Bloated Battery for Spectre x360

[BenRkv]

Hi all. I am posting here because, for reasons unknown to all but the cynical, HP recently locked this popular and recently updated thread about a common issue with the Spectre x360 line. Specifically, the batteries on some of those laptops bloat up until they physically damage the laptop itself. Mine, for example, had popped open my laptop's bottom panel and pushed up against both trackpad and spacebar, rendering them unusable. And of course, this issue often pops up after a laptop's warranty has ended, although before one might hope a luxury brand's flagship device would suddenly begin destroying itself from the inside out. And, finally, HP sells a replacement battery through a third party seller who is currently (a) out of stock and (b) usually sells at an exorbitant rate, given that the battery is self-destructing through no fault of the user's.

It is also a fire hazard, naturally.

For similarly unknown reasons, HP does not cover the Spectre x360 as a part of its battery recall program. Curious...

Regardless, I am here to provide my HP-free solution. We'll see how long the admins leave it up for.

STEP ONE: Purchases

Here is a list of things you will need to purchase if your battery is bloating. 

1. Replacement Battery. I purchased this one. Note that installing a non-HP battery will force you to begin every startup by pressing "ENTER" when a brief error message pops up, because HP is apparently run by sadists. I find this a small price to pay. 
   1. BE AWARE OF YOUR LAPTOP MODEL. THIS BATTERY WILL NOT WORK FOR ALL HP SPECTRE X360s. I have an HP Spectre x360 15t-ch000. If you do not know your product name, check here. I suggest downloading the relevant manual as well - Google will help you find it - so you can double-check the serial number for the battery your laptop uses. 
2. Precision Screwdriver Set. I purchased this one. It had all of the tools I required for the job, including the 3 necessary screwdriver bits, a screwdriver, a pair of precision tweezers, two prybars (very useful), triangle paddles, and a demagnetiser. There are many similar kits available elsewhere.
3. Adhesive Bumpers. This is optional, but recommended. At least for my model, I had to remove one of the rubber feet holding the laptop up above the surface below in order to access a few of the screws for the bottom plate. This meant physically pulling off the rubber foot and scraping the old, dried glue out of the plastic channel. As a result, you may want a replacement for this function. I purchased these.

STEP TWO: Surgery

The steps are rather simple. Remove the bottom panel, remove the battery, insert new battery, replace bottom panel. I followed the steps on the appropriate manual for my model (which includes pages on removing both the panel and the battery) as well as this video. I will include some tips and observations below that may provide some insight if you haven't done this sort of thing before (as I hadn't).

• I found the bottom panel surprisingly difficult to remove, even once the screws were out. I used the plastic prybars and triangle paddles from my kit to help. What the manual and video don't tell you is that the bottom panel is also held in place by a series of plastic connectors, including two bigger hinges that wrap around the hinges of the laptop itself. Had I been more aggressive in pulling off the panel, they might have snapped off (as it's plastic!), which would have been a disaster. So I recommend caution at this stage - go slow, make sure things "snap" out of place methodically, and don't be too aggressive.
• Once the panel is off, you will have to detach the battery cables (pretty simple) and remove the black and white (for me at least) wires from within a little holder on the right side of the battery. These wires are thin, but a little tricky. Using my precision tweezers, I accidentally nicked one wire a bit, and from then on used my fingers and plastic implements. Don't forget this stage or pulling the battery out will damage other components severely. 
• One of my five screws was incredibly resistant to removal, because the battery's bloat had essentially held it deep into its channel. After a bit, I recognized that my screwdriving was in risk of stripping the screw, which would be bad. My solution was to remove the other 4 screws and then remove the battery by snipping off the plastic bridge. Without the weight of the battery pushing the screw into its channel, it came out easily. Maybe this won't apply to anyone else, but it helped save me a lot of time and stress.
• Re-connecting the battery cable to the battery port was a bit tricky. Be careful that the gold prongs don't shift; if they do, just realign them. 

STEP THREE: Startup

Once I started up my computer, I received a CMOS Checksum error message. However, everything seemed to be in order. Upon restarting, I no longer received this message (although I did receive a "This is not an official HP battery" message). So if you receive this error, do not worry.

I am now going through the normal battery cycle procedure: charge to 100%, discharge to 0%, rinse and repeat a few times. Everything else seems to be in order: my trackpad and spacebar are working, the chassis is a bit loose but no longer bulging, and so on. We'll see whether the laptop's battery power has decreased, but it would be a small price to pay.

STEP FOUR (FINAL): Tell HP

Tell HP that their lack of ownership over this defined issue is immoral and disgusting. Let them know that their unwillingness to acknowledge, let alone fix, a persistent and serious defect has cost them your patronage in the future. Inform them that you will warn others against shopping with a company that sells you a laptop for $2,000 and will not replace the batteries it knows are hazardous just two years later. They need to do better.

[TEJ1602]

@BenRkv, Welcome to HP Support Community!

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details). 

If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community. 

[BenRkv]

Thanks very much. I have already spoken to several HP employees and have gotten the same responses: this laptop battery is not covered by HP's battery recall program, I cannot get the battery or rubber foot sent free of charge because I am (naturally) out of warranty, and HP does not sell this battery directly any longer.