Razer Blade Pro 2017 Battery Bulge

I'd been having issues with my one year old Razer Blade Pro 2017 keyboard which I had been chalking up to poor build quality or my rotten luck (I've had plenty of issues with Razer Blade Pro 2016 as well).

One fine morning I woke up to see a visible bulge on the surface of the device:


I tried to close the lid of the device, which resulted in a no-go, further illustrating the extent of the deformation of the device:


In view of the rapidly escalating situation, I flipped the device over to its back, where, surprise!


I rapidly proceeded to unscrew the device, in light of news of exploding batteries in tight, confined spaces. Indeed, it was the battery at fault:


Major swelling is visible on all surfaces:

 

The battery swelling looks scariest from side angles:


It really was primed to go off any instant:


Putting the laptop back together, the keyboard worked fine again! It was the battery all along, and I have no idea how long I'd been typing on top of a ticking time bomb.

It's quite remarkable the case held everything together for as long as it did. As I was unscrewing the device, screws came popping off due to the pressure exerted by the battery.

Now this machine is my company's build server. It cannot go offline. Razer are asking that we send it back for repair. I've already removed and disposed of the battery, of course, and potentially voided the warranty in the process.

A quick online search reveals posts from users on all top ten results at Google for "Razer Blade Pro 2017", virtually all complaining about battery issues just like this one.

In light of earlier issues I've had with this device and its previous generation, I've got a few recommendations:

1. Avoid Razer like the plague.
2. Don't buy Razer products.
3. Steer all clear of Razer.

Did I mention that Razer support are absolutely useless, decline to ship a battery, or take any other form of accountability with regards to this incident?

I understand there's shipping restrictions on batteries, but then don't build ticking time bombs, Razer.

Does anyone know of a spare battery that can be used with this system and be sourced from a third party?

 

Sadly, this type of situation is quite common for Razer devices. I'd suggest contacting @pbhenry3 since his company deals primarily with Razer laptop repair.

EDIT: His site: http://techworksrepair.com/index.html

 

you are the second forum member in the space of a week.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...u-7820k-cpu-2017-owners-lounge.803629/page-51

This points to a serious problem (razer pro owners are rare around here as it is); not just bad luck. If Razer doesn't take action soon, there could be a fire/explosion incident.

They will most likely either bury their heads in the sand; or move to quickly discredit or snuff out complaints.

@pbhenry3 Have you seen this behavior before in any of the 14's?

Tagging some people who might find this of interest
@Mobius 1 @iunlock @Galm @slimjim8201 @Vistar Shook @rinneh

 

Thank you.

Do you believe batteries/computers that are not in use might also be affected by this issue?

Is there a class action lawsuit possible here?

 

Perhaps @D2 Ultima or someone can find the source, but wasn't it some staggering percentage of Blade Pros were RMA'd? We got a number when Razer went public. Don't quote me on it but I swear it was like 80% or something insane like that.

 

I am not surprised. That reflects my experience with these devices. We'll never buy Razer ever again. Kudos to their marketing team, but their product is abhorrent. If any one of them are looking for a job selling a product that actually works as advertised, please PM me directly.

 

Is this still in warranty? What month did you buy it in 2017?

 

It will be very hard to find that particular battery aftermarket, and very unlikely that pbhenry3 has one either. Even HIDevolution extended warranty doesn't service these notebooks, they send it to Razer, which will charge quite a bit out of warranty.

 

I thought it was the 2016 one, he has the 2017, so still under warranty. But he doesn't want to send it in, that is his issue I believe.

 

He say the issue was with the 2017 model which owned for 1 year.

Should be cover under warranty. But dunno if Razer would honor it.

 

Why should I send it in? This is a mission critical device which works fine sans the battery. Sure, I'll send it in if Razer ships out a temporary replacement first. It's the least they could do for *all* of the issues we've had with their 2016 and 2017 line of the Blade so-called "Professional".

 

Razer doesn't ship out parts. They might do advanced replacement, but I wouldn't recommend it, since they might not honor the warranty, because you opened it and removed the battery, and even if they do, it can be a pain in the arse to get the money back on the advanced replacement. I've heard stories of several months to get the refund on the advanced replacement, and some had to resort to calling their credit card company to resolve the issue.

 

Yes, with a swelling battery that was about to burst through the case, I'm not sure I had any choice.

