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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > 2008 Unibody: Swollen battery - what now?

2008 Unibody: Swollen battery - what now?
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Lateralus
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Aug 27, 2011, 04:11 AM
 
Several months ago, I noticed it became next to impossible to close the battery lid under my MacBook - something was obstructing it. But I basically ignored it until tonight, when I decided to look for whatever tiny-piece-of-something was preventing the battery from fully dropping.

Well, turns out that tiny piece is the battery itself - great big swollen bulge in the middle, top and bottom. What does it mean?

I've been using it this way for several months not realizing it was the battery, as I said, and I got a good 3 hours out of it tonight so it's obviously not dead yet.

But, yeah... is it dangerous to continue keeping it in operation? Might something leak out and cause damage to my computer, desk, or... me?
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Lateralus  (op)
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Aug 27, 2011, 04:18 AM
 
Who the heck sells replacement batteries for these things anyways? The only 13" MacBooks with battery offerings from NewerTech or OWC are the plastic models.

Balls.
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Spheric Harlot
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Aug 27, 2011, 04:18 AM
 
Apple sells replacement batteries.

Yes, it's dangerous.

Remove the battery immediately, call Apple Support and see if you can get them to replace the battery out of warranty.
     
Lateralus  (op)
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Aug 27, 2011, 04:27 AM
 
Really? There's precedent for Apple doing anything 2 years after the warranty expiration?
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Spheric Harlot
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Aug 27, 2011, 07:04 AM
 
Plenty. Especially wrt batteries.
     
Lateralus  (op)
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Aug 27, 2011, 05:48 PM
 
I called Apple Support and they declined any responsibility. Then I called the decently-far-away local Apple Store and they said to just come in on appointment with the battery to let them look at it, without asking any other details.

*Fingers crossed*
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imitchellg5
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Aug 27, 2011, 06:15 PM
 
I feel like there was a thread with this exact situation about 4-6 months ago. If you take it into the Apple Store, I'm pretty sure they'll replace it. It would behoove Apple to replace it, instead of the possibility of a PR nightmare from a single MacBook battery exploding.
     
chabig
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Aug 27, 2011, 06:41 PM
 
Personally, I wouldn't expect Apple to give me a new battery. I would expect to purchase one. When you buy a laptop computer it's a given that you'll have to buy a new battery if you keep the machine long enough, and three years is probably the normal lifespan for a battery.
     
chabig
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Aug 27, 2011, 06:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by imitchellg5 View Post
It would behoove Apple to replace it, instead of the possibility of a PR nightmare from a single MacBook battery exploding.
I don't follow your logic. Batteries are known to be perishable. There is a big difference between a battery that's worn out and a battery that explodes due to a defect.
     
Wiskedjak
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Aug 27, 2011, 06:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by Lateralus View Post
Really? There's precedent for Apple doing anything 2 years after the warranty expiration?
Yup. If the problem results from a design flaw or poses a safety risk, they'll replace or repair. Apple has done this for me several times:
- replaced power adapter for PowerBook Duo 2300c 8 years after purchase.
- replaced cracked MacBook keyboard tray 5 years after purchase.
- replaced not-yet-but-almost-failing MacBook power adapter 5 years after purchase.

Apple Stores are the best place to get the best repair service.
     
Doc Juansinn
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Aug 27, 2011, 07:18 PM
 
Lateralus, do you leave your MacBook plugged in much of the time? Just curious as I've seen several complaints about expanding batteries coming from those who leave their MacBooks plugged in most of the time.

This also happened to me and Apple Store I went to replaced the battery citing a "safety issue". I was still under Apple Care.

Good luck.
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Lateralus  (op)
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Aug 27, 2011, 07:28 PM
 
Yeah, it's plugged in more often than not, by far.

I started doing the monthly drain-til-system-standby Battery Servicing a few months back, which got me back quite a bit of my capacity, but the battery had already bulged by then.
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Waragainstsleep
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Aug 27, 2011, 07:44 PM
 
The bulging does not happen because they get left plugged in too much. Its just an internal cell failure.

A bulging battery on a unibody MBP is not the same as a MacBook top case cracking either. The top cases were a known manufacturing defect due to the formulation of the plastic and design of the cases.
The reason Apple will sometimes replace bulging batteries is because they are potentially dangerous. There was a batch that were particularly prone a few years back in the pre-unibody MBPs but it happened occasionally to batteries before and after that batch. Those ones aside, its not all that common.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
imitchellg5
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Aug 27, 2011, 08:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by chabig View Post
I don't follow your logic. Batteries are known to be perishable. There is a big difference between a battery that's worn out and a battery that explodes due to a defect.
Where did I say they'd replace it because it's worn out?
     
spiff72
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Aug 27, 2011, 09:56 PM
 
I had a non-unibody 17" MBP which I brought in when it was still under Applecare early this year, because the trackpad button wouldn't press when you pushed on it in the middle (but the left and right sides worked). The Genius immediately pulled out the battery and pointed out that it was swollen, and its close proximity to the trackpad was causing the issue (with the battery removed, the button worked fine). They ran their battery test on it and it was "Exhausted" rather than failed so I had to pay for a replacement rather than getting it replaced under warranty. It was nearly 3 years old, but it still hurt to spend $129 on a new battery just because it had swollen.
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Lateralus  (op)
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Aug 27, 2011, 10:30 PM
 
Holy crap. They took the battery, looked at the swollen spot, asked me to confirm which machine it was from, unwrapped a brand new one and handed it to me. They didn't even ask my name other than to confirm the appointment.

30 seconds, tops. Unreal.

Thanks Spheric (and others) for the suggestion to go into the store.
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Lateralus  (op)
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Aug 27, 2011, 10:33 PM
 
And coconutBattery is reporting 4411mAh, 107% of 'design capacity'. So I guess Apple tweaked their batteries for this model since it went off the market.
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BLAZE_MkIV
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Aug 28, 2011, 12:00 AM
 
There will be a certain amount of variations in the quality of batteries. In order to sell them at a given rating you don't use the ones that arnet good enough. There's no reason not to use the ones that are better.
     
Gamoe
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Aug 28, 2011, 02:28 AM
 
Originally Posted by Lateralus View Post
Holy crap. They took the battery, looked at the swollen spot, asked me to confirm which machine it was from, unwrapped a brand new one and handed it to me. They didn't even ask my name other than to confirm the appointment.

30 seconds, tops. Unreal.
You got lucky. I had a similar experience and was promised a free new battery, but there were no replacement batteries on site and they needed my Mac's serial number to process the replacement. From there I had to go back the the Apple Store several times and talk with reps who were quite of a different inclination on the "at no cost" part. They finally gave me a free new battery after accidentally losing my old one. I was happy, but I certainly didn't feel quite as pleased with customer service.
     
Eug
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Sep 21, 2011, 10:31 PM
 
In my experience, usually non-Apple batteries are usually not as good as the originals, despite the often higher spec'd numbers.

That said, if it costs half as much, who cares?
     
   
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