MacBook Pro Battery Exploded

[cameronfree]

My MBP battery exploded a few days ago (while not on the charger) and so I took it into the Apple store.

They literally told me I was "charging it wrong" and "this is normal, it's supposed to do that so you know it's time to replace it."

MBP is 6+ years old so I wasn't expecting much but seriously...

 

[psingh01]

That happens to some batteries it seems. It happened on my old MBP, it wasn't over night, but it swelled up. In fact it's happening now to my unibody MBP battery. It's interfering with the track pad. Since you've had it for 6 years I think that's a good amount of time. Some years back I think there was a battery recall so you can check and see if yours was affected. Might get a free battery out of it if it's not too late. As for what the Apple Store told you....well just cause they're called Geniuses doesn't make em Geniuses .

 

[cameronfree]

well just cause they're called Geniuses doesn't make em Geniuses .

Agreed! Any idea where I could go to verify if my battery was part of the recall.

 

[BeeJee]

Agreed! Any idea where I could go to verify if my battery was part of the recall.

Yeah, like the above poster said, 6 years is a pretty long time to have a battery so you should be happy it lasted that long. I'd be thankful it didn't ruin anything in the process, how much of a charge was it holding?

 

[Squilly]

this is normal, it's supposed to do that so you know it's time to replace it.

lol?

 

[skysailing]

-this would have been my EXACT reaction.

How the hell a battery explode like that like damn!

That's a feature they don't tell you about in the keynotes.

 

[cameronfree]

Yeah, like the above poster said, 6 years is a pretty long time to have a battery so you should be happy it lasted that long. I'd be thankful it didn't ruin anything in the process, how much of a charge was it holding?

Battery was only 2 years old (3rd one I've had). Charge was terrible but at least it worked.

 

[johnnnw]

This would be scary as hell, and certainly extremely dangerous if you didn't witness it and it was sitting on a bed or something. Could start a fire.

I'd definitely have a stern talk over the phone with someone.

 

[iVikD]

I'm interested in how you were "charging it wrong"... I mean, there's not many ways to plug in the charger, and what kind of answer is that from a "Genius"?

 

[Brian Y]

It's not an explosion. It's a safety mechanism inside the battery which can sometimes be triggered when there is either a defect in the battery, or it's EOL. EOL for those batteries is the sooner of 3 years or 300 cycles.

What the genius said is true - it's perfectly normal (there isn't however a wrong way to charge it). If your machine was under warranty, and you had less than 300 cycles, it would be covered. OOW or > 300 cycles you just need to buy a new battery.

 

[Sam McT]

Any residual issues?

My first battery expanded after 2 1/2 years, and the replacement lasted close to 2 1/2 years.

Before I try for battery #3, has anyone found anything wrong with their MBP causing the battery problem? Any damage to the track pad from the expanded battery?

Much thanks!

 

[Bear]

Battery was only 2 years old (3rd one I've had). Charge was terrible but at least it worked.

Batteries are more likely to have issues when they don't hold that much charge anymore. Waiting too long to replace a battery can be a bad thing.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Wow. 6 years. I don't care about your battery. I just want to congratulate you for getting your money's worth and I applaud your resistance to hold out that long. (I certainly can't do that ).