HP Pavilion - Swelled Up Battery

[rppuri]

I have a 2-year old HP Pavilion notebook (Product Number: W2L48UA#ABA). I noticed that the battery is swelled up with a noticable bulge on the left side of the keyboard. This is my first HP notebook after owning several others (IBM, Lenovo, Toshiba) for many years and have never had this happen.

I did notice that there was a recall program for the batteries but I only see the HP Pavilion x360 listed there. 

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/recalls.html

I did run the HP Battery Program Validation Utility but that utility reports that my battery is not affected by the recall. Given the problem is visible (battery swelling), how do I make sure this battery is not a hazard and affected similar to other units being recalled?

[CF4]

Hi

The affected batteries were shipped with specific HP, Compaq, HP ProBook, HP ENVY, Compaq Presario, and HP Pavilion Notebook Computers sold worldwide from March 2013 through October 2016, and/or were sold as accessories or spares, or provided as replacements through Support.

https://h30686.www3.hp.com/?lang=en-GB

https://h30686.www3.hp.com/Utility/HPBRCULauncher.exe

The above only re-inforces what you have already done.

[Cheron-Z]

@rppuri

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 Forum.

[rppuri]

Thanks @CF4. Yes, that's the utillity I ran.

[rppuri]

Thanks for looking into this @Cheron-Z. I'll look for the private message from the HP contact. I did try to contact HP Support using the HP Support Assistant chat function but for some reason it didn't connect.

[rppuri]

As a follow-up, I got a call from HP Support. They asked me to take the laptop to an authorized service center. I called the service center before taking the laptop and the person on the phone said that since the laptop is out of warranty, they need to charge me a "diagnostic fee" to figure out what's causing the battery to swell. Additionally, there will a replacement fee for the battery.

It was clear that the swelled battery is indeed causing the keyboard to lift up on the left side and the hinge being uprooted. Just to be sure, I opened up the laptop. Here are the pictures from it:

Can someone from HP please confirm if this battery is part of the recall program or this is expected out of a 2 year old latop battery? It is hard to imagine that in 2 years of normal uage, the battery would swell up like this. Additionally, the only "help" I get from HP is someone from support telling me that since the laptop is out of the 1 year warranty, I need to pay a "diagnostic fee" and a "battery replacement fee" to have this fixed. I would expect more responsibility to properly diagnose the issue and if this is a manufacturing defect in the battery, have the battery replaced without charging me a diagnostic fee.

[Mom_4Angels]

I have the same issue with my HP V5C49AV laptop purchased in June 2016. While the laptop is out of warranty, the battery should NOT be swelling on the left side of my keyboard. I have run the HP Support Assistant battery check off and on for these two years. My battery (which is swelling) has a THREE year warranty that is about to expire. We have 7 HP products in our home--5 laptops & two printers. It is sad that this laptop, that I customized and built from the website is having a battery issue and I will be required to foot the bill to replace it when clearly it is defective. Our systems are on chill pads so they don't overheat. My system does not run hot despite this battery issue. I am now afraid to use it & if this is as good as it gets (less than 3 years), it may be time to return to Dell systems (had a used laptop last 5+ years from them). Please someone from HP contact me about the warranty on this battery BEFORE it runs out despite the tool saying it's fine. I have pics of the case/keyboard to show something is terribly wrong. Thank you. I Loved this laptop. I am so sad.

[rick-s]

@Mom_4Angels

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 such as serial numbers and case details.

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.