Swollen battery - should I discharge it?

[BondiBlue]

So I've got a bit of a problem on my hands. The battery from my Early 2011 15" MacBook Pro decided it wanted to be a balloon and has started to swell. It still works fine, but obviously I'm not keeping it. The problem is that it's fully charged (right at 100%). Should I run the laptop from it to discharge it most of the way? I'm prepared to deal with it if anything goes wrong, but I just wanted to check first on what I should do until I'm able to dispose of it. 

 

If I do discharge it I don't care at all about the laptop. It's completely screwed up anyway, and it can never be repaired. If the battery completely kills the logic board I wouldn't care, and it wouldn't be a loss to me. 

[8-Bit Ninja]

Just get rid of it now, if its swollen then its not safe. It's sorta like asking if you should let the timer on the bomb run down to 1 before you get rid of it. 

[BondiBlue]

1 minute ago, 8-Bit Ninja said:

Just get rid of it now, if its swollen then its not safe. It's sorta like asking if you should let the timer on the bomb run down to 1 before you get rid of it. 

Yes, I will be getting rid of it (as I mentioned in my original post), I just can't do so right now. It might be a day or two before I can do so. From what I've experienced with swollen batteries they're alright as long as they aren't physically damaged, but I just want to make sure it's alright for a little bit, and I'd be willing to chance discharging it if being discharged might mean less potential hazard. 

[8-Bit Ninja]

1 minute ago, BondiBlue said:

Yes, I will be getting rid of it (as I mentioned in my original post), I just can't do so right now. It might be a day or two before I can do so. From what I've experienced with swollen batteries they're alright as long as they aren't physically damaged, but I just want to make sure it's alright for a little bit, and I'd be willing to chance discharging it if being discharged might mean less potential hazard. 

It'll be "safer" once discharged yes, but I'd advise you leave it somewhere where if it does ignite it will be safe. If the battery continues to expand it can effectivity pierce itself and ignite. 

[BondiBlue]

Just now, 8-Bit Ninja said:

It'll be "safer" once discharged yes, but I'd advise you leave it somewhere where if it does ignite it will be safe. If the battery continues to expand it can effectivity pierce itself and ignite. 

So if I can get it discharged it'll be at least marginally more stable than when fully charged?

[8-Bit Ninja]

4 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

So if I can get it discharged it'll be at least marginally more stable than when fully charged?

Yes, still not safe, just safer 

[Moonzy]

8 minutes ago, 8-Bit Ninja said:

It'll be "safer" once discharged yes,

Any source for me to read on this?

 

Theoretically there's less potential energy after discharging but idk how much of a difference that would make

[Heliian]

Stop using it right now. 

 

Using the battery to try and discharge it will create more heat and more damage. 

[BondiBlue]

3 minutes ago, Heliian said:

Stop using it right now. 

 

Using the battery to try and discharge it will create more heat and more damage. 

1) I'm not using it, and I haven't used it actively since around August.

2) If I do decide to discharge it I would do so very slowly, it's not a race.