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MBP battery broke out of its shell

DJMastaWes

DJMastaWes

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 14, 2006
1,243
1
Montreal, Quebec
Hello everyone!

A couple years ago, there was a recall on MacBook Pro (C2D) batteries as a result of them expanding and bulging. As I experienced those symptoms, I called Apple and got a replacement shipped no problem. Fast forward to a year and a half or-so later, and the same thing has happened to this battery. I was wondering if anyone had any insight as to if I'd still be eligible to get a replacement for it, free of charge - since I don't have a warranty. Is the recall still valid? Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated - worse comes to worse, I'll have to buy an aftermarket battery, since I can't afford Apples at the moment.

Here's a picture of what it looks like.

Thanks for the help!
 

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I'm guessing that Apple will replace the battery, since it's defective.

The same thing happened to two of my batteries, and they replaced mine.

You don't need to rely on our guesses. Give Apple Support a call, and ask for a replacement. You'll soon have your answer.
 
If you take in to the shop, they should replace it. My wife's MBP did that and it was a three year old battery. They replaced it with no problems.
 
Good luck...

There are no active battery recalls on MBP's and chances are that the battery has depleted over 1.5yrs.
 
pdubak said:
Good luck...

There are no active battery recalls on MBP's and chances are that the battery has depleted over 1.5yrs.
Click to expand...
Although it may have been getting near the end of it's useful life, a battery is never supposed to expand like that. I think you'll get a new one, just tell them the story you've told us. Since they replaced your old battery with this one and this one is now clearly defective, they should give you a new one.
 
I just got off the phone with Apple - the claim that it's normal and is a sign that I need to buy a new battery.
The guy I spoke with offered to email me an article about the expanding batteries, which lead me to this: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2358
Then I was transferred to someone else, they said 'I see in your file here that when the battery was replaced last time, it was under warranty' to which I replied 'actually, the computer was out of warranty when I got the replacement.' When he asked why I was given a new battery, I said 'because they were under recall which stated these exact symptoms', and he said 'oh, well because we gave you a new battery model, this recall doesn't apply to this.

I get a feeling there's some monkey business here. Any suggestions?
 
I would tell them I'm showing the batter to the Fire Department, Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Industry Canada and Radio Canada (Marketplace) and get a new recall underway. Oh yeah, CSA too.

That's dangerous, and there is no reason for that to happen. It is NOT a normal sign of wear... if it was, why the first recall?
 
DJMastaWes said:
I just got off the phone with Apple - the claim that it's normal and is a sign that I need to buy a new battery.
The guy I spoke with offered to email me an article about the expanding batteries, which lead me to this: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2358
Then I was transferred to someone else, they said 'I see in your file here that when the battery was replaced last time, it was under warranty' to which I replied 'actually, the computer was out of warranty when I got the replacement.' When he asked why I was given a new battery, I said 'because they were under recall which stated these exact symptoms', and he said 'oh, well because we gave you a new battery model, this recall doesn't apply to this.

I get a feeling there's some monkey business here. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Stop dragging your feet on this. If you would have taken the battery to the apple store, they would have exchanged it.
 
DJMastaWes said:
I just got off the phone with Apple - the claim that it's normal and is a sign that I need to buy a new battery.
The guy I spoke with offered to email me an article about the expanding batteries, which lead me to this: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2358
Then I was transferred to someone else, they said 'I see in your file here that when the battery was replaced last time, it was under warranty' to which I replied 'actually, the computer was out of warranty when I got the replacement.' When he asked why I was given a new battery, I said 'because they were under recall which stated these exact symptoms', and he said 'oh, well because we gave you a new battery model, this recall doesn't apply to this.

I get a feeling there's some monkey business here. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Link is dead.
 
michaelfengdayu said:
Link is dead.
Click to expand...

haha, yeah... that's the point.

it's so strange, after getting off the phone with Apple, my laptop has been getting incredibly hot - istat is giving me readings of 102ºC!!! and my CPU is maxing out, despite the fact that I only have a couple tabs open in Firefox and iTunes playing. I normally get away with working on huge illustrator and indesign files no problem. anyway, I just thought I'd bring it up.
 
I'm back from the Apple store!

I went up to the desk, said I was there for battery issues, pulled it out, and without even questioning me or trying to battle my case, the gentlemen went to the backroom, got a replacement battery, had me sign some paperwork, and within 10 minutes, I was out of the store with a new battery free of charge.

I find it strange how the phone and in-store experiences were so drastically different. In any case, I'm pleased that I got the problem resolved.
 
You'll find that when you bring somethign that's very visual to the Apple store, they will try very hard to get you in and out very quickly to avoid making a scene.

I had the same experience when I brought in a frayed Magsafe connector. They don't want people thinking their hardware is unsafe, so as soon as I walked in holding this frayed up magsafe connector in my hand, they leapt on it FAST and got me a replacement and out the door in minutes. They didn't even check to see if I had a genius appointment (I did).
 
scaredpoet said:
You'll find that when you bring somethign that's very visual to the Apple store, they will try very hard to get you in and out very quickly to avoid making a scene.

I had the same experience when I brought in a frayed Magsafe connector. They don't want people thinking their hardware is unsafe, so as soon as I walked in holding this frayed up magsafe connector in my hand, they leapt on it FAST and got me a replacement and out the door in minutes. They didn't even check to see if I had a genius appointment (I did).
Click to expand...
Or maybe they just genuinely want to help you out, which I find is the case at the Apple stores in my area.
 
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