Old macbook pro battery kind of exploded

[caoap1]

Does anyone know what happened here?

I left my macbook pro on the carpet with the battery for a few weeks and now I discovered this. I don't know when it happened.

 

[durkkin]

Old lithium ion battery technology had the tendency to swell when it it degraded over time and then went without being used for a while. Same thing happened to my pre-unibody MBP. I don't know the entire explanation behind it, but it is "normal" behavior. Unfortunately that also means you can't get it replaced under warranty and will need to buy a new one. Good news is that it isn't a safety hazard.

 

[Astroboy907]

Good news is that it isn't a safety hazard.

Only partly true. If the batteries continue to swell, or are punctured, it could lead to a very messy fire. Look up li-ion battery explosions. But yeah, way better to catch it now!

With that said, to OP, look up the proper way to dispose of or recycle the battery.

 

[zOlid]

They are made to swell, instead of exploding.
So its really a safety feature.

 

[durkkin]

Only partly true. If the batteries continue to swell, or are punctured, it could lead to a very messy fire. Look up li-ion battery explosions. But yeah, way better to catch it now!

With that said, to OP, look up the proper way to dispose of or recycle the battery.

Yeah, puncturing batteries is never a good idea haha. If there is an Apple store close they will actually recycle batteries. So does Best Buy (at least they used to, probably still do) and many other places.

 

[rex450se]

If you don't live close to a place to recycle them you can put them in salt water for a day and they are safe to just throw in the trash. Flying R/C helicopters I have destroyed many li-ion and li-po batteries. I use a 5 gallon bucket and throw it in there for a week in my back yard then pitch them in the trash. It will discharge them completely. I have taken them from the salt water and punctured them and beat on them to try to get them to ignite and it wouldn't.

Victor