PSA: Keep An Eye On Your Older Laptops For Swelling Batteries

Lithium Ion batteries brought greatly increased battery life to laptops, but that did come at a cost: the risk of battery fire. As noted by Consumer Reports, a lithium ion laptop battery membrane that is compromised has the potential to trigger a runaway thermal reaction that could reach temperatures of over 1,000° F in a matter of seconds, leading to a fire or even an explosion. It’s not just the heat and flames that are a danger, toxic fumes are also in play. The odds of this extreme event happening are relatively rare, but they’re not unheard of. You don’t need to look that hard online to find accounts of laptop fires.

I’m writing about his because I just removed the battery in my wife’s seven year-old, 11-inch MacBook Air. This spare laptop was conscripted back into active use when she began working from home at the start of the pandemic. Laptops were in short supply and connected to a big, 4K display (although old it can still output 4K), it got the job done. It doesn’t hurt that I always max out the specs when I order a new laptop, so this one had a Core i7 processor and the maximum RAM available.

After shifting to hybrid work, replacing the MBA seemed like less of an urgent priority. After all, it was still getting the job done and only had to be used one or two days a week. However, I noticed one day that the lid was open a half inch or so. It was like that next time I saw it. I finally investigated and it turned out that the lid could not physically close. The keyboard and palm rest case were swelling and warped. This is a pretty solid aluminum laptop, so it was a very bad sign that something was putting that much force on it.

I immediately brought the MBA to my workbench and backed up the data. From there, I removed the case screws. The pressure from inside was so intense that the last two screws popped out and flew into the air after a few turns. It was quickly apparent what the issue was: the laptop’s Lithium Ion battery was badly swollen. It should be flat, but looked like a puffy coat. I very carefully removed it and until I have the time to take it to our local environmental depot for proper disposal, it is sitting outside, well away from the house and contained in a metal bucket.

I didn’t bother replacing the battery. This laptop still boots and runs with just a power adapter if I ever needed it. However, I did take the opportunity to switch my wife’s work-from-home setup to a new M1 Mac mini — which has been fantastic, by the way.

This is actually the second MacBook Air I’ve owned that has suffered from a swelling Lithium Ion battery. The first was an early generation 13-inch MBA. I posted about that experience in 2015, including how to find a replacement battery, and how to replace the laptop’s original battery. That particular MacBook Air with its third party battery is still functional today, although it’s pretty useless as anything but a web browser.

The bottom line on this post is that if you have a laptop that is more than three or four years old, you should be keeping an eye out for any signs of a swelling battery. Especially if you have retired models that are stuffed in a closet or drawer in case you think of a use for them in the future. Although rare, Lithium Ion battery swelling does happen, and MacBooks don’t get a free pass. I may be a statistical outlier, but I’ve had two of four MacBook Airs I’ve owned swell up because of a faulty battery pack... Swelling is bad enough. It can physically damage a laptop if left unchecked, and removal needs to be done very carefully.

However, if a swelling Lithium Ion laptop battery ruptures, the consequences will be a whole lot worse.

Here’s a primer from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) that has pointers on Lithium Ion battery safety, including not charging a laptop on your bed or couch.