consideration for the damage done. Good to see Apple Australia stepping up quickly to this sort of thing.
 
Yeah, for almost burning his house down, they are giving him a better-specced laptop. [Neo]You know, that sounds like a really good deal...[/Neo]

The key word there is almost. No, they don't owe more than what it damaged. They owe him a laptop equivalent to what he had and compensation for his bookshelf and a few magazines.

When did society start to believe that a small inconvenience means that party responsible should set you up for life? I blame TV-advertising lawyers: "You slipped in the mall and had a sore ankle for a week? That mall should PAY! PAY! PAY!"
 
The recent photos below are from a co-worker's MacBook Pro. His was asleep on a desk - he said he heard a loud "pop" and the found this:

362715385_a3c9ccd35c.jpg


362715380_1b95ff1674.jpg


He took it into the Apple Store and they replaced it right away.

I just went to power up my macbook pro this morning and noticed it was a little lopsided on the desk, turned it over and the battery is warped similar to this image but not as severe. Looks like I will be heading over to the apple store today to see what they can do :mad:
 
yikes! Luxcky he wasnt using it at the time!!!!

p.s how do these things happen??? Do they just go pop or does it happen gradually?

!


yes. even if it's only happens once in a while, it's still scary...
I'm leaving my book on the "sleep mode" all day long at home... when I'm at work... I think I'll change that habit... :confused:
 
I DO backup, almost everyday!!!!! What i meant by the statement that you quote from me is that backups are useless if one has no computer to work on them, so if i were to send my laptop for repair then i would have a back up but nothing to work on!
And nobody at your entire university has a computer? There is no computer anywhere at the school that you could transfer your documents to, in order to keep working?

This smells very fishy to me. If it's true, then you're obviously using software that nobody else at the school supports. Perhaps you love your Mac so much that you're refusing to use the university-standard software (which may be PC or UNIX-based), which, while possibly enjoyable, leaves you wide open to your current situation - where a failure of your personal computer can destroy your ability to graduate.

Or perhaps there are other computers, and you just don't want to use them, because that would mean working from a studio instead of from home?
Have since contacted apple they are sending me a new battery and asked me to dispose of the old...
So when you first wrote that you were refusing to deal with your problem, out of fear of losing the computer, you in fact hadn't actually bothered to find out if you would end up losing it at all.

And the grand answer is that Apple is going to fix your problem without making you return it at all.
I'm sorry but there is more evidence in the last year of faulty batteries then a rash of fridge, stove, microwaves buring down people's homes.
Well, more incidents that get reported on MacRumors.

Every year, there are plenty of house fires caused by toasters, space heaters, and other electric appliances. But they don't make headline news unless the manufacturer issues a recall.
Ignore the fanbois. They are people who don't know the concept of a job critical system.
The brand/model doesn't matter. If something is actually critical, then you need to have a backup for it. This means hardware as well as software. If you don't have a standby system available, then you're going to be royally screwed when it breaks. It doesn't matter if you're talking about a multinational bank or the laptop containing your PhD thesis, the principle is the same either way.

In this case, we're talking about a Mac laptop. IBM systems also fail. So do Sun servers and industrial mainframes. Eventually, even your Thinkpad will fail.
 
Sorry, but ONE case of battery fire published on the Net means nothing to me. The recall is completed and Apple has dealt with the problem in the most transparent manner.

This is simply irrelevant in statistical terms...problems will always occur, but to say that one case of fire means a "return of the haunted batteries" is just silly...move along, citizens...:rolleyes:

exactly...
ps dont leave you macbook on your couch
 
Are you not reading about the bulging, exploding, batteries? My power cord on my Titanium was too hot to touch (replaced it) but this is clearly something else.

Are YOU not reading that he was talking about a MacBook, not a MacBook Pro or earlier PowerBook?
 
macbook_batt_fire.jpg


Call me skeptical, but:

A) That's not the battery. It's next to the battery. I've seen the explosion photos and they don't generally explode in that direction. I could be wrong, but based on the picture, and not seeing the actual laptop, I'd say it's not necessarily battery related.

B) The magazine sitting next to it appears scorched too on the edge, as if the MacBook may have been sitting on the magazine when it caught fire. Potentially, if the machine got hot enough the magazine may have been the source of the flame. Perhaps the machine was closed, but crashed instead of sleeping, and then seriously overheated.

It's still concerning, but not as concerning as sensationalistic journalism riding the recall battery backlash.

