Hi Brian:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/01/17/dell_laptop_named_in_sa/ > Any ideas that are derived from "real-world" experience? The issue is "root cause." There are several possible causes of battery explosions. These can be boiled down to two classes: 1. electrically-caused battery failure and explosion, or 2. "other-caused" battery failure and explosion. We can control electrically-caused battery failure by addressing charge state, charge rate, discharge rate, temperature, etc. I've learned from one of my colleagues that one cause of battery explosions is due battery separator failure. Separators fail because they are thin, or because they are damaged during crushing, or damaged during overheating, etc. Separator failure may or may not be electrically-caused. Unfortunately, while we can control the use of electrical energy to and from the battery to minimize the possibility of electrically-caused separator failure, we cannot electrically control the battery when the separator fails. > Another (stupid) question: How did these units, mentioned in the above URLs, > ever pass the most basic abnormal/SFC Type Tests in 950 or 65-based > standards? I surmise that the units in question did indeed pass the single-fault-condition tests for battery charge, discharge, etc. I further surmise that the battery explosion was unlikely electrically-caused. Best regards, Rich This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/listserv/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: [email protected] Dave Heald: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
