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Battery swelling in XPS 15 9560
I purchased my XPS 15 9560 laptop about 15 months ago and have just today noticed that the bottom edge of the trackpad has raised, though I've felt that the trackpad has not been functioning optimally for about the past month.
A quick Google search demonstrates that this is a common problem in XPS models, due to swelling of the battery. To my knowledge, only the XPS 15 9550 has received a temporary recall, though other XPS models suffer from the same dangerous problem.
Dell only offered me paid support for battery replacement since I am 3 months out of my 1 year warranty. Their justification was that battery swelling was not a continuing problem for the 9560. Judging from the posts in this forum, this does not seem to be a true statement, and the problem seems rather comparable to the 9550. I would not reasonably expect a battery just over 1 year old to begin swelling or have substantially reduced performance. I currently plan to remove the battery and work plugged in.
Since I know others with a 9560 have been having this problem, I was wondering if anyone had gotten anywhere with Dell or have found any reasonable alternative options?
Demetrius_gnu
4 Posts
0
August 1st, 2019 09:00
I am in for it
Demetrius_gnu
4 Posts
1
August 1st, 2019 11:00
It is not, they know the problem at least since the 9550 (they had a recall). So, this is a case for recall!
Dell, NEVER again, not a serious company!
Barizon
1 Message
1
August 1st, 2019 11:00
My year and a half XPS15 9560 is also popping the trackpad. Swelling battery.
Called the support, out of warranty, $81 bucks a replacement battery.
I'll replace it myself since it's something like $259 for an in-house technician visit.
Feeling frustrated by not having a recall on that battery with our 9560 model, but when we buy something like that, there's always a risk. The laptop is amazing, nice finish, and sleek. I love the screen and everything in it.
I think $81 for the part is reasonably priced.
I'll also do a repaste, add pads and full internal cleanup.
Magnets And Melodies
1 Message
0
August 1st, 2019 21:00
robert p
9.4K Posts
0
August 2nd, 2019 11:00
Hi Demetrius_gnu,
Thanks for posting. Apologies that your system is not performing as expected.
Dell has not had a recall for swollen batteries regarding the 9550 or the 9560. If your battery is showing signs of swelling and the computer is in warranty we can set up a replacement for you.
Please contact me privately. Be sure to include your personal information (name, address, telephone, email) and your computer's service tag number in your message. Thanks.
spbmrmusic
3 Posts
0
August 8th, 2019 13:00
I am having the same problem 15 months after purchase. I did see off-Dell forums stating that Dell sent a technician to fix the problem for an out of warranty machine free of charge. Clearly with this number of problems that policy is no longer being upheld. Nor is the recall - I do not recall seeing a recall notice anywhere. Current options are 3 weeks without my computer or a technician for $150 and replacement battery for $90, plus any additional charges if that is not actually the problem! I've been a Dell fan for 15 years and spent (for me) a fortune on their products, but this experience is fast turning me off them - they know they distributed a dangerous product and don't care about their customers' safety.
ruckb
6 Posts
0
August 20th, 2019 02:00
Same Problem here: touchpad is lifted and not working any more due to swollen battery.
Of course the system is out of guarantee/service....
I understand that DELL does not give support if the Battery life goes down, this is a normal process for a battery, But my power manager states an "excellent Health" for my battery ..
Swollen batteries ater 2 years that damage the notebook (e. g. by lifting the touchpads) is a planned obsolescence feature.
I did not buy any cheap notebook that I want to replace after 2 years. I bought a high price notebook and expected some reasonable lifetime. I would do not care about reduced battery lifetime, but a damaged touchpad is a problem!
Dear Dell (in this case "dell-robert p") please consider at least to send a replacement battery in such cases.
Best regards
Hermann
ruckb
6 Posts
0
August 20th, 2019 10:00
johnptd
380 Posts
0
August 21st, 2019 01:00
Yes they actually recalled them. I guess they are not doing that for later model XPS's. I got my 9550 battery replaced before Dell issued the recall. To add insult to injury, there is a shortage now of replacement batteries.
JohnD
ruckb
6 Posts
1
August 28th, 2019 04:00
Hello,
just the information I have from different sources and after buying a new battery:
- Customers who ordered directly at DELL have been contacted by DELL and the battery was replaced!
- Customers who ordered at a re-seller (like me) did not get this replacement!
- The guarantee of the battery was extended to the guarantee of the notebook. If you buyed an extended guarantee this also covers the battery.
- If I would have known this I would have bought the extended guarantee (as it also covers the case where the battery looses charge..) but I did not knew this one.