No shipping company in their right mind would carry such a battery or an 'inflating machine' as it is a huge fire hazard.

What's truly remarkable here is not whether or not I may have voided the warranty, but how such a company manages to stay in business.

 

opening laptop to avoid potential fire hazard of putting pressure on a swollen battery voids the warranty


guess they want the user to die of fire, because you don't have to honor the warranty of someone who died

 

Indeed! Problem solved

 

Holy smokes! That battery looked even worse than mine. I've got mine sitting on my desk here as a paperweight. Huge bonus to a ****ed up battery is that this is now the lightest GTX1080 laptop on the market.

After removal, my trackpad and keyboard returned to functioning as normal and the chassis deformation appears to be only temporary. I've run this machine through a lot of stress tests since, and had it piping hot from a few multi-hour PUBG sessions and I have yet to run into a power limit issue/crash/error/etc. I expected to hit one rather soon as I assumed this machine utilized battery boost to make up for the 250W power supply limit.

I contacted HIDEvolution and have not heard back yet. (Great support everyone said...). Obviously I cannot ship this battery back, nor will I put it back in the laptop. I actually have several contacts at Razer through work, but I'm not sure how much they can do. Clearly there is an issue with the battery itself, the batter thermal management, or the battery power management.

All that said, everything else about this laptop has been pretty awesome. Credit where credit is due, I don't have CPU or GPU thermal issues and performance has been stellar.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

IIRC in 2017 model they removed the 3rd internal fan that circulates air. Maybe that's the problem causing overheating?

But then again the 2016 models have problems too...



Try tweet Razer support so they can give their opinion in front of a public crowd.

 

I refuse to participate in the Twittersphere. Happy for anyone else to share my pics if need be.

The third fan wouldn't do anything to dramatically lower any specific component temp, especially not the battery given it is basically walled off in it's own enclosure. The third fan would help to spread heat around inside the chassis to prevent hot spots or individual hot components, within reason. Some areas would have ended up being slightly warmer, some slightly cooler, but none would have changed dramatically from not having a fan at all. If the fan had a dedicated cold air inlet, then perhaps it would have been effective.

 

Best thing you and @msintle can do is file a BBB (Better Business Bureau) complaint and inform Razer support as much. Also get written up by a NBR, Notebookcheck, or some other tech site in an article. Exploding batteries is always big news. And an article would get Razer off their arse

 

It can only be the result of the battery itself. Nitty-gritty; the li-ion pouches inside the pack.

The cause is water, which either got in at the factory (air too damp) or because it hasn't been sealed properly, so ambient air containing a bit of moisture got in. Since there's been multiple reports you'll likely find that all battery packs from the same batch will have the same problem.

If Razer is not forthcoming with replacement packs and no after-market alternatives are available; it is possible to diy a new pack. Just open the outer black plastic wrapper (this serves no purpose) and measure the dimensions of the pouches inside. Buy new ones and solder them back to the battery pack's pcb, which can be kept.

This image is interesting:

Spoiler: Razer battery pack

The nominal voltage of a li-ion cell is 3.7V and its charging voltage is 4.2V. This is true for practically every cell in use; laptops, phones, tablets, electrical bicycles and cars alike. A battery pack has several cells in series and possibly two or more in parallel, so if this Razer pack says '11.4V' then that means 11.4/3 = 3.8V per cell series (4 cells would give a voltage far too low). The same for the charging voltage; 13.05/3 = 4.35V. A higher voltage means you can pump in more energy in the same volume of battery, but there's obviously an off-set to that, otherwise the other 99% of manufacturers wouldn't stick to their measly 4.2V. Not to say Razer's overcharging is the cause of the gaseous build-up, but at the very minimum longevity will be compromised; these things will age much faster than if they were charged to standard 4.2V.

Anyway, we can now also find replacement pouches; 3950mAh/2 = 1975 mAh. Looking at the shape and shades of the wrapper it is likely there's really 6 cells inside, so a 2-parallel/3-series design.

Batteries with such an oddly random capacity do not exist, but if we take overcharging into account then we get around 1900mAh each, so something like this one. You have to desolder the tiny pcb underneath the yellow foil; it's there to protect against excessive voltages, but the pack's own pcb will handle that. Or not ... considering this crazy Razer design.

