Sony Announces Global Battery Recall

snafu109 writes "Since the laptop battery recalls initiated by Dell, Apple, IBM/Lenovo, Toshiba & Fujitsu, some may have wondered whether the entire lot should be recalled. Well, over at MarketWatch, a new article reports just that. 'Sony said Thursday it will initiate a global replacement program for certain battery packs that use its lithium-ion cells in notebook computers in order to address concerns related to recent over-heating incidents.' In related news, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has released some tips on how to lower the risk of your laptop batteries exploding, no matter who the manufacturer."

why

[Amouth]

It looks to me like they are trying to save face here.. though i don't think it will help much..
Sony just keeps digging a bigger hole each way you look... I have to wonder if the exec's arn't stipping the company apart from the inside

Re:At least they are recyclable

[Doc Ruby]

When looking at energy efficiency of power products, it's important to include the costs of manufacturing, maintenance and disposal. These true costs are what kills many power techs, like nuclear, most PV solar, and, say, slave boat rowers.

I wonder how much energy will be spent per battery, including roundtrip airfreight fuel and your reading this message that I write, before the battery's current lifecycle is over.

Of course those hidden costs aren't part of our decisions when we buy these devices to stay running away from tethered power for a plane flight. But they do count, and really add up when a massive recall is executed. Even the overall efficiency of a recalled car model must be impacted by the recall process.

Confused? Worried?

[mac123]

And yet no recall on the batteries in my Sony Vaio laptop?

Re:The worst way for this to happen to Sony

[pizpot]

Wait till a house catches fire and someone dies. Then Sony really will be a 4-letter word.

New batteries better?

[CrazyTalk]

My Dell was one of the laptops with the recalled battery, so I promptly sent for a replacement. Mind you, I never had any problems with the battery at all - the computer ran cool as a cucumber (And never exploded). Of course, why would I turn down the chance for a new batter, if for no other reason than it should be better at holding a charge then my 18 month old one. Got my new battery in the mail last week, and guess what? The darn thing runs so hot, even when the laptop is running of of A/C power, that I'm practially burning my left palm everytime I use it. Is it too late to get my old battery back?

Re:At least they are recyclable

[Doc Ruby]

These materials are recyclable, which is certainly a better setup than before. But my point is the energy costs of recycling. How much energy is consumed in remanufacturing PV into a second duty cycle? Per energy produced in its prior cycle? Plus original manufacture and other maintenance? This is not a rhetorical question - I've spent dozens of hours, maybe hundreds, over the past 5-10 years trying to get those numbers for my own construction plans.

A more rhetorical question is the energy budget of the PV powered satellites. Because the rockets launching them are so energy inefficient, especially when including their R&D, manufacturing, maintenance and pollution costs. Like with these notebook batteries, their PV is essential because it's the only way to run in their deployment environment, despite the huge inefficiency of their overall energy system.

Ultimately, practically all those energy inputs burn petrofuels (or a little nuclear, and a tiny bit of hydroelectic, and negligible other sources). So these "alternatives" look good in the narrow view of their operating hours, but their total lifecycle probably burns even more petrofuels than straight combustion power.

Energy consumption lies at the center of our economics, national security, and military, all interconnected at many levels. The only way to cut this gordian knot is to scale back the total energy consumption of all of these industries. Knowing the full true costs is an essential first step to reducing them.

Why do the explode?

[dayyan]

Just in case some of you are wondering why these batteries explode. A scientific summary would be: They become overcharged.

And if you are wondering how overcharging can create an explosion. Another scientific summary would be: If you put more energy into an environment which cannot handle it. It becomes unstable.

If you are wondering why an environment becomes unstable when too much energy is involved: It comes down to atomic science.

Wondering why it comes down to atomic science? You might want to think about going back to school, we need more scientific minds like you.

Re:Confused? Worried?

[Ron Bennett]

Wondering the same thing too...

From what I've read, it appears that Sony puts more battery charging safeguards into to their branded notebooks than Dell, Apple, etc do?

Ron