You noticed your dell laptop battery is swollen.
That is an issue you need to act on fast.
No need to panic just read on and follow the instructions on what to do with the swollen battery.
Lithium ion polymer batteries have become the norm with modern laptops. They slim and sleek and make the laptops less bulkier and have the added advantage of being smaller in size while lasting longer.
Unfortunately with the portable size of the Lithium ion polymer batteries they are more prone to issues like swelling. If you browse reddit you are likely to encounter someone with a swollen Dell XPS 13 or Dell XPS 15 battery issue.
This is not good since a swollen battery can cause serious damage to your computer hardware. You need to stop using the swelling or swollen battery immediately.
What to do if Dell laptop battery is swollen.
Your initial thought would be to yank the battery out of the laptop but that’s not the proper way, what you need to do is
- Disconnect the laptop from the charger
- Let the battery drain power
- After the computer shuts down. Remove the battery, making sure you do so careful and not damage other computer components
- On some laptops you may need to consult the manual to remove the battery
- Safely dispose the battery
- Do not physical crush or pierce the battery. Also don’t throw into it fire or expose it to hot temperature
NB If your laptop is still under warranty you can contact dell for a replacement of the swollen battery. Have your Dell service tag ready. Dell customer service will request for the service tag to check if your laptop is still under warranty
Replacement of non warranty batteries
If the laptop is no longer under warranty you will need to replace the battery on your own. You can find dell laptop battery replacements on their website under accessories section.
To make sure you purchase the right battery make sure you enter your service tag The only disadvantage is that batteries are very expensive on dell.com. Alternatively you can get them relatively cheap on Amazon for example check the batteries here.
Do not use non dell batteries on dell laptops they will cause you even more problems and headaches.
Why do Dell laptop battery swell?
Swelling of laptop batteries is not unique to the dell brand. Its common on most devices using Lithium ion polymer batteries to swell.
This is due to either being over charged, heat or slow degradation as the battery ages. The Lithium Ion polymer batteries are not as stable as the previously used Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd),
Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) batteries.
Lithium is more reactive and the fact that the batteries are compacted together does not help the situation. They are pressurized and designed to contain any reactions that happen. This cause them to swell when overheated since contents cannot escape. While this is designed to prevent fire or leakages the swelling can physically damage your computer.
Can a swollen battery Be Fixed?
How do you fix swollen laptop battery. Am just going to categorically say no. No you don’t fix a swollen battery.
Just get rid of it.
Do not attempt it, messing with the batteries can be dangerous. You can even have it on fire. No am not joking or blowing things out of propotion.
Lithium ion laptop batteries can cause a fire or explode even though its on rare occasions, you would not want to be the one in the situation.
Other than the fire hazard you do not want the chemicals from the battery on you. They can cause you.
In fact most computer manufactures have battery recycling facilities to avoid batteries being discarded carelessly
How to prevent your battery from swelling
Some of the causes of dell batteries swelling are user induced. Most of the batteries that swell are from heavy computer users. Its important to do your part and prevent the battery from swelling in the first place
Overheating
As I have already mentioned above, overheating can cause the battery to swell. Make sure your computer has proper ventilation. Check that the fans are spinning and the air vents are not covered in dust.
I once fried a motherboard from falling asleep with the laptop air vents covered by the blankets whilst the computer was running at maximum performance. Woke up to a computer which wouldn’t turn on.
Use the correct dell charger
Some HP laptops chargers work on Dell laptops, while this may seem helpful its not. Do not use a non dell charger on a dell laptop. Same goes for the battery.
Even if it fits, it does not mean it belongs there. Over charging can happen with the wrong charger.
Buy a proper dell charger from Amazon they are cheap here
Replace battery
Is your battery old?
Is it no longer holding charger? If yes whats the point of having a battery that no longer holds a charg. Get rid of it and find a replacement.
The older the battery the more issues it will have.
Lastly do not always leave your laptop charging all the time. I know it can be annoying to plug in your laptop on and off but the battery is there also to work.
Keeping the laptop charging all the time is not wise.
Comment below if you have questions or comments
Your post is pretty much helpful for Dell users. I hope they will find the right solution for their swollen Dell battery problem after reading your article.