expanding battery

[gruntergraphix]

has anyone heard of your battery exploding/expanding?

not literally but the thing has just gone like that after using it for an hour of so

it still goes but the battery has expanded out of the back of the black plastic area.

[kingpin7151]

wow that doesnt sound good... thats the first time i have heard of that and i think you should contact cowon and see what they have to say...

[Michalaq]

It's happened to one person before, I believe.
Someone left their D2 on a shelf fow a while and the battery had expanded to the point of popping the case open. I searched the forums, but can't find the thread just now, I'll post it whenever I locate it.

You should definitely claim warranty - this seems to be a case of malfunctioning battery.

[mymandarin123]

It happened to Cutler and here's the thread in question.
http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14543

gruntergraphix - Does your player also look like the pics in the above thread ?

Sorry abt your player, really really hope that this is not a trend.

[Barron]

Wow i thought that was just a one off hope there is not a dodgy batch or something. Good luck getting it fixed

[Mr. Black]

I've got these two threads bookmarked and will be keeping an eye on the situation... One more report and I think I will start a thread on it.. ATM we should consider these unfortunate flukes, and hopefully we don't see anymore.

[Simplyblue]

Ugh I definitely don't want that happening to my D2. [blink]

[M4psycho]

Yeah we don't want this to turn into the exploding mac books.

[Mr. Black]

speaking of, I've just ordered a macbook, I hope it isn't the exploding variety.

[gruntergraphix]

I've got these two threads bookmarked and will be keeping an eye on the situation... One more report and I think I will start a thread on it.. ATM we should consider these unfortunate flukes, and hopefully we don't see anymore.

thanks guys for all the support.

yeah i think you must be right, it must be a faulty lithium

i treat mine extremely careful. I have only ever charged it when connected to the PC.

when i got mine from an online store it came already charged, which was cool cause i could use it straight away. But i did think it strange, so unless it had be charged incorrectly (which i doubt) but it was nice of them to have it ready for me to use.

mymandarin123 yes mine looks exactly the same. it still works but gee i didn't expect this after i have been so careful with it.

i have never dropped it or anything i had just been using it in my car it was night and i only noticed it when i went to put it back in it's case to bring inside, i was horrified to see that damage

the store said to send it back and they will replace it (i don't think it is repairable anyway) seens as the actual body/middle section is all warped.

thanks guys for all the feedback

[TedJ]

All LiIon batteries leave the factory with a partial charge, since they store better with ~40% charge in them.

My player also appeared to be fully charged when I first bought it, but I depleted it in a few hours of heavy fiddling. [smile]

[gruntergraphix]

its funny that i don't pay much attention the the horoscopes, but this week i now believe in them.

The stars said that i would start the week with a bang!

[Vlad Tepes Drac]

its funny that i don't pay much attention the the horoscopes, but this week i now believe in them.

The stars said that i would start the week with a bang!


lol damn those horoscopes!! Crazy thing to happen though! At least you're going to get it replaced!
haha just be glad the horoscope didnt say "an object very dear to you with spontaneously combust" :P

[rwp789]

I found this thread after I realised I have the same problem with my D2, the battery looks like it's about to explode and the back cover is horribly warped! I started having trouble inserting/removing SD cards a couple of days ago, but I didn't realise it was because of the battery until I took the D2 out of its cover (which had apparently been keeping everything in place). Needless to say that I'm quite shocked about this, but I have contacted the shop and am now awaiting a reply.

Fingers crossed that this doesn't turn into a bigger problem after all!

[mymandarin123]

Oh God, not again. This is really bad news. Sorry about your player, hope you get a new one quickly. If you still have the player with you, could you post a pic of your player and also if it's possible could you post the serial number(given on the back) of you D2. Will help to identify if other's who have got the exploding battery issue have got the players from the same batch.

[rwp789]

Here are a couple of pics of my D2 plus the serial number, as requested!