Hmm, if you really want a properly working battery then you also have to consider writing a modified firmware to the pack, limiting the charge voltage to the normal 4.2V. Wrote a guide for that and the soldering bit needed for the re-shelling, in case anyone's motivated to tackle this: Guide: replacing and upgrading laptop batteries.

 

I have filed BBB complaint ID #12624311.

Interesting BBB factoid on Razer:

14% positive and 86% NEGATIVE reviews on Razer found on the BBB.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/i-dismantled-the-razer-blade-battery-take-a-loo.811974/

This might be helpful.

Sorry to hear about these ongoing battery woes... shocking that Razer would turn a blind eye after all that Samsung went through with the Note 8.

Won't be buying another Blade, sadly

 

That's pretty sharp of you! It was our mistake to buy a Razer Blade Pro 2017 after all the trouble we went through with the Razer Blade Pro 2016. Future buyers, be warned!

Yep, still no response from Razer. We're collecting contacts for a class action lawsuit. That'll teach them a lesson.

Its the only way to get these companies to pay attention - hurt their bottom line.

They've ignored, so far, reddit, BBB, twitter, and all other avenues of contact we've reached out at them.

 

They use terrible battery packs, unfortunately they dont take any responsibilities for their errors.
I dont understand why they use fairly no name brand battery packs. For the money they easily could use good LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony packs or even second tier packs from Simplo.

Anyone with this issue, goodluck with getting this sorted. Your best bet would be ordering one from aliexpress. A lot of chinese vendors sell authentic parts directly from the factory.

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesal...0201124706&SearchText=razer+blade+pro+battery < try comparing the part numbers here.

Is your chassis still okay?

 

I onyl remember that they hardly make any profit because of service issues and returns.

 

For what it's worth, my chassis did return to normal after the battery bulging. It looked like @msintle had a bit more flex, especially in the rear near the horizontal vents. My chassis flex was limited to the middle of the unit, from the left side of the trackpad to about the H,J,N,M key region. @msintle , does your machine have permanent flex at this point?

Honestly, I'm going to run sans battery from here on out. This is a work laptop and I do travel, but I NEVER have the machine off the wall. I hate doing work on planes or in coffee shops, and in the event that I do need to open it up and get something quickly out of the way, I'll find a wall plug every time. For that reason, I'm going to avoid putting a poorly managed explosive device back in this unit.

I consider myself lucky that this is the only issue I've had with the unit as of yet. And right now I'm going to find a huge piece of wood to knock on.

 

My chassis is fine - thanks for asking - but the keyboard issues are back at it again (y keypress real tough, among others)...

I've also got a fresh new issue - games don't run!

When I boot a game that taxes the GPU, the machine shuts down within a matter of tens of seconds!

I wonder if my GPU has died already - or whether this is a wattage issue, where the absence of the battery causes terminal issues due to power supply wattage insufficiencies...

Really, `balls to bones` as the Oracle once said in the Matrix, this machine has been insufferable torture...

 

And I do feel bad for Razer if they're having a hard time turning a profit...

...but here's a hint: Having a high quality product really helps!

I should know, I work at a software company.

 

yes I see it in every razer model. I have had a few show up in the mail here that were leaking electrolyte, a couple which have actually exploded and caught fire when removing the back cover which was only held on with a remaining 3 or so screws, some which have damaged the trackpad left/right click by expanding so far that the battery pulls on the cable so hard it rips the entire connector off the motherboard side along with every single pad. It is a daily occurence here.

 

razer uses 3 cells in series and 3 cells in parallel. the problem with the parallel configuration is that it needs to be assembled by a professional. since only in series cells have proper cell balancing, the in parallel configured cells can only be as good as the manufacture makes them to be. you need to use cells from the same lot number, same manufacture date, that have sat in the same conditions since manufacture to assembly, they night to have tight tolerance control, they need to be professionally measured with calibration equipment prior to assembly, because if any parameters are off a bit, the parallel configured cells will drift further apart with each charge cycle. A lot of manufactures use in parallel configured cells but they have better quality controll when assembling the packs. but even if you do have them perfectly matched, it is still never ideal from a longevity perspective. If you want longevity in cycle count for a battery pack, you need to just have them wired in series. Of course with many other proper aspects as well, such as charge current stages being accurate, good charge controller on motherboard side, and pcb protection circuitry in battery pack, and of course good cells themselves to begin with.

