Dell XPS 13 laptop battery swollen and touchpad lifted.

XPS L321x, 322x?  Which model?

The service manual depends on the exact model, but you should get the battery out of the system ASAP before it swells to the point where it damages the casing, keyboard or palmrest.

Dell generally charges about $170 for any repair other than a screen or mainboard replacement - see here:

www.dell.com/.../out-of-warranty

The battery requires just screwdrivers to change - you can also do it yourself.

I also have a swollen battery on my XPS 13, purchased July 2015, still under a 3-year warranty. I think the battery is excluded from this, and only has a 1-year warranty. Which seems harsh, seeing as this seems to be a design fault, given that my battery still works well in all other areas and is holding good charge.

I'm in the UK and I contacted Dell to find teh cost of a replacement. They said they don't stock them, and gave me the name of an independent supplier who also doesn't stock them.

I'm concerned that if I buy one from another 3rd party that I'll invalidate the warranty on the rest of the laptop. There was no point discussing this on the Dell webchat as the customer service rep had extremely poor communication skills and wasn't making a lot of sense.  

Same problem on my end, on an XPS 13 9350 purchased in the US in November 2015. Opened it up to find it swollen to twice its original size.

Dell UK agreed to an out of warranty exception on my XPS 13 9350 and replaced my battery, palm rest, keyboard and touch pad - 18 months old.

Got my XPS 13 9350 in Dec 2015 and it just did the same thing.   Never had this serious safety issue happen on any laptop before, mine or any of my family/friends/coworkers yet Dell wants to treat it as though it is a battery that is just not holding a charge, "totally normal".  Screwing consumers and putting their safety at risk to save a few $.    

One thing I can tell you for sure is that I will never again have that problem on a Dell laptop...  

Contact Dell - they are replacing these even out of warranty.

My XPS 13 (9343) battery swelled about 2 years after purchase. It warped the keyboard, and stopped the touchpad from working.

Dell told me they are replacing the battery for free for a different model of XPS 13 that swelled because that battery is defective, but they said the battery for the 9343 model is not defective even though it had the exact same problem, so they are not replacing batteries for the 9343 model.

I had to pay $250 to have a new battery installed. I suspect I'm going to have to do this every 2 years. I'm not happy.

It's not unusual for a lithium ion battery to need replacement every two years or so - the design life is 18-24 months.  And one downside to thin and light systems is that they leave no room for steel-cased batteries - so replacing them before they swell and damage the system is critical.  This is common and has been for years in the Mac world.  It's new to PCs.

Having same problem with XPS 13 9333. Trying to get Dell to replace battery at no cost to me. They're claiming only 9550 model is being replaced. Computer still works, but keyboard warped, trackpad raised. Trackpad scrolling/pointing still works but not clicking. Started getting error message at boot up telling me battery is permanently damaged. Phone conversation with Dell tech support not encouraging: they keep insisting model 9333 not a problem, only 9550. Have requested escalation to see if I can convince them to replace battery on my 9333, since it's exactly the same problem everyone's describing for other models. They want $170 to do the repair. I want them to declare 9333 as eligible for no-charge repair as other models. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I was tempted to buy a new XPS 13 (I'm on my 2nd one, the 1st one still works). But if new XPS 13 will have same battery problems as old one, why buy Dell again?  

Also, I've read online that replacement battery may no longer be available for 9333 model, even via Dell.

Anybody have additional information? Thanks.

XPS13-9333 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (delivered Jan 2014)

At 3.5 years plus in age, that battery is well beyond its design life.  Batteries that fail inside or just over a year old are defective.  Batteries that fail after 3 years are dead of old age and use.  

Every single system of this type (ultralight, with prismatic batteries having no steel shell) is subject to swelling -- whether because of defective manufacture or simple old age.  

OEM batteries are still available for this model.  If Dell doesn't have them (they may or may not,  as after three years the system is considered end of life), try parts-people.com or another Dell parts seller.

I'm having the same problem here in France with 2 XPS 13 9333 in my company. Dell told me that only 9550 can be repaired out of warranty. for this problem.

I wrote a mail to Dell french legal service to claim to a repair. I'm afraid they won't care...

Anyway, I'm considering going away from Dell and their poor support in time. The battery isn't available for replacement on their website so they really think that you should send your laptop to a garbage and buy a new one every 2 years? That's what we call planned obsolescence in France and we can engage legal action against this behavior.

And what's more, if you go into the bios, it claims that the battery is in good health!!!

The 9333 is more on the order of 3-3.5 years old - so a worn-out battery (and yes, they do swell at end of life) is not unexpected.  Get the battery out of the system -- and you can very easily source replacements.  Lithium ion/polymer batteries are good for 300-500 charge cycles or 18-24 months -- and they are consumable items, just like brake pads on your car or toner in your printer.

Thanks for various replies/comments.

1. Dell refused to repair/replace at no cost, they want US$170 to replace battery, repair as needed keyboard/trackpad (swollen).

2. If I'd known about lifespan of internal battery, and that I could have it replaced before it started swelling and damaging system, I would have done so. Nobody mentioned this problem, and I never thought about it until problem started occurring this year.

3. I have various other laptops, including an old XPS M1330 from 2008, that still work, although their batteries don't hold charges anymore. Yes, these aren't the internal battery as the 9333, but still, they are old batteries, and none has ever damaged their systems before this 9333.

4. I can understand a battery failing after its end of life period. I cannot understand a battery failing and DAMAGING THE ENTIRE SYSTEM, which is what has happened. This is why I think Dell should repair the damage at no cost. I had paid for 3 years of top level support for my 9333, why didn't they contact me to warn I should be replacing battery before it damaged entire laptop? That's my issue: the failed battery has damaged the entire machine.

5. I couldn't afford to take time/risk of sending machine to Dell for repair (which might not work, anyway, they might not have battery, the machine might not still work after being warped). Maybe someday I'll spend the money at a local repair shop.

6. Believe it or not, I bought a new XPS 13 only because Dell offers with factory-installed Ubuntu (I tried other vendors, not happy with their machines). But this time, I'll know ahead of time to have the internal battery replaced before it fails. So far, the new XPS 13 works well, except for very awkward camera placement in bottom left corner of screen - you can't look people in the eye while chatting and see them on screen at same time. Super awkward, would have been better placed in middle bottom of screen. Other than that, so far so good with the new XPS 13, but I'm still unhappy about the older 9333 battery damaging the computer.