NP 8690 battery issue

Hi

I bought my sager np8690 in dec 09 and so far, I have had sent my battery for RMA twice due to the battery being bloated.


Has anyone encountered this issue?

Could it be due to me leaving the laptop on for hours at a shot?

thanks for reading!

 

Well, its not recommended to game on battery as this is overstressing the battery - did you game on battery? Anyways, the battery only lasts 60 mins so how where you able to run it "for hours"?

 

Hi

I usually leave the battery inside and my laptop is plugged to to a main socket, hence I am able to leave the laptop on for hours at a stretch.

I was afraid to take the battery out when not in use as I was afraid that dust may get inside the laptop.

Awaiting to hear more suggestions and comments.

Thanks

 

You can remove your battery if you want to without worry of dust getting inside. Dust doesn't fall anywhere else but parallel to gravity. Your fans are sucking a lot more dust than what can potentially stick to the insides of your exposed battery bay.

You made a good decision to RMA your battery for being "bloated." This is more commonly known as bulging. When Li-ion cells are subject to heavy discharge, prolonged charge voltage of under 3V per cell or over 4.2V per cell, high temperatures, or physical damage, gas is vented inside of the cylinder (or pouch in Li-po cells) as a byproduct since gas occupies more volume under higher temperatures and stress. I've had one guy come to me before to check on his W860CU because his battery wouldn't fit in the battery bay anymore and that the system no longer recognize his battery since the bulge in the casing pushed the battery enough so that it no longer made contact with the contact pins. This is one of those classic textbook cases of the battery no longer being safe to use and is now simply a ticking time bomb.

Again, like I've said so many times before, it is bad to run heavy duty apps on battery for the sake of the battery itself and your own personal safety. Even if you never gamed on battery, the quality of the battery still contributed to failing on you; the battery can still bulge even if you are plugged in when gaming in warm weather and insufficient cooling.

 

Thanks for the informative reply.

Yep the guy's problem you described is exactly what I experienced...the battery being too bloated to fit into the compartment.

The reason I was afraid to leave the battery on was because I saw the exposed part of the laptop when I removed the battery, but after reading what you posted about fans sucking more dust, it made sense to me.

From now on, I will use my laptop w/o the battery plugged in...after I get it RMAed

 

Btw do you recommend any particular laptop cooler for 8690?

thanks

 

You can keep your battery plugged while you are plugged in to the wall, it's just you got a dud combined with warm weather and possibly thermal and discharge abuse. Lithium polymer cells are robust compared to lithium cobalt, but they still should be treated properly. The question on everyone's mind right now is if Li-po cells are indeed that durable, then why are these incidents happening? It also has to do with the casing itself. The battery casing on the W8x0CU is flat compared to the previous M570TU and M860TU battery casings. Li-po cell pouches also expand from the sides rather from the ends on Li-co cylinders since the great amount of internal resistance from the lithium cobalt degrading and forming cathode layers of lithium cobalt oxide on the ends. However, lithium cobalt cells will burst from the sides at the end of their life as an abused child. And no, the HDD does not contribute significantly to the degredation of the cells. Heat saturates onto the top metal casing of the HDD, and then into the right palm rest. Why? Because heat rises while cool air doesn't and heat sinks into metal rather than silicon circuit boards. Some of you out there may think that this is a W8x0CU issue, but it is simply the contruction of the battery casing that is making it apparent that the battery is damaged. Some of you guys that game on the packs will see the same results on your batteries of you subject them to long term abuse like this.

Usually I just recommend bottlecaps to prop up your notebook, but you can also make an investment in a notebook cooler. For portable passive cooling, an Edova Innovations Xpad will do you well. For versatile and affordable cooling that gives you the option to remove the fans when not needed, the Cooler Master U2 will do the job. For benchmarkers that want to cool their already cool running notebook, any of the more expensive coolers on the market will do. But for that money, you would be better off just modding the existing cooling on your machine or building your own notebook cooler out of aftermarket fans, a small PSU, and lumber. I find it relaxing and therapeutical to build/mod things with your own two hands. It's a noble hobby and it instills pride in your work.

 

Well Detailed Explains, Felt like i have just been through Science Lessons.
Thank you Prof Sunrise.

 

I just checked my battery now and I was surprised that it is also bloated! Time to RMA. Anyone else experienced this?

 

If it gets to the point where you have to force your battery to lock in place in the battery bay, then would it be time to cease using the battery and replace it. If it can still fit and you can still use your battery, I wouldn't be too worried about it. The best thing to address first is your usage habits. Lithium-ion cells are manufactured to have a little bit of leeway for bulging since not all cells are perfect and not all operating conditions are ideal.