- For this guarantee extension DELL contacted me directly .. why not for the battery replacement ?
- As I did not trust the battery any more (expected to explode in the airplane) and as my touchpad was not working any more I ordered a new battey...
- This came with a label what to do with the old swolen battery... I do not expect that DELL printed the label for me, but there are more batteries exchanged due to swelling..
- In any case the problem was well known by the support agent, and there seem to be batteries in stock just for this exchange!
- Even with all this information I was told there is no official callback from DELL for the battery, and I have to pay the normal price .. no discount, no other help.
- in my case I found to plastic clips inside the notebook. They came from the Touchpad, and now the touchpad is slightly lower then originally, so the swolen Battery damaged the notebook. Still If I would like to fix this I need to buy a new touchpad!
- At least the touchpad is still working again, and the lower placement seems just a cosmetic issue..
- in my case only the middle 2 out of the 6 cells have been swolen, the others looked nice. I assume, this is coming from the pressure of the chassis, and only at the place of the Touchpad the room was given to increace in thickness.
- I do not know if it is possible that the notebook can get further damaged if the swelling is also covering the other 4 cells. I assume everybody will exchange the battery before as the touchpad is not working any more...
- I wrote a letter to DELL Germany complaining how DELL handles the issue .. let's see if and what they are going to answer.
- I got a e-mail questionary if I'm happy with the support .. but this is regarding the support agent .. She was doing a great job, immediately knowing the Problem and how DELL handles this, and i got the replacement battery very fast, so I would need to give good notes for her .. but I don't want to give positive feedback..
last but not least one more question:
During my research on this topic I found a DELL website with a from where one could complain about service that was not good. But I do not find this Website any more!
==> Does anybody know where I can find this page ?
thanks a lot
Hermann
ruckb
6 Posts
0
August 28th, 2019 05:00
Forgot one thing:
So far I could not figure out if there is any design change of the battery of if it will be the same problem every 2 years ???? (I expect the latter case)
I also could not figure out if this is e. g. an issue of charging the battery!.
I use the Notebook mainly connected to main power. Still I try to discharge/charge the battery e. g. once every two weeks. My battery manager is sett to automatic mode (not sure what this really means for charging).
Is it a problem, that the battery i not discharged often enough ?
is it a problem that the automatic setting can not identify a good use model for my usage case and just starts to early in charging the battery trying to keep it charged all the time ?
is it a problem that the charging circuitry does not stop charging when the battery is reaching 100% charge ?
many questions how to handle the battery .. no answers..
I was always disappointed with the run time of the notebook on battery (the 6cell 97Wh). When buying it I expected with normal work load I could survive one work day .. but no chance .. half a day was the maximum I could achieve (e. g. with normal office software like Word or Excel and an aktive internet connection)
So far the new battery shows similar efficiancy .. I hope that this will increase after some charge/discharge cylcles .. but I do not really believe it..
Hermann
Hermann
lsherman47
1 Message
2
September 5th, 2019 17:00
I, too, have this problem with the Battery swelling in XPS 15 9560. I wish Dell would at least send a new battery in this case. So Disappointing.
Sherm
ruckb
6 Posts
1
September 10th, 2019 23:00
Hello, I got some useless PN from DCFADmin with the comment "someone from the community will contact me" what never happens.
Then I got a survey to rate the service
Anyhow, I also wrote a letter by snail-mail to DELL telling them that I'm disapointed about the missing DELL service in this case. I even got an answer by e-mail telling me, that battery swelling is ignored by DELL if the battery is out of warrenty. My answer by e-mail that this looks like planned obsolescence was ignored.
Usually I would not care about the 100 Euro I payed for the battery, just the effort I spent, and the way how DELL is dealing with this issue is keeping me going on.
I will still check i there is any way to fight for consumer rights in such cases, even if this will require to spend even more efforts..
Hermann
mrbuttons
1 Message
0
October 3rd, 2019 06:00
I also purchased the XPS 15 9560. I've been using the laptop for 16 months now. I started to notice that the trackpad wasn't functioning as usual. The trackpad is currently higher than it used to, like it's ready to come off. How can I fix this?
Puche
1 Message
1
October 10th, 2019 18:00
Yesterday, 10/09/2019 at 3 am my XPS 15 model 9560 got fire. I was sleeping at my dorm , and the fire alarm waked me up !! and took me seconds to understood that was my laptop. I tried to disconnected it and i got a burned hand. The police and firemen of the university came to my dorm, and make a report of the incident. So be careful the batteries could become a hazard issue!!!
I already make a Service request, because my laptop was only 15 month old and had all the warranties included the Premium Support Plus and the next day service.