 

Would these explosions also occur with machines off the power grid in cold storage?

 

Holy Crap, I learned a lot reading through this thread. Really Interesting stuff and very informative, Thanks Everyone! and especially pbhenry3

 

Maybe you should forward this to the FAA. I'm sure they would be happy to look into the issue They seem to take battery issues quite seriously, especially since the Blade Pro is rocking a huge 99WH battery. THAT would make Razer get off their asses and do something for once.


https://www.androidheadlines.com/20...me-technical-issues-with-the-razer-phone.html
OUCH^ Seems like their phone suffers from software issues too. Wait till those start blowing up like the note 7 did

 

Honestly, I think it ought to be brought to light. I wouldn't want to be on a plane with one of these.
The US Has so many different bureaucracies its hard to know which ones are the right ones to report dangerous issues to:

or

directly to FAA?
https://www.faa.gov/contact/

to consumer safety?
https://www.cpsc.gov/About-CPSC/Contact-Information/

 

Found another one on the Razer Forum: https://insider.razerzone.com/index...y-and-planned-obsolescence.30386/#post-417258


Helpful suggestion. Build the case before it turns into something like the MSI GPU UPGRADE class action. Save as many of these sites as you can as PDF's and build up documentation. It will honestly come in handy at some point.

As for those SBUI Apps, I did find them....
Spotify, Razer Notes: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AuMOrXc4ORHpkKo7go6mM7r9ecNbEA
Steam Chat: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AuMOrXc4ORHpkKo4hlGAIp60mI_IDQ
BF3 (i swear there was one with database integration that showed unlocks but i can't find it): https://1drv.ms/f/s!AuMOrXc4ORHpkKlpIisBZUFh0XzoHQ

 

Hey Guys,

I've only actually used my laptop as a "laptop" a handful of times since I purchased in April 2017. Otherwise it's plugged in and connected to a Razer Core 24/7 for use as a desktop.

So I never really paid attention to the laptop until yesterday when I noticed the lid wasn't closed. I tried closing it and there was resistance. Then I noticed my trackpad bulging up quite a bit. Took a look; my battery was quite pregnant.

I removed it and ordered a replacement from Amazon. Wasn't the right model. I needed the "Betty4" which is only available overseas from eBay.

Right now I can still use the laptop without the battery which is fine. The battery bulge knocked off a ribbon cable. Not sure what it's for but oh well. I can't snap it back on.

Here is a pic or two of the pregnant battery.






https://imgur.com/diFLxR1

https://imgur.com/wICFUBM

 

The battery in my GX501 IS NOW ALL PUFFY TOO!

 

MSI's and current Alienwares also use these pouch type lithium polymer batteries. Are there any cases known where it happened within those laptops as well?

edit: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=265572.0

Well seems that MSI'sa re also plagued by this.

 

If I can remember correctly, the battery in the MSI GT80s/GT83 was not a pouch-type LiPo....

 

Yeah they only seem to use it in the GS series.

 

Sorry to bump an old post. Found this thread after a google search when I found out my battery was bulging.

Another google search found a website that sells replacements of the same model. On the label, the 4th line says it's model: F1.
https://www.laptop-battery-shop.com/razer-f1-rz090165-114v-8700mah-original-batteries-p-5926.html

Haven't made a purchase yet, but think it's worth looking at if you really need a replacement. The only one I've seen so far.

If you don't need the battery, undervolting your system should help with high loads. I'm currently using Prime95 and FurMark to cure some thermal compound and have no issues with power draw.

Hope this may help someone who happens this issue, and thank you all so much for the helpful info in the previous pages.

 

Just had the same issue with my RBP 2017 model. Returned for a refund but still tempted by the laptops general awesomeness.. I know it shouldn't have these problems, but does any other laptop come close to packing the same punch within such a small form factor. Any ideas what's in store for Q4 2018?

 

I have this problem too!
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?104200-Zephyrus-GX501-Swollen-Battery!-Please-check-yours!

 

The rbp isnt that thin.... But the smaller the laptop, the more heat issues it will have and heat is the ultimate battery killer.

 

Hi everyone - I created an account here just to share my RBP story in the hopes that it would help anyone going through the same ordeal. I found the information here in this thread super valuable, and this info combined with some digging around led me to a positive outcome.