[mymandarin123]

From the pictures your player's condition looks exactly similar to what Cutler had posted in his thread. This doesn't seem to be a one off incident now, I would love to be proven wrong, but there seems to be some major problem with the D2 battery.

For people like me who had bought the player even before they were released here from other countries, something like this would be a real heart break.

[dadah]

Horrible! Nothing else to say.

[goatherder]

Yikes!

*gingerly pokes own D2, is straight*

[wader]

From an interesting blog post on MacBook Pro battery issues:


http://blog.duncandavidson.com/2006/12/battery_expansi.html

. . .
One of my 15" MBP batteries were subject to recall. And before it got swapped out, it had bulged out in a pseudo-scary way. But, the battery issue wasn't over yet. Noooooooooooo. In the last few days, I've had another 15" MBP battery bulge out big time. It hasn't been in a laptop for probably a month, and has been sitting flat on a table for at least a few weeks. But when I took a look at it recently, well, it wasn't just bulged. It had expanded so far that the top plate had popped off.
. . .

(from the Comments section)
. . .
Lithium batteries will react like this if they are discharged at a very high amperage (eg: a short across your battery terminals-- anything metal nearby?) or if they are discharged completely to the point where very minor self-discharge will cause them to exceed their current capacity.

Thus it is always safest to store these batteries in a fully charged state. . .


Sony isn't the only company to incur battery recall (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06270.html) consequences, but they were hit rather publicly due to being the battery source for various brands of laptops affected. That was for Lithium-ion battery types, not the Lithium-polymer battery which D2 devices utilize.

The well-known D2 Disassembled article (http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2007/02/cowon-iaudio-d2-disassembled.php) can shine no light on the D2's battery manufacturer.

I hope that Cowon and/or the retailers help those affected quickly, and that Cowon Support is being made aware of these issues through their formal channels. This could hurt the product's adoption if it's actually due to a large, bad batch of batteries and Cowon is not able to get ahead of the issue.

*views back of D2, looks OK . . . vows to never let it fully discharge*

- wader

[gruntergraphix]

my serial number is DE0702409693

and here are some pics

first pic is what it was like
and then second pics is after a week

just need to find sometime to send it back

[mymandarin123]

thanks for the link wader.

I just submitted a Q&A item on cowonglobal regarding this battery issue.

the battery is one of the biggest plus point on this player, would hate to see it being it's biggest curse.

[mymandarin123]

got the following reply from cowon on the battery exploding issue, quite generic reply though.

>>
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. The faulty battery was a problem, however, it does not harm you. If you have the problem, you can get it serviced. We are in progress to provide the highest quality service possible.
<<

[rwp789]

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. The faulty battery was a problem, however, it does not harm you. If you have the problem, you can get it serviced. We are in progress to provide the highest quality service possible.

Not sure what they mean by "the faulty battery was a problem", are they admitting something here? Has it been resolved? The reply I received was even more generic:

<<Thank you for using COWON D2.

We do apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused you. And your message has been forwarded to our sales department. We strive more to provide the best service possible.

If you have further questions, please feel free to ask us again.
We're once again sorry for the inconvenience.

Regards,
COWON>>

But then again, I did tell them that I'd already returned the unit...
Anyway, I'm supposed to get my replacement today, hopefully not with another faulty battery!

P.S. I've been thinking about this, could it be related to using the wall charger? I usually charged my D2 via my PC, but I'd recently used the wall charger, both in Canada & Europe (outside of the UK, which is where I usually am), and noticed the battery issue after I'd charged it in Europe, surely it can't be a mains power issue? (it's a switching adapter, I used it in Canada without trouble after all...)

[mymandarin123]

well I didn't expect much from Cowon support, after my initial interactions with them. Their answers are pretty vague and usually the solutions they suggest don't make much sense.

IMO, wall charger is not related to this incident, because lots of members here have used mains adapter in different countries and so far there have been no reports of damage. I got my D2 from US and I use it in India(220V - 240V@50 Hz) and it's working fine so far.

