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Laptop Batteries Was Discovered That They Could Overheat and Ignite

by johnsunvalley

Millions of lithium-ion laptop batteries made by Sony for Apple, Dell Inc., Lenovo Inc. and other PC makers were recalled in 2006 and 2007 after it was discovered that they could overheat and ignite.

Apple did not immediately return a call seeking the name of the company that made the iPod batteries in question. Yoshitsune declined to name the supplier.

The company's written statement came in response to a Japanese government report that two iPod Nanos overheated in Tokyo, scorching nearby paper and a woven straw mat.

Apple said the flaw affected first-generation Nanos, sold between September 2005 and December 2006, in very rare instances. The company's statement added that "There have been no reports of serious injuries or property damage, and no reports of incidents for any other iPod Nano model."

Japan's government has been working with Apple to investigate three separate cases of iPods that overheated while being recharged, according to Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry official Hiroyuki Yoshitsune. A defect in the lithium-ion battery was suspected in all three cases.

No one was injured during the two Tokyo incidents disclosed Tuesday. Yoshitsune said the cases involved an iPod Nano, model number MA099, which singed nearby paper in August, and model MA005, which burned a traditional Japanese tatami mat in January. Both music players were twisted out of shape from the heat and became unusable, he said.

The latest problem follows a similar report from the Japanese ministry in March about sparks shooting out of an iPod Nano.

Apple's iPod players are extremely popular in Japan and coveted as fashion items, even though Japanese manufacturers produce a host of iPod rivals.

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The Most Common Laptop Battery Problems

Laptop batteries can often be expensive because the laptop manufacturer is the only one who makes a battery to fit their particular laptop. This is done so the manufacturer will have control of the market when you need a new battery. Often this is done to encourage you to buy a new laptop instead of replacing the battery. In many cases there is little difference in the price, which is what the manufacturer intended.

Some laptop batteries, such as the Ni-Cad, will suffer from a problem which is commonly called the memory effect. This is caused when you continually recharge the battery without letting it discharge entirely. After a time the battery will forget that it has unused capacity and it will discharge much faster each time it is used. The best way to avoid this laptop battery problem is to allow your battery to completely discharge at least once each month. This allows the battery to retain its original memory and provides longer usage.

When your laptop is not in use for an extended period of time it is best to remove the battery. The battery will continue to slowly discharge during the time it is not in use. If this discharge takes place inside the laptop you may not be able to get your laptop to recognize the battery the next time it is recharged.

You can also experience battery problems if you allow your battery to completely discharge outside the laptop. You should check the battery while it in storage so it will not be allowed to completely discharge. This could also prevent the laptop from accepting the battery when you place it back into the computer.

If your laptop battery becomes hot to the touch you will need to remove the battery and allow it to cool off. If this problem continues when you replace the battery in the laptop, you will probably have a defective battery. It is best to remove the battery and replace it since a defective battery could cause extensive damage to the laptop.

Temperatures have an effect on laptop batteries. If you are experiencing extremely hot temperatures you will need to keep the battery in as cool an area as possible. Extreme heat can cause the battery to discharge prematurely and can eventually lead to battery damage.

Last year Toshiba recalled about 430,000 laptop batteries because they continued to lose power prematurely. Toshiba also reports that although these batteries were giving problems by losing power, there were no reports of the batteries overheating and there were no reported injuries as a result of the defective batteries.

Before the Toshiba recall, Dell and Apple had a battery recall because Sony had produced a defective batch of batteries. These batteries were known to overheat and some of them even produced fires. All of these batteries were replaced free of charge but the company did suffer some financial damage as a result of the recall.

Panasonic also had a laptop battery recall because the latches were defective. This was causing a mechanical problem with the batteries because they were not properly latched in. In many cases these batteries overheated but there were not reported injuries.

Kelly Hunter is a writer for http://www.laptop-computer-batteries.com about laptop computer batteries with several years experience.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

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Recycling Dell Electronics Products

Brenda Stokes

Much too many peoples surprise, recycling of electronic products has been around since these, now, indispensible products have been in existence. For much of that time the recycling process was more oriented toward greed with the recovery of precious metals like gold and silver being the main goal. Oddly, electronics manufacturers have been right on top of the issue, if not wanting on getting the message out that they are on top of the issue.

Owing to its heavy concentration in laptop batteries, Dell computer has become a leader in recycling and promotion of the three “R’s”; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Most manufacturers are following the same process for reuse and recycling. This is an idea of what they are up to with credit for Dell being a leader.

There are several steps in the recycling of Dell laptop batteries, monitors, printer cartridges and alike. They include:

Getting the components to a recycling center for sorting
Marketing v. altruism
Determining what needs to be recycled v. reused
Extracting raw materials
Return programs

Mail back -The big deal in hardware recycling is a return label inside the new unit’s box. This one is nice because the return label is right on top where you cannot miss it, and in its own bag. For my home printer, I simply put the old unit in the new box, slapped on the return label where indicated (their sorta fussy on this) taped it up (again as indicated) and called for a no charge FedEx pick up.

Return credits - For the most part, all concerned are taking their products back if a new item is purchased. Dell will actually pay you for your recycling effort even if you recycle at your local center. Just show proof of it. Dell in particular has a good reason for reuse programs as lithium cells are easily reused and they offer a model for every laptop or electronic device (or so it would appear.).

Marketing v. altruism

Non-profits, education, less fortunate – Deciding what can be reused and what needs to be recycled is the leading “in-process” step for recycling. Ideally, these companies would like to reuse product to lower costs and increase margins. We’re not talking sainthood here for the manufacturers. However, there is a window of use opportunity where the manufacturer can take credit for giving a not-so-old unit to a non-profit. After all they will get it for recycling eventually.

Extracting raw materials – This is where Dell and the others make the cash from recycling. It’s not big money and it even costs to recycle on occasion. This step takes the entire unit and strips it right down to its most basic components. Lead for laptop batteries to silver and gold for connections. Copper is a so-so these days even though copper prices are very high because the connections are getting so small wires are becoming almost impossible to use.

About the Author:
This Article is written by James Kara Murat from PrintCountry.com, the contributor of Recycling Dell Laptop Batteries. A longer version of this article is located at Recycling Dell Electronics Products, and some related resources can be found at Recycling Computers Batteries Phones.

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