Tue, Aug 29, 2006
Battery Fires To Blame; Apple May Be Next
Fresh on the heels of
reports that Sony-made batteries in both Dell and Apple laptop
computers might catch fire or even explode... Qantas has banned the
use of all Dell laptops from its flights.
"We have put limitations on Dell computers and at this stage we
are awaiting further information from Apple," a Qantas spokesperson
told Australian Personal Computer magazine.
As Aero-News reported, Dell
recalled more than four million lithium-ion batteries earlier this
month over concerns they could spark a major fire. Apple followed
suit soon thereafter, adding another 1.8 million to the total
number of computers to be recalled.
So far, no other airline has made a similar move... but concern
over that very possibility has prompted some companies whose
employees have to fly for a living to suggest they'll move away
from Dell and Apple laptops, should others follow Qantas' lead.
The batteries in question are supplied to both companies by
Sony... and in addtion to Dell and Apple laptops, the lithium-ion
cells are also used in laptops made by Hewlitt-Packard and Lenovo.
So far, there are no reports of exploding batteries in those
products.
As for the cause of the bursting batteries, Sony says the
explosions are caused by microscopic metal particles that, in rare
occasions, may come in contact with other parts of the battery
cell. The cells are designed to power off when that occurs... but
on some, an internal short circuit causes the cell to overheat and
catch fire before that happens.
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