Replacement battery ballooned? Let's try to figure out why.

[gl.tter]

OK, this thread is for everyone who's replacement battery 'ballooned' on them. If this happened to you please post the following:


- Battery type (with model no.): Ipod 1st/2nd gen (state Newertech, generic, ...) / Ionity / original iRiver / ...?
- ma rating:
- Purchased from:
- New or used:
- Soldered or replugged:
- Exposed to extreme temperature changes?:
- Anything else that might be relevant:


Please only post if you had this problem - maybe we can figure out what causes it.

[coreman]

It isn't a mystery...it is a defective cell that is producing hydrogen gas...check out the picture on the bottom of the page

[gl.tter]

Right, but the point is what damaged the cell? Some may be shipped that way, but some may be due to other factors. My hunch is that oversoldering might cause this problem, let's find out.

[adama]

It can happen to a battery that hasn't been soldered - check out Ragnorak's post in this thread:
H1xx / H3xx Battery Replacement - success or not?

From the poll, it seems like it only happens very occasionally.

[gl.tter]

Thanks, so maybe it's shortening the pins??

I bet that happens to most people at least once when changing over the pins of their iPod batts, or when removing the molex with a screwdriver.

Edit: the poll doesn't tell us much, as only 1 person voted they had a problem but there are plenty of reports. Also it seems that the swelling can happen quite some time after installation.

[adama]

Not sure. I'd have thought it would've swelled up straight away if that was the cause, but I dunno.

It could also have been related to the deep discharge. Or it could just be down to a battery failure unrelated to anything else - to me that seems like the most likely case at the moment.

It doesn't necessarily damage the rest of the player if the battery swells up, so that's a good thing anyway.


Edit:

Originally Posted by gl.tter

Also it seems that the swelling can happen quite some time after installation.

True! That's why I'm waiting for a while before I vote - I only changed my battery recently so I'm waiting to see how it goes first.


Edit again!
Also, I guess people are more likely to post if they have a problem, so there will be more reports of battery failures than successes.

[Ragnarok]

- Battery type (with model no.): Ipod 1st Newertech
- ma rating: 2200mAh
- Purchased from: addon's world
- New or used: NEW
- Soldered or replugged: I chaged the pin round on the plug without solder
- Exposed to extreme temperature changes?: no
- Anything else that might be relevant: May have been shorted very very briefly, I had been using it at least a week, It did not ballon untill the first time it was fully discharged, after a recharge the HD wouln't work lucky i opened it up when i did else the HD would of been scrap metal. It still worked fine with the back of the case off.

Addon's world sent me a replacement battery (for no extra charge) no questions asked which has been fine.

I may have every so briefly shorted that one too but i had better tools for the job this time round.

Being a little paranoid with the new battery I left the screws out the case (but in the leather case) for the first week and fully charged and discharged it a few times.

There has been one more case of it with an Ihp140 on these forums. The guy at addon's world says it happens from time to time. It obviosly doesn't happen often but it is posable!!

[jumbuck]

EDIT.Please disregard the following as after reserching about Liion batteries I relised that none of what I thought applies. I apoligise for posting unresarched info. I am in in the process of changing my battry and my theory is ... (1)The battery is 3.7 volts, the charge is 5 volts and the battery is sealed. (2)The higher the voltage difference the higher the current flow and the faster the charge . (3) The faster the charge the more heat is generated. (4) The larger the battery capacity the longer the charging peroid the more heat is generated.(5)Heat=ex pansion therefore the more heat the more expansion. In therory slowing down the charge rate and providing better cooling for the battery should avoid this problem. I am going to put heat sink paste between the battery and case and either fit a diode(to reduce voltage 0.5 volts) or a resitor (to reduce current flow) in series on 1 of the charge wires from the transformer. Also charging with the player in a cover will reduce the batteries abilty to cool. Anotherway which might possibley help is to charge a flat battery in stages instead of one long charge thus allowing the battery a chance to cool down. No garanties on my therory but I'm sticking with it. this may even help to increase battery life by not over heating the battery.

[saints]

People dont let this thread scare you off in replacing your battery balooning is VERY RARE, very rare indeed.

[gorcorps]

The battery OUTPUT is supposed to be 3.7 volts... but that shouldn't be directly associated with how much INPUT it can handle. Sure they're connected, but not in the way you're implying.

Originally Posted by jumbuck

I am in in the process of changing my battry and my theory is ... (1)The battery is 3.7 volts, the charge is 5 volts and the battery is sealed. (2)The higher the voltage difference the higher the current flow and the faster the charge . (3) The faster the charge the more heat is generated. (4) The larger the battery capacity the longer the charging peroid the more heat is generated.(5)Heat=ex pansion therefore the more heat the more expansion. In therory slowing down the charge rate and providing better cooling for the battery should avoid this problem. I am going to put heat sink paste between the battery and case and either fit a diode(to reduce voltage 0.5 volts) or a resitor (to reduce current flow) in series on 1 of the charge wires from the transformer. Also charging with the player in a cover will reduce the batteries abilty to cool. Anotherway which might possibley help is to charge a flat battery in stages instead of one long charge thus allowing the battery a chance to cool down. No garanties on my therory but I'm sticking with it. this may even help to increase battery life by not over heating the battery.

