Help! My laptop is on fire!
this is an interesting article from Digital Life (The Straits Times) dated 8 Aug 2006 page 8.
"The spontaneous combustion of several Dell machines has resulted in more than 200,000 laptop batteries being recalled worldwide. ......
..... Dell computers are not the only ones with batteries overheat. Reports of an Apple Macbook going up in flames....
...Since last January, big name computer makers Apple, HP and Dell, collectively recalled more than 200,000 laptop batteries around the world.
..."The cathode of lithium-ion batteries is prone to spontaneous thermal decomposition above certain temperatures." This state of thermal runway, where high temperatures above 150 deg C spark more temperature spikes, is more likely to occur when the laptop is plugged into the main electrical socket, with the battery fully charged.....
...manufacturers are starting to pay more attention to laptop design, ...This involves tweaking the architecture of the laptops by adding more air vents or moving batteries to the back of the machines, away from heat sources like the microprocessors and video controller chips.
.."It is quite common to see users put the computers on their laps, on their beds and other soft surfaces, this easily blocks up ventilation holes and can cause pressure to build up in the batteries," said associate professor Choo Fook Hoong who specialises in power engineering at Nanyang Technological University.
Mr Barry Huret, president of Huret Associates, added that leaving laptops in cars parked under the sun or dropping them are also discouraged.
And as long as lithium-ion batteries remain a key source of power, electronic makers need to do more to teach people about the potential dangers of misuse, said Dr Schalkwijk (associate at battery consulting company Huret Associates in Pennsylvania in the US).
Article by Tham Yuen-C (yuenc@sph.com.sg)
lucky for me, i am using an IBM (oops, now Lenovo) Thinkpad....their batteries are already at the back of machines, hip, hip Thinkpad (I hope Lenovo continues with the clever architecture design of IBM for future Thinkpad)..... i know of some Fujitsu Tablet PC still having their batteries in front.
since this article, i have taken special care not to place my laptop on soft materials or my lap (but isn't it called laptop? how ironic) .
Ain't our handphone using lithium-ion batteries? freaking crazy world.
"The spontaneous combustion of several Dell machines has resulted in more than 200,000 laptop batteries being recalled worldwide. ......
..... Dell computers are not the only ones with batteries overheat. Reports of an Apple Macbook going up in flames....
...Since last January, big name computer makers Apple, HP and Dell, collectively recalled more than 200,000 laptop batteries around the world.
..."The cathode of lithium-ion batteries is prone to spontaneous thermal decomposition above certain temperatures." This state of thermal runway, where high temperatures above 150 deg C spark more temperature spikes, is more likely to occur when the laptop is plugged into the main electrical socket, with the battery fully charged.....
...manufacturers are starting to pay more attention to laptop design, ...This involves tweaking the architecture of the laptops by adding more air vents or moving batteries to the back of the machines, away from heat sources like the microprocessors and video controller chips.
.."It is quite common to see users put the computers on their laps, on their beds and other soft surfaces, this easily blocks up ventilation holes and can cause pressure to build up in the batteries," said associate professor Choo Fook Hoong who specialises in power engineering at Nanyang Technological University.
Mr Barry Huret, president of Huret Associates, added that leaving laptops in cars parked under the sun or dropping them are also discouraged.
And as long as lithium-ion batteries remain a key source of power, electronic makers need to do more to teach people about the potential dangers of misuse, said Dr Schalkwijk (associate at battery consulting company Huret Associates in Pennsylvania in the US).
Article by Tham Yuen-C (yuenc@sph.com.sg)
lucky for me, i am using an IBM (oops, now Lenovo) Thinkpad....their batteries are already at the back of machines, hip, hip Thinkpad (I hope Lenovo continues with the clever architecture design of IBM for future Thinkpad)..... i know of some Fujitsu Tablet PC still having their batteries in front.
since this article, i have taken special care not to place my laptop on soft materials or my lap (but isn't it called laptop? how ironic) .
Ain't our handphone using lithium-ion batteries? freaking crazy world.
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