What You Need To Know About Laptop Batteries

Anyone that owns a laptop should make sure they are informed as to the ins and outs of Laptop batteries. For many people they get their laptop, put the battery in, and the continually charge it for as long as they use and own their laptop computer. But there are some basics everyone should know about their Laptop computer battery that will allow them to not only become more familiar with their battery but also understand the proper way to handle their battery and what to do when it comes time to replace their Laptop computer battery if it shows signs of failing.
There are some basic and not so basic questions that everyone should have an understanding of if they own a laptop computer. Laptops, also known as Laptop computers, require a power source to operate and when you are nowhere near a power outlet then that power is battery power. Here are some basics of the Laptop battery that everyone that owns a Laptop battery should be well aware of.
Can I take my Laptop battery apart?
No. Never disassemble your laptop battery. It is a sealed unit that contains dangerous chemicals. Breaking the seal to open it will cause the battery to not work and if you get the chemicals on yourself you will be causing harm to yourself.
Can I remove my Laptop battery from my Laptop computer?
Yes you can remove it but always follow the instructions in your user’s manual prior to removing the battery and also be certain to follow the warnings regarding your battery that are found in the user’s manual and on the battery itself.
How can I tell if my battery needs to be replaced?
As your battery starts to wear down it will hold the charge less and less longer after each charge. Sometimes a battery will work fine one day and then suddenly lose its ability to charge the next. That is not unusual. But most batteries give you warnings such as noticing that a battery that used to work for 3 hours fully charged now only works for 2 hours.
I opened my laptop and it looks like my battery has broken open and is leaking everywhere. What do I do?
Do not touch anything in the laptop. Get the laptop into a protective plastic bag and contact a service center immediately. More than likely a leaky battery means it is going to be time for a new laptop but it is always a good idea to get a professional’s opinion first.
What kind of replacement battery for my Laptop computer should I buy?
It is not necessary to purchase a name brand battery for your laptop computer. If you own a laptop made by ABC Computers it is not necessary to pay the extra money to get a battery with the ABC Computers logo on it. Check on the internet for third party battery manufacturers and they will have a complete compatibility chart for you to reference. If you can match up your laptop with one of their part numbers then that battery is completely compatible with your laptop computer. The chances are very good that the third party battery manufacturer makes the batteries for ABC Computers anyways so you are not taking any risk getting a replacement battery this way.

dell battery What causes laptop batteries to overheat?

In conjunction with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Dell and Apple Computer announced large recalls of laptop batteries in the summer of 2006, followed by Toshiba and Lenovo. Sony manufactured all of the recalled batteries, and in October 2006, the company announced its own large-scale recall. Under the right circumstances, these batteries could overheat, potentially causing burns, an explosion or a fire.
To understand why that happened, it's helpful to know a little bit about how batteries work. Batteries have a negatively charged terminal and a positively charged terminal. In a battery, energy from electrochemical reactions causes electrons (negatively charged particles) to collect at the battery's negatively charged pole. Charged particles are attracted to opposite charge, so if you connect a battery to a circuit, the electrons will flow from the negative pole, through the circuit and to the battery's positively charged pole. In other words, the battery generates a moving charge, or electricity. (See How Electricity Works and How Batteries Work for more details).
The exact reaction that generates the electrons varies, depending on the type of battery. In a lithium-ion battery, you'll find pressurized containers that house a coil of metal and a flammable, lithium-containing liquid. The manufacturing process creates tiny pieces of metal that float in the liquid. Manufacturers can't completely prevent these metal fragments, but good manufacturing techniques limit their size and number. The cells of a lithium-ion battery also contain separators that keep the anodes and cathodes, or positive and negative poles, from touching each other.
These Apple iBook and PowerBook laptop batteries were also part of the recall.
In conjunction with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Dell and Apple Computer announced large recalls of laptop batteries in the summer of 2006, followed by Toshiba and Lenovo. Sony manufactured all of the recalled batteries, and in October 2006, the company announced its own large-scale recall. Under the right circumstances, these batteries could overheat, potentially causing burns, an explosion or a fire.
To understand why that happened, it's helpful to know a little bit about how batteries work. Batteries have a negatively charged terminal and a positively charged terminal. In a battery, energy from electrochemical reactions causes electrons (negatively charged particles) to collect at the battery's negatively charged pole. Charged particles are attracted to opposite charge, so if you connect a battery to a circuit, the electrons will flow from the negative pole, through the circuit and to the battery's positively charged pole. In other words, the battery generates a moving charge, or electricity.
The exact reaction that generates the electrons varies, depending on the type of battery. In a lithium-ion battery, you'll find pressurized containers that house a coil of metal and a flammable, lithium-containing liquid. The manufacturing process creates tiny pieces of metal that float in the liquid. Manufacturers can't completely prevent these metal fragments, but good manufacturing techniques limit their size and number. The cells of a lithium-ion battery also contain separators that keep the anodes and cathodes, or positive and negative poles, from touching each other.

These Apple iBook and PowerBook laptop batteries were also part of the recall.
Image courtesy U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

If the battery gets hot through use or recharging, the pieces of metal can move around, much like grains of rice in a pot of water. If a piece of metal gets too close to the separator, it can puncture the separator and cause a short circuit. There are a few possible scenarios for what can go wrong in the case of a short circuit:

• If it creates a spark, the flammable liquid can ignite, causing a fire.
• If it causes the temperature inside the battery to rise rapidly, the battery can explode due to the increased pressure.
• If it causes the temperature to rise slowly, the battery can melt, and the liquid inside can leak out.

­ There are several reasons why­ multiple laptop battery models have been recalled in the past few years. People want small, lightweight laptops that they can use for long periods. They also want their laptops to have bright screens and lots of processing power. For these reasons, laptop batteries have to be relatively small, but they also have to hold a lot of energy and last a long time.
­ Making lithium-ion batteries that can hold more power for a longer period requires vital components, including the separators, to be small and thin. The reduction in size makes it more likely that the batteries can fail, break, leak or short circuit.