MacBook Pro Battery overheating and expanding

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Level 1

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MacBook Pro Battery overheating and expanding

I purchased a MacBook Pro three years ago and have not had any problems with it. However, during the last month the battery has been getting very hot. And within the last week or two, the battery cover has been expanding and coming loose. I'm guessing that the battery needs to be replaced. But at the moment I don't have the funds to purchase a new one. Can I still run the laptop with the AC power connected and the battery out of the computer? Or will this hurt the laptop?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Nov 19, 2010 9:24 AM

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Answer 1

JoeyR

Level 6

8,305 points

Nov 19, 2010 9:58 AM in response to Chad.Ison

It's perfectly safe for your hardware to run without the battery. You should be aware however that should there be even the briefest interruption of power, you will lose anything you might be working on if you have not saved it.

Your MacBook will also run at nearly half its normal speed if you use it with the battery removed:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2332

Regardless of the two issues raised above, you should not continue to use your machine with that battery installed. It is possible for the expanding battery to create enough upwards pressure to damage the logic board or to cause trackpad/keyboard problems.

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Answer 2

Chad.Ison Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 19, 2010 10:21 AM in response to JoeyR

The last time I used it, it did have some trackpad/keybord issues. But as soon as I noticed it, I shut it down and removed the battery. How would I know if it has damaged the logic board?

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Answer 3

JoeyR

Level 6

8,305 points

Nov 19, 2010 10:25 AM in response to Chad.Ison

Chances are that your logic board is fine. Unfortunately, there is no way to know for sure if any components on the logic board have been damaged short of their actually failing. If your machine is running fine, you're probably okay.

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