[jumbuck]

I dont mean the amount of current the battery can handle but if it can sustain the extra heat created by longer charge times. As a auto electrician ,I'm not an expert on lithium batterys so I'm basing my theory from exprience with other types of sealed batteries and the fact that the only thing that all expanding battery problems have in common is larger capacity. Therefore longer charge times from flat and that if you heat a sealed unit longer the more chance of expansion you will have. I'm guessing that when iriver designed the charger/adaptor they would have made it to charge the battery in the fastest time possible by using the optimal voltage-current combination. My therory is based on this not being suited to higher capacity batteries and longer charge times (and the fact that heat kills batteries). Note by expansion I mean by the build up of gas either present or formed durig charging. Dose anybody know if the batterys are vented? If the are , well that would blow my therory clean out of the water.

[jumbuck]

Battery is in and all precautions taken . Yes I am paranoid and over cautious. But from what I've read on misticriver the H1** seems to be the best and I dont wan't to go through the pain and expence of getting another one. Cheers one and all. Whoops nearly fogot to put in details battery type 2200mAh from suplier in perth.W.A http://cgi.ebay.com.au/IPOD-BATTERY-...QQcmdZViewItem didn't have enough brains to write down number on battery It's a new one .the wires where not shorted and I remved the big bit of rubber padding (between hard drive and battery) but I did use a soft foam rubber (from a unused old nokia 5110 cover) that had one sticky side..

[jumbuck]

Oops I'm not meant to give details till I balloon. SORRY.
It did end up balloning after about 3 months while on charge overnight.

[Ragnarok]

Originally Posted by saints

People dont let this thread scare you off in replacing your battery balooning is VERY RARE, very rare indeed.

Indeed, my case is very rare! the idea is still sound. and i can assure you my replacemt battery is absolutly fine.

[abramelin]

Originally Posted by Ragnarok

- Battery type (with model no.): Ipod 1st Newertech
- ma rating: 2200mAh
- Purchased from: addon's world
- New or used: NEW

Hi there, can you supply a link for this supplier - if they have replaced a ballooned battery that is great. The company I bought from refused to do anything. I had a search on google but all that came up was world of warcraft links

Thanks

[verde]

- Battery type (with model no.): Ipod 1st/2nd gen generic (Cameron Sino)
- ma rating: 2200
- Purchased from: Ebay vendor (shipped from Korea)
- New or used: New
- Soldered or replugged: Replugged but i did have to solder one wire that fell off
- Exposed to extreme temperature changes?: No, just continuous playing for over 8 hrs. a day for over 2 months.
- Anything else that might be relevant: The battery swelling became evident as a 0000 Files error with a HDD Checkdisk notice upon reset. After loosening the screws the player returned to normal, so I took out the 2nd Blue padding (between battery and Hard disk) (I did not check for welling at this point). I checked for normal operation and closed it again. After a few days the player stopped again and after reset there were some sounds "As if the hard disk were being scratched". I stopped operation for good and open the case to reveal a huge swelling of the battery which at the moment renders the player unusable if closed due to the risk of damage to the harddisk. I read somewhere on the forum of a similar story with a dead hard disk as a result.

I still have not contacted the original vendor but there is a supposed one year warranty on the battery.

We will have to see about it.

[P Chase]

- Battery type : Ipod 1st/2nd gen Newertech
- ma rating: 2200
- Purchased from: Other World Computing
- New or used: New
- Soldered or replugged: Replugged
- Exposed to extreme temperature changes?: Nope
- Anything else that might be relevant: Battery worked fine for 2 or 3 months. Then the player would start up and not recognize any files. Didn't happen much at first. Then eventually it would freeze or not start. I took it apart and found that the battery was very inflated. It was pressing on the hard drive and causing the player to not work at all. Contacted Other World Computing and they told me to send it back. Eventually i sent it back and it had swelled up a great deal. They send me a replacement which got here today and is working fine so far. Has anyone figured out what the hell causes this??

[fiveohhh]

I had mine baloon I had bought it from OWC, worked fine for about a month than I had left it in my car(maybe got too warm) for a week. after that it was balooned. Got an RMA from OWC no problem and just installed the new one.

- Battery type (with model no.): Ipod 1st/2nd gen (state Newertech, generic, ...) / Ionity / original iRiver / ...?
- ma rating
- Purchased from:OWC
- New or used:New
- Soldered or replugged:replugged
- Exposed to extreme temperature changes?:maybe in car
- Anything else that might be relevant:

[PlaneGuy]

Mostly copied from Verde because it's identical save for a few changes

- Battery type (with model no.): Ipod 1st/2nd gen generic (Cameron Sino)
- ma rating: 2200
- Purchased from: Ebay vendor (shipped from Hong Kong)
- New or used: New
- Soldered or replugged: replugged
- Exposed to extreme temperature changes?: Perhaps. There was one hell of hot day before I started to notice any symptoms.
- Anything else that might be relevant: The battery swelling became evident as a 0000 Files error. I opened the player and reseated the battery in the blue foam. I checked for normal operation and closed it again. A week or so later, I go to listen to radio and it did 0000 files again. I stopped operation for good and opened the case to reveal a huge swelling of the battery which at the moment renders the player unusable if closed (HDD error). I think if I get a new not-swollen battery it'll be ok. I think it may have also leaked a bit.

Edit: minor leakage confirmed.

[blitz]

Just wondering is there any telltale sign of a battery ballooning without actually having to take apart the whole player?