Exploding HP laptop

[northernladuk]

I've never seen a laptop warn you that its battery is old and should be disposed of. If it represented a genuine risk of exploding, you would expect the laptop to refuse to boot until you disconnected the battery, or at least pop up saying battery is past EOL.

I meant point it out in court that manufacturers recommendations are every 2 years.. anything past that then you are on your own. I'm sure HP can't be held responsible for someone using a battery for 6 years passed recommended replacement dates.

There are numerous articles mentioning changing batteries every 2 years. There is also a reply on the HP site saying..

There is a battery tool in the Support Assistant which will give you a readout of how many cycles the battery has had, and how much capacity is left. I would replace a battery with over 600 cycles (roughly equal to 2 years' daily use) or 60% or less of its original charge capacity.

So you can see when it's struggling to hold charge. I think if anyone released tech that stopped you booting when the battery reaches supplier recommended times there would be hell to pay.

[FIERCE TANK BATTLE]

Surely HP need to point out that batteries need replacing anywhere between 2 and 4 years and if this hadn't been done then NHS have been negligent with their maintenance?

I've never seen a laptop warn you that its battery is old and should be disposed of. If it represented a genuine risk of exploding, you would expect the laptop to refuse to boot until you disconnected the battery, or at least pop up saying battery is past EOL.

[vetran]

I remember that HP laptops had a reputation way back for just failing. Completely random DOA.

From memory more than Dell & IBM back in the noughties which is why we had Dell.
Then they got better and cheaper so we switched to them.
Then the beggars removed the serial ports before USB was added to most large electrical systems.

[courtg9000]

I remember that HP laptops had a reputation way back for just failing. Completely random DOA.

[SueEllen]

It was a Diesel laptop

Were about 1,500 others destroyed as well?

[Paddy]

Oh dear!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...m-ion-battery/

An NHS trust is taking the IT giant HP to court after an exploding laptop caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage in a hospital X-ray lab.
The London North West Healthcare NHS Trust is seeking £687,314 in compensation for damaged equipment after the computer’s battery cells ruptured in the middle of the night, causing a six-hour fire that had to be extinguished by firefighters.

The incident occurred at Ealing Hospital in 2017 and the NHS Trust took action against the US company in August, according to legal documents.

The HP ProBook 4510 laptop was left in a basement office when its battery cells were expelled from its casing and tore at around 2am, causing “extensive smoke damage” to the office and the X-ray lab above it, according to the claim.

Equipment that was damaged beyond repair included a £410,000 endoscopic X-ray machine, the trust said.

The High Court lawsuit states that “the fire caused extensive smoke damage to the basement office… and its contents and smoke from the fire also spread vertically and entered the X-ray room”.

It claims that the laptop was “not constructed in accordance with principles generally accepted as constituting good engineering practice”. It says the company breached electrical equipment regulations and produced the laptop negligently.

The trust is seeking damages related to the equipment, as well as interest payments and costs.

Many electronics manufacturers have faced trouble with lithium-ion batteries igniting. If the batteries become damaged they can trigger a phenomenon known as thermal runaway that leads to them overheating and possibly exploding.

HP recalled several models of laptop in 2018 and 2019 because of batteries’ propensity to overheat after a number of incidents, although the model in the hospital was not among them.

The electronics giant Samsung was thrown into crisis in 2016 when its Galaxy Note 7 phone was found to have faulty batteries, leading the company to suspend sales of the device and several airlines to ban it on flights.

Concerns over lithium-ion batteries have spread amid the rise of electric cars, leading to growing investment in technology such as solid-state batteries, which are seen as safer.

HP and the London North West Healthcare NHS Trust declined to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

It was a Diesel laptop

[northernladuk]

So they are suing over something that happened 5 years ago regarding a laptop that, at the time, was 8 years old? Surely HP need to point out that batteries need replacing anywhere between 2 and 4 years and if this hadn't been done then NHS have been negligent with their maintenance? Can't read the article but it would be interesting to know what the basement office was? IT Storage? If it was in use was it plugged in permanently because of it's age?

On the face of it it feels like the NHS are really reaching here but would depend on the details.

[SueEllen]

Oh dear!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...m-ion-battery/

An NHS trust is taking the IT giant HP to court after an exploding laptop caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage in a hospital X-ray lab.
The London North West Healthcare NHS Trust is seeking £687,314 in compensation for damaged equipment after the computer’s battery cells ruptured in the middle of the night, causing a six-hour fire that had to be extinguished by firefighters.

The incident occurred at Ealing Hospital in 2017 and the NHS Trust took action against the US company in August, according to legal documents.

The HP ProBook 4510 laptop was left in a basement office when its battery cells were expelled from its casing and tore at around 2am, causing “extensive smoke damage” to the office and the X-ray lab above it, according to the claim.

Equipment that was damaged beyond repair included a £410,000 endoscopic X-ray machine, the trust said.

The High Court lawsuit states that “the fire caused extensive smoke damage to the basement office… and its contents and smoke from the fire also spread vertically and entered the X-ray room”.

It claims that the laptop was “not constructed in accordance with principles generally accepted as constituting good engineering practice”. It says the company breached electrical equipment regulations and produced the laptop negligently.

The trust is seeking damages related to the equipment, as well as interest payments and costs.

Many electronics manufacturers have faced trouble with lithium-ion batteries igniting. If the batteries become damaged they can trigger a phenomenon known as thermal runaway that leads to them overheating and possibly exploding.

HP recalled several models of laptop in 2018 and 2019 because of batteries’ propensity to overheat after a number of incidents, although the model in the hospital was not among them.

The electronics giant Samsung was thrown into crisis in 2016 when its Galaxy Note 7 phone was found to have faulty batteries, leading the company to suspend sales of the device and several airlines to ban it on flights.

Concerns over lithium-ion batteries have spread amid the rise of electric cars, leading to growing investment in technology such as solid-state batteries, which are seen as safer.

HP and the London North West Healthcare NHS Trust declined to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.