[WAI]

if that ever happens to my D2 i'll be pissed! how on earth can this happen anyway? surely yes it's possible to happen while the battery is full is still plugged into the charger.

[W33nie]

Hey, both owners had it in a case. Maybe it was the heat?

[grouchofan]

a couple of days ago I noticed a little "hump" only on one side of my d2 (if I press it, it goes back) but I can't really tell if it has always been like that or not..


am I getting paranoid or should I start to worry???

FYI I bought it less than 3 months ago..

[cry] [cry] [cry] [cry]

[Mr. Black]

Contact Cowon ASAP, that doesn't look good

[RichA]

Agreed, that is the start of something bad. I am going to check Cowon's site and see (although I doubt it) if there is anything about this issue.

[Sir Trog]

Well, this is an ancient thread, but my search didn't pull up anything more recent...

Just thought I'd add my experience. My D2 hasn't been used in a couple of days and has been sitting on the desk next to my computer. A few minutes ago I see it 'jump' out of the corner of my eye and - yep - the back has nearly blown off (it's still connected on the side the strap attaches to). The battery inside looks like a Jiffy Pop bag in the early stages of the popcorn-creation process! It wasn't USB attached or anything. Of course it's long out of warranty. I just upgraded the software last week but I'm sure that's neither here nor there. Damn, I loved the little guy and now he done gone and blowed up on me! Any 16 giggers explode yet?

[WAI]

Sorry to hear this. HERE (http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showpost.php?p=124718&postcount=1) is a other user who has had this problem. it's happened to a few other users as well. i just hope it doesn't happen to me.

[theoneandonlymrfurlow]

This could be falty batteries but I would suggest like a previous post that you read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery#Guidelines_for_prolonging_Li-ion_battery_life
as what it advises might be what you are not doing, I wasn't doing that but I will make sure that I don't let it get too low. But like it says keep it around 40-60% as it will last much longer than a constant full charge. It also talks about something to do with Li-ion's and it talks about why there might be some incorrect battery readings.

You should really read it.

[i_is_cat]

this is really too bad :( i sure hope it doesnt happen to my d2
does anyone know if there is a list of serial numbers affected?
i only got mine about a month ago and the sn is way different than the others posted... ??

[charonme]

isn't the D2 battery a lithium polymer rather than a lithium ion one?

[Mr. Black]

isn't the D2 battery a lithium polymer rather than a lithium ion one?

Yessir, it's lithium polymer.

[BioMarco]

isn't the D2 battery a lithium polymer rather than a lithium ion one?
Yes, it is - and?

[charonme]

Yes, it is - and?I asked because people seem to talk and post links to lithium-ion related info instead of lithium polymer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-polymer) and different guidlines/precautions might apply

[mp3_freak_721]

I hope this is a resolved issue. I just bought mine about a month ago and hope it doesn't happen to mine. I feel bad for the guys who ended up with one with a bad battery.

[Boboakley]

I asked because people seem to talk and post links to lithium-ion related info instead of lithium polymer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-polymer) and different guidlines/precautions might apply

Good point. Here (http://www.rchelisite.com/lipo_battery_charging_and_safety_guide.php) is a page about the handling and safety of Li-po batteries. It seems they are pretty touchy, and ballooning and explosions are just some of the consequences of mishandling them.

[BioMarco]

I asked because people seem to talk and post links to lithium-ion related info instead of lithium polymer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-polymer) and different guidlines/precautions might apply
If you know any crucial differences between Li-Ion and Li-Po batteries regarding handling and care, I would be pleased if you could name them. Up to my knowledge, Li-Po uses the same charging chemistry as Li-Ion but having a more secure solid or gel like matrix rather than a liquid one (this makes Li-Po batteries more robust and nothing can leak out). The precautions for handling Li-Po batteries in the link above count the same for Li-Ion batteries - although I really don't understand why one should not charge Li-Po batteries in cars especially when driving...

IMO the question if the D2 has a Li-Po or Li-Ion battery does simply not matter.