Laptop Battery Fire Risk - Over-reaction or just sensible precaution?

BruLuc

I don't want to scare-monger but I just want to hear views on the risk of Lithium batteries fires.

The story has been around for many years...

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1029097/dell-blames-battery-exploding-notebook
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2502313

...and was mentioned previous at the end of a recent thread...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3764367

...but, I was only recently made aware of the potential risk and so I did a quick google which revealed a couple of recent incidents:

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/south-yorkshire-fire-chief-s-safety-plea-1-5288069
http://www.durhamtimes.co.uk/news/10134412.Explosion_sparks_fire_at_Durham_police_HQ/

A bit more googling revealed there are, of course, many safety features built into laptops which is improving all the time. It wasn't clear, however, whether there was a higher risk related to older laptops (which you'd think there probably was).

I was in the habit of keeping my (fairly aged) laptop on charge nearly all the time (and a fair bit of the time when I was out at work and the house was empty). Even though the risk is miniscule (and a few of reported incidents out of the millions of Lithium batteries out there mean that you've more chance of winning the lottery than of your laptop catching fire hitting the headlines), but it seems sensible to take reasonable precautions. So, for me, I'll now think twice before leaving my laptop on charge all the time when it's not necessary.

Ectophile

Personally, I would be less worried about the battery in an old laptop than a new one.

Lithium batteries generally catch fire if:

1. They were faulty when made,
2. They have been damaged, or
3. They are charged using the wrong charger.

On a laptop, 3 doesn't apply. If it was 1 then the problem would have shown itself within a few months. So if the battery is undamaged, I wouldn't expect any problems.


I do leave my old laptop changing when I'm out and have never had a problem with it. I wouldn't do it with a brand new one.

colin79666

I never leave anything electrical on when I go out (fridge/freezer is an exception).

martinthebandit

colin79666 wrote: »

I never leave anything electrical on when I go out (fridge/freezer is an exception).

30 years in the fire brigade has taught me that this is the right answer.

Your right that the risk is very small, but so are the benefits of leaving stuff plugged in.

..... and if you are unfortunate to be caught by that very small risk ..... well its not good.

Avoriaz

colin79666 wrote: »

I never leave anything electrical on when I go out (fridge/freezer is an exception).

Are you certain of that?


Central heating?

Oven clock?

Other mains wired clocks, radio, alarms etc?

Doorbell?

Mains wired smoke and CO2 detectors.

Telephone? They are often mains wired for the base and also have power via the telephone line.

Mobile phone and other chargers?

Burglar alarm?

There must be many more possibilities.

colin79666

Well if your going to be pedantic!
Fridge
Freezer
2 phones
Broadband router
Nas
Oven clock
Central heating timer

Smoke alarm is battery powered in our house.

With the exception of the 2 cordless phones nothing else involves battery charging and the phones don't have big and generally more volatile lithium batteries.

I guess the main point is not to leave things unattended where practical. Especially higher risk things like washing machines (water and electricity don't mix) and battery charging.