Hot laptop battery doesn't become colder despite being unplugged

[TomvanWijnen]

Hello everyone,

 

I needed to use my old laptop that I hadn't used in two months or so for something. Everything was going alright and such, it was a tiny bit slow but oh well. The battery was completely drained when I turned it on, but within an hour it was 100% full. I did the things, put it to hibernate, and left it to charge for a little longer. After a bit, I saw the low battery thing flashing, so I turned it on to see what was going on. It was really slow, but eventually I saw that the battery was at 100%. I hibernated (or tried to) the device again, but it didn't want to. It was then that I noticed that the battery was extremely hot, so I ended up force shutting the laptop down and removing the battery (easily removable). I hoped that the battery would just cool off, but it has now been about half an hour and it has only gotten hotter. What should I do? Should I put it back in the laptop and run something so the battery will drain? Or something else?

 

Thanks for your help!

[amdorintel]

blow a fan over it and keep a close eye on it

 

how old is the setup?

[Fasauceome]

4 minutes ago, TomvanWijnen said:

It was then that I noticed that the battery was extremely hot, so I ended up force shutting the laptop down and removing the battery (easily removable). I hoped that the battery would just cool off, but it has now been about half an hour and it has only gotten hotter

a battery that continues to heat up outside the device is extremely worrying, I would not continue using that battery.

[Founders]

Store the battery in a cool dry area until you can dispose of it properly, it's dead and you'll need a replacement. If you don't use the laptop often anymore then just use it without a battery. 

[amdorintel]

5 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

a battery that continues to heat up outside the device is extremely worrying, I would not continue using that battery.

i agree, the batteries can be expensive to replace, but i know lots that open them up and throw in new cells, others will use the old cells for ebikes.

[TomvanWijnen]

5 minutes ago, amdorintel said:

blow a fan over it and keep a close eye on it

 

how old is the setup?

Ah, good idea! Should've thought of that myself.... Me: "hmm, I don't really have a fan... well, I have this very tiny thing. Better than nothing. ... oh wait, I literally have this massive standing fan in my room..."

 

The laptop is from 2011, I believe. I bought it second hand many years ago.

 

5 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

a battery that continues to heat up outside the device is extremely worrying, I would not continue using that battery.

That's exactly my thoughts. Bit inconvenient as I'm leaving for 5 days in a few hours and need my parents to do something for me on that laptop.... I guess I'll have to tell them to keep it connected to the wall and do it that way. >.<

[amdorintel]

1 minute ago, TomvanWijnen said:

I bought it second hand many years ago.

double wammy

age and its used and abused

 

 

[TomvanWijnen]

1 minute ago, Ehmc130 said:

Store the battery in a cool dry area until you can dispose of it properly, it's dead and you'll need a replacement. If you don't use the laptop often anymore then just use it without a battery. 

rip. Any idea as to how it could die so suddenly? Would it be the two months or so that I didn't use it? I don't personally use the laptop much anymore as I had to get a faster one for university, but when I had time I was going to give it to my father to use, as he could definitely use a better laptop than what he currently has. -- I do have two more similar laptops with interchangeable batteries (3 laptops, 3 batteries), perhaps I can try if it works better on one of the other laptops...

 

3 minutes ago, amdorintel said:

i agree, the batteries can be expensive to replace, but i know lots that open them up and throw in new cells, others will use the old cells for ebikes.

That's perhaps a good idea! It's a 60 WH / 5400 mAh 11.1V battery with I believe 6 cells - it's a Dell T54FJ.

 

2 minutes ago, amdorintel said:

double wammy

age and its used and abused

Nah it's not abused, it was in a relatively good state when I bought it and I've always been very careful and have not used it that much as I also have a desktop. It's also a business laptop so that could mean that its quality is slightly better (haha if only my new laptop is also a business laptop, I've had it for less than 5 months and it's been repaired 4 times with up to three components every time... and I'm very doubtful about some of its current components too... anyways :P).

[AndreiArgeanu]

13 minutes ago, TomvanWijnen said:

rip. Any idea as to how it could die so suddenly?

Batteries usually lose capacity and wear down with time and cycles and just give up on life after a while. For example I have a 5-6 year old toshiba which saw quite a lot of use and now, basically the battery just doesn't work, as soon as you take the the charger away from the laptop it just turns off. You might just have been unlucky when the battery failed as they shouldn't react like that. Also,  try keep it outside your house, or away from flammables, as unlikely as it could be, there is no doubt that it could catch fire

[TomvanWijnen]

1 minute ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Batteries usually lose capacity and wear down with time and cycles and just give up on life after a while. For example I have a 5-6 year old toshiba which saw quite a lot of use and now, basically the battery just doesn't work, as soon as you take the the charger away from the laptop it just turns off. You might just have been unlucky when the battery failed as they shouldn't react like that. Also,  try keep it outside your house, or away from flammables, as unlikely as it could be, there is no doubt that it could catch fire

Ah yeah. Sucks that laptop batteries suck like that. -- I've had it under a fan for some time, and have now turned the fan off too for some time and it's only ever so slightly warm now. I guess I'll put it in the bathtub, can't think of anywhere else that isn't in the rain to put it.

[TrigrH]

use the laptop without the battery in.

[TrigrH]

28 minutes ago, Ultrasnoop said:

that way you have a shit, but portable, desktop.

better than a housefire

[TomvanWijnen]

3 hours ago, Ultrasnoop said:

that way you have a shit, but portable, desktop.

Exactly - and I already have plenty enough faster desktops, some even currently unused unfortunately. Yet a laptop is very convenient sometimes.

 

3 hours ago, TrigrH said:

better than a housefire

At least I've finally got something to warm myself on...

 

I'm gone for 5 days now and I'll instruct to put the battery somewhere safe and just use it plugged in. Afterwards and when I finally have time I'll test some things to see if it was just a one time occurrence of if it's actually shot to pieces.