Yes, this is highly suspect. And nobody seemed to notice that, from those pictures, it appears that the Macbook owner lives in total frat-boy squalor. Could it be that this dude had a gummy bear or something lodged near the power connector? Perhaps some beer spilled into a vent? I mean, look a the floor of the kitchen (or wherever it is) and the stained and nasty couch cushions that the Macbook is sitting on. I can't believe nobody even called any of this into question. Electronic equipment does not like filth.
 
i have a rev A macbook pro....so far had to change battery 2 times

i noticed the building up of the battery and increase of a little bumb

changed for free, while the battery was like that, i just took it away and run my macbook pro only from power duply....

magsafe got really on my nerves during that time lol
 
Yes, this is highly suspect. And nobody seemed to notice that, from those pictures, it appears that the Macbook owner lives in total frat-boy squalor. Could it be that this dude had a gummy bear or something lodged near the power connector? Perhaps some beer spilled into a vent? I mean, look a the floor of the kitchen (or wherever it is) and the stained and nasty couch cushions that the Macbook is sitting on. I can't believe nobody even called any of this into question. Electronic equipment does not like filth.

isn't it cool when you don't read the whole story?
 
The other computers are what i have owned not what i do own.....

The imac is no longer in my possesion and the ibook now belongs to my girlfriend... not that it could handle any of the work i am doing anyway hence the reason i upgraded!

Not everyone can afford to have multiple computers, especially students in their final year of college.

PS for all of those waiting to have a go too... i have applecare, do look after my laptop (its my pride and joy), im not a PC switcher, this is not my first mac, i love apple and am not just having a go at them and do backup regularly......

okay... but do you backup regularly? ;) :D
(Enough alredy)
 
This makes me wonder after reading the initial thread, if Apple truly has solved the problems with the batteries in the laptops from their vendors. I'm on my 4th battery now in my MBP (I've had it less than 1 year). The first one just quit working and taking a charge. The second battery Apple sent me wound up being on the battery recall sheet when they finally admitted that there were problems with the laptop batteries. My third battery did the same thing as the very first one. Hopefully, I won't have an issue further on down the road.
 
Question: Were your thoughts/comments like that when we heard of the "Exploding Dell-battery"? Did you say back then that "OK, let's just relax, this is statistically irrelevant. Move along"? For some reason I don't think so. What I think that happened is that you said/thought "More proof that PeeCees suck!" or something like that.

Am I right, or am I right?

No, I am just saying that one case of fire cannot be misinterpreted as a widespread problem. Apple did the recall, period. I am sorry for the guy, and I am sure he will get a new machine...but to say that this is a new recall case is ridiculous so far.

The Dell was, as in the previous Apple case, a general problem identified in a batch of batteries...all concerned companies acknowledged it, end of story.

And yep, PCs suck big time...you know it...even more so with Vista now.
 
Come back to me again when the "second one" leads to a fire in the middle of the night and results in a lost home and 3 dead children.

The liability payout for that will be more than what Apple makes in a quarter...

Again, I am not talking about individual rights or Apple's liability...so let's not get emotional, please. Of course he must go after the hardware maker and ask for whatever he is entitled to...I am just saying that one case does not equal many.
 
macbook_batt_fire.jpg


Call me skeptical, but:

A) That's not the battery. It's next to the battery. I've seen the explosion photos and they don't generally explode in that direction. I could be wrong, but based on the picture, and not seeing the actual laptop, I'd say it's not necessarily battery related.

B) The magazine sitting next to it appears scorched too on the edge, as if the MacBook may have been sitting on the magazine when it caught fire. Potentially, if the machine got hot enough the magazine may have been the source of the flame. Perhaps the machine was closed, but crashed instead of sleeping, and then seriously overheated.

It's still concerning, but not as concerning as sensationalistic journalism riding the recall battery backlash.

This theory sounds valid at first until you inspect the photo again. The only place where the macbook is destroyed is along the front edge. Even during prolonged use the front of a macbook almost never gets very warm. If you don't rest your palms on it all day it can stay rather cool. If the macbook somehow ignited a magazine, which I can tell you now is very improbable under normal circumstances, it would have to be around the vent area where the bottom case can get very hot under heavy load and prolonged usage.

I'd say this was a case of a bad battery, but nothing to really get bent out of shape over since this is still a rare occurrence. I keep my macbook in sleep mode while plugged in overnight all the time, but I keep it on a cool rigid surface so that it doesn't get hot. It's my understanding that I can leave my computer plugged in all day and night if I wished and expect to have it fully functional. Shaken by this incident I am not.
 
Having read this entire thread, there's two things I'm really taking away from it:

1. anim8or needs to learn to start backing up.

2. The person who owned the MacBook that caught fire lives in filth, and that's the most likely cause of this whole mess.

Thank you.
 
lol..while I agree that the burn victim lives in a sty, I doubt that's the reason for the malfunctioning unit. A filthy couch and a messy linoleum floor aren't really the conditions for flaming laptops.
 
