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April 21st, 2017 12:00

XPS13 Swollen battery

I have a XPS13 that's about 14 months old. Over the last few months the left side of the keyboard (near z key) has been swelling up. The battery life has also dropped significantly; it be barely last 2 hours whereas it used to last 5-7hrs easily.

I checked online but looks like the battery is not covered after 1 year. Seems like other people had similar issues with Dell laptops as well, how did you end up solving this problem?

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87.5K Posts

April 22nd, 2017 04:00

The battery needs to be replaced, as soon as possible.  Remove it from the system before the swelling destroys other components such as the touchpad.

4 Posts

April 22nd, 2017 18:00

What's the best way to go about replacing the battery?

I called Dell support but they won't help as my laptop is 2 mo past the 1 yr warranty and apparently Dell warranty will never cover battery beyond 1 year. Are there any third party vendors that could help?

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87.5K Posts

April 22nd, 2017 18:00

You need either to contact Dell Out of Warranty repair:

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

or replace the battery yourself -- is this a 9333 or a 9350?

102 Posts

April 23rd, 2017 03:00

Dell have been replacing these out of warranty as they are defective and dangerous.

4 Posts

April 23rd, 2017 15:00

I have a dell xps13 9350. I called Out of Warranty repair and was told that "it's normal for battery to expand/swell after a year of use and is not related to any defect".

The quote for repair seems high for a simple battery so i'm not sure if i want to continue using Dell laptop after this experience.

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87.5K Posts

April 23rd, 2017 16:00

Apple charges $199 for a Macbook Retina battery replacement - it would not be surprising if Dell's charge is similar, as the systems are sold in the same market position.

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May 6th, 2017 10:00

Were you able to get Dell to replace the battery out of warranty without charge? I have an xps15 with a swollen battery and am awaiting a PAID service call from a technician to replace it at a cost of $249. I think Dell has a legal obligation to disclose this potential problem as a danger to users, yet I have never seen the swollen battery issue noted in an advertisement or other Dell literature. Had to do some real searching to find out about it on the web.

4 Posts

May 6th, 2017 19:00

Dell wouldn't fix it for me because my laptop is 2 months outside of the 1 year warranty. I ended up getting it replaced at a local shop for $120.

The dell reps were pretty rude on the phone and basically try to put the blame on me for "not using the battery properly". Overall a terrible experience and i will never go with dell again.

3 Posts

May 7th, 2017 08:00

I had the same issue: a swollen battery pushing up the trackpad, and Dell refusing to do anything because although I have a 3-year warranty on the laptop it doesn't cover the battery. They offered me a refurb battery with a 90 day warranty at a cost of over £70, with a total cost of around £150 if I wanted their engineer to fit it.

So I purchased a battery from laptop-ac-adapters.co.uk for around £50. It's supposed to be a genuine brand new Dell battery with a 9 month warranty, and it looked the part when it arrived, but who knows. It was shipped from Hong Kong and took longer than expected to arrive but when it turned up it was well-packaged.

I replaced it myself, today, using a youtube video for advice. It was very simple to do (as long as you have the correct screwdrivers) and the new battery is charging up nicely. I came here to find advice on how to dispose of the old battery safely.

The whole experience reinforced my opinion of Dell as a company that I'll avoid like the plague in future. The battery was still working well in terms of charging, but I don't think it's normal for it to swell up in this way, and I think it's a design fault. If I could have been bothered I'd have tried the UK small claims court; I've since used it for another supplier of electronic goods and it works a charm in getting a more reasonable response to design faults.

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87.5K Posts

May 7th, 2017 09:00

Most electronics stores, home improvement stores, and municipalities will take lithium ion batteries for recycling.

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July 20th, 2017 14:00

Had the same thing happen, will never buy dell again.  The fact that they don't recognize that it is a design flaw with the battery they chose to use in these or the design of the laptop is absurd.  Dell says there are chemicals in the battery that could cause it to expand, well if they know that then why is the battery only a plastic bag then?  I understand that they would open themselves of repairs out of warranty systems, but it just shows that they are not a company that is willing to do the right thing and don't care about retaining customers as long as they got your money.  

July 24th, 2017 00:00

SAME thing here, it s a nightmare. Just try to get our of Dell as quick as possible. I sent to service a picture of the detached touch pad and they advised to order and replace.-----the touch pad !!!! what a fantasy. When engineer arrived (cause now they come at home, you cannot go anymore to a repair shop) opened the case, the battery could not fit in anymore and it was so compressed inside that literally pulled out all the screws from their seats (and likely damaged the tread).

22 Posts

August 21st, 2017 06:00

ATEC2,

After you replaced the battery, did the trackpad settle back down to its flush position?

Was the keyboard warped before and, if so, is it now back to its original shape?

22 Posts

August 21st, 2017 06:00

GoNz0,

Was this in the USA or the UK?  Do you have a link which I can quote to Dell?

22 Posts

October 18th, 2017 13:00

Replacing the battery usually results in related issues disappearing according to Dell.  In my case, Dell replaced the battery "out of warranty" due raised touch pad.  I called UK Customer Service 0800-587-1456  who initially tried to convince me that it was out of warranty but when I insisted that I wanted it fixed under the UK's Consumer Rights Act 2015 I was transferred to the "Out of Warranty" team.  After giving them my Service Tag and emphasising that the touch pad was raised they admitted that there was an issue with some batteries.

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