Exploding/spontaneously combusting/rupturing laptop batteries are hardly anything new. Sony knows this all too well, as the company recalled over 4.1 million Lithium-ion batteries in August of 2006. This time laptop manufacturer Lenovo is voluntary recalling a significantly smaller 100,000 batteries. The batteries are manufactured by Sanyo.

Lenovo is the manufacturer of the IBM ThinkPad line of laptops. Like virtually every laptop in production, the Lithium-ion battery is used as its mobile power source. Its malleability and lightweight nature makes it a prime option over other rechargeable sources. But they're also very sensitive to the very things laptops go through - bumping, knocking, banging, and other typical abuses.

Because of the chemical sensitivity of Lithium-ion technology, repeated abuse of the battery pack can compromise the circuitry designed to keep the battery safe. If there's a manufacturing flaw, the measures designed to keep the consumer safe may fail or not function, causing the battery to heat up, and ultimately either explode or catch on fire.

However the direct source of this particular situation is not elaborated upon, other than the source of failure is caused by a sharp blow or drop. This likely causes an internal rupture of the battery's safety mechanisms. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, if the "laptop is struck forcefully on the corner, such as from a direct fall to the ground, the battery pack can overheat and pose a fire hazard to users. This is not an internal battery cell defect."

Lenovo has additional information for consumers, such as call numbers and laptops impacted by this recall. Lenovo suggests not using the laptop battery and using the AC power cord as a source. So far, there have only been four reports of damage stemming from overheated batteries, and one minor eye irritation.

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Technology News :: Hardware

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