Tracy V. Wilson over at HowStuffWorks.com just wrote up an article explaining how and why those Dell laptop batteries are spontaneously combusting. Her final verdict is that

"There are several reasons why multiple laptop battery models have been recalled in the past few years. People want small, lightweight laptops that they can use for long periods. They also want their laptops to have bright screens and lots of processing power. For these reasons, laptop batteries have to be relatively small, but they also have to hold a lot of energy and last a long time.

Making lithium-ion batteries that can hold more power for a longer period requires vital components, including the separators, to be small and thin. The reduction in size makes it more likely that the batteries can fail, break, leak or short circuit. "

It looks as if all small batteries with a lot of power are prone to spontaneous combustion breaking/failing.

Click here to read her full article…