IBM Thinkpad overheats, burns through mattress, still works
Computers produce heat. A laptop is a computer, therefore it produces heat. But, laptops have two sources of heat, the internal components themselves and the somewhat explosive lithium-ion battery. I wonder what happens when there is no ventilation?
Sometimes an explosion, sometimes a fire, sometimes a combination of the two. A man who left his three year old IBM Thinkpad R50e laptop lying on his bed after lying down for a short nap, woke to a surprise.
His post at BoringTrash says the smell of the “toxic” fumes is what woke him. But by the time he did wake up, the laptop had started a nice ball of fire burning its way through the mattress which was extinguished by a nearby water bottle.
The laptop was “tossed” across the room, while melted, was apparently no longer burning.
The display is now broken, the bottom of the case is slightly melted but when connected to an external monitor, is still a “functional” computer.
Am I the only one who finds it hard to believe that a partially burned laptop that was thrown across the room, still works? It’s not impossible but there’s always going to be that little bit of doubt despite the photographic evidence.
As to why the laptop went up in flames, it could be a faulty battery since IBM/Lenovo have issued several battery recalls in the past three years.
Whatever the case is, restricting air flow around something that can run at temperatures approaching 75C is never a good thing and a laptop should only be used on a bed with a stand designed for laptops, one with fans is also a plus.
Basically, a laptop should always be raised off whatever surface you are using it on unless it is a hard surface.
Where this laptop is concerned, I would have probably stopped using it after this incident but that’s not enough to stop our unfortunate owner but it’s my educated opinion he should toss it in the trash, cut his losses and buy a new one, it is three years old, after all.
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January 28th, 2008
My thinkpad accidentally flipped down two flights of stairs and smashed into a door… twice (while inside its case) and it survived. It also survived freezing temperatures outside several times when i forgot to bring it inside.