About two months ago, I was getting off a flight and noticed that my backpack (containing my laptop) felt rather warm. I didn’t pay too much attention to it, thinking that maybe my laptop had turned itself on for some reason, or I was just imagining it.
At the hotel, I noticed that my laptop casing was coming apart. I assumed the man in the row behind me had been careless putting my bag into the overhead locker.
I pretty much ignored it until last week when I decided to take a look inside. And this is what I found:
If it’s not that obvious, the battery had expanded to approx 150% of its normal size, and this is what had pushed the casing apart.
I contacted the manufacturer who put me touch with their UK authorised repairer. Unsurprisingly the warranty only lasts one year for the battery (my laptop is now over three years old), however they were willing to sell me a replacement.
Here’s a comparison of the old battery and the new:
And here it is fitted snugly into the laptop:
Oh, and I saved myself about £85 by fitting it myself.
(For the observant ones out there, yes, I did take the opportunity to clean out the fans too.)