The short version is that mine was bought new from Razer, gently used, and I discovered it looking like it was going to explode like a chest burster alien from the inside out. It was slightly out of warranty by 4 months, Razer was absolutely useless in helping me fix it (or even be cool about it), so I replaced the battery myself and it was a extremely easy to do.

Here's a little more detail:

1) I'm a professional designer and I bought my Razer Blade Pro in April of August of 2017. It's only been moved off of my desk probably five times in it's lifetime, and it's had what I consider to be a very easy life in a professional setting. It does do heavy lifting with 3d apps and generate a lot of heat, but it just sits off to the side with the lid open hooked up to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

2) About two weeks ago I tried to take my laptop downstairs to have a little LAN party playing Minecraft with my three kids and the lid wouldn't close. I was like WHOA - because I then noticed the insane warping happening to the body. The track pad wouldnt work, half the keys wouldn't register, and it looked like it was going to explode.

3) I bought the laptop through Razerzone directly, so I contacted Razer support. As everyone else has experienced, their support sucks. I got a broken English response stating that my laptop is out of the 12 month warranty period (by 4 months) and that I need to pack it up and ship it in for a repair quote. No mention of the fact that it's a fire hazard, maybe I should stop using it, nothing. Totally useless.

4) I decided to remove the battery myself, since I've never used the battery and don't really move the machine off of my desk. This process was super easy - you only need a very small hex bit and a very small Phillips bit to do it. You just take out all of the screws on the bottom and the bottom plate comes right off. Then you can unscrew the battery tray and unhook one cable and then it's out. Nothing like working on the inside of an Apple product which is like nano surgery. As others have stated (thank you!) - the trackpad, keyboard, and case all seemed to reshape themselves back perfectly. Trackpad and keyboard all work perfectly again. Those who said the KB and trackpad worked after removing the battery gave me the confidence to try it on my own. Everything snapped back into place. PLEASE NOTE - I wore eye protection and was kinda worried this thing might just explode, but based on others descriptions I was confident mine wasnt as bad as some others have been. Please use your good judgement and good safety precautions when doing this. Apparently the battery cells can leak, catch fire, etc.

5) I ordered a new battery and tray from here for $98.00 and paid 9.99 for the two year protection plan in case the same thing happens again. (high likelihood based on the data here Im guessing) https://www.ebay.com/itm/153257353751

6) I bought this laptop cooler for the RBP to sit on top of on my desk in the hopes that it might keep the heat down - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J0NZYOK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

All in all, I own many Razer keyboards, mice, mouse pads, and this machine. The RBP is an absolutely awesome machine. It's been stable and super high performing for me... I can't even hate on it. But, if this was Apple they'd just replace it no questions asked. I didn't realize how Razer operated as a company, but now I do. There's no good or easy way to get support in the event of something like this. I'm appalled at the boilerplate response to something as dangerous as this and can't believe they let this happen systemically without addressing it. I won't say right now that I'll stop buying Razer products, since they're actually good. But as others have suggested, it's probably better to buy their machines through Best Buy or Amazon and get the warranty they offer. Good luck everyone!

 

Hey guys,

I would like to share my experience as well. I faced this bulging issue as well with my RBP 17 4K about 6 months back. I was able to successfully remove the battery, contacted Razer customer care, they wanted me to ship the laptop to them, which I really can't. This is my main workstation and since I keep getting regular projects, it's really difficult for me to ship the laptop out and then wait a month/ month and a half for me to get back my system. To top it all up, the customs in India is a pain. I live in India and had this laptop delivered to me through a relative living in the states about a year and half back. The laptop is currently running on a UPS. I did order a battery replacement after some research from this site: https://www.laptop-battery-shop.com/. I received the battery on time, but upon installation I faced an issue where Windows failed to detect the battery percentage and the laptop would automatically shut down after 10-15 mins of usage on battery. I had the battery for about a week and then decided to ship it back as it wasn't working. The customer care from the website was very responsive. After being unable to fix the problem, I shipped the battery back to them and got a full refund (No complaints there).

I realized, maybe its best to make a quick trip to a country with razer service center and get this done once and for all. The UPS has been working just fine, I don't travel much with the laptop so its been sitting well as a desktop with battery backup.