Before putting in the new battery unplug your computer, use a good quality contact cleaner to clean the battery contact points on the computer. Do not spay the cleaner onto the contacts, spray it onto a q-tip. Do not do this to the contacts on the battery. Make sure everything is completely dry before powering up or putting the battery in. If you don't have contact cleaner you can use a high percentage rubbing alcohol, do not use Hydrogen Peroxide.

Any specific reason for doing this?
 
Having read this entire thread, there's two things I'm really taking away from it:

1. anim8or needs to learn to start backing up.

2. The person who owned the MacBook that caught fire lives in filth, and that's the most likely cause of this whole mess.

Thank you.

lol..while I agree that the burn victim lives in a sty, I doubt that's the reason for the malfunctioning unit. A filthy couch and a messy linoleum floor aren't really the conditions for flaming laptops.

What is wrong with people?? WHY oh WHY can't people READ anymore? YOU guys haven't even Read THIS thread...

<my rant> AGAIN for those who are just NOT GONNA READ THE STORY...THE COUCH IS OUTSIDE FOR THE DOG. ON THE PORCH...YES, SOME PORCHES HAVE CRAPPY FLOORING ON THEM... DOGS ROLL IN DIRT... THAT IS WHAT DOGS DO. THIS IS WHY YOU GIVE INSIDE DOGS BATHS REGULARLY. </rant>
 
And nobody at your entire university has a computer? There is no computer anywhere at the school that you could transfer your documents to, in order to keep working?

This smells very fishy to me. If it's true, then you're obviously using software that nobody else at the school supports. Perhaps you love your Mac so much that you're refusing to use the university-standard software (which may be PC or UNIX-based), which, while possibly enjoyable, leaves you wide open to your current situation - where a failure of your personal computer can destroy your ability to graduate.

Or perhaps there are other computers, and you just don't want to use them, because that would mean working from a studio instead of from home?
So when you first wrote that you were refusing to deal with your problem, out of fear of losing the computer, you in fact hadn't actually bothered to find out if you would end up losing it at all.

And the grand answer is that Apple is going to fix your problem without making you return it at all.
Well, more incidents that get reported on MacRumors.

Every year, there are plenty of house fires caused by toasters, space heaters, and other electric appliances. But they don't make headline news unless the manufacturer issues a recall.
The brand/model doesn't matter. If something is actually critical, then you need to have a backup for it. This means hardware as well as software. If you don't have a standby system available, then you're going to be royally screwed when it breaks. It doesn't matter if you're talking about a multinational bank or the laptop containing your PhD thesis, the principle is the same either way.

In this case, we're talking about a Mac laptop. IBM systems also fail. So do Sun servers and industrial mainframes. Eventually, even your Thinkpad will fail.

I use a mac, (OBVIOUSLY) and my animation course still uses PC they will not budge on getting any macs as the techie only knows PCs.

ITs not a computer animation course its traditional... ie cel, frame stop motion and all that. Each frame is a separate file around 10-20mb for a small image but usually bigger when using multi layered imaging as i do!

I use final cut pro, this doesnt exist on PC as you will know! To transfer to pc would require starting everything i have done since january again on the pcs using premiere which i have no time to do.

There are other departments with macs but at tis time of year they are also under heavy usage by graduating students so no go as their department gets priority.

SO LETS GET EVERYTHING STRAIGHT HERE SHALL WE....

I SIMPLY POSED THE QUESTION OF THE BLACK MARKS TO THE MASSES,

I OBVIOUSLY WASNT CLEAR ENOUGH THAT I DO BACK UP ALMOST EVERYDAY (ALMOST BECAUSE I DONT DO COMPUTER WORK EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK)

I NEVER REFUSED TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM IN FACT I WROTE THE QUESTION WHILST ON HOLD TO APPLE, I MERELY THOUGHT IT MAY SAVE TIME AND PHONE BILLS TO ASK ANYONE ELSE IF THIS HAD HAPPENED TO THEM.

I EXPLAINED WHY I HADNT REPORTED IT EARLIER AS I THOT IT MAY HAVE BEEN TRANSFER FROM THE NEOPRENE CASE I USED TO USE... YESTERDAY BEING THE ONLY TIME I THOUGHT TO CHCK SINCE STOPPING USING SAID CASE.

IT IS OBVIOUS TO ME THAT THIS FORUM HAS TURNED FROM A PLACE TO SEEK HELP AND/OR ADVICE TO SOMEWHERE THAT GEEKS SEEK TO CHALLENGE ANY NEGATIVE COMMENT ABOUT APPLE.

SO PERHAPS EVERYBODY SHOULD JUST STOP BLEATING ABOUT MY BACKUP PROCESS AND DISCUSS THE ISSUE AT HAND....
 
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