I have a Lumsing GC-930-8, which is a portable USB battery. The idea is that you charge it at home, and then carry it around until you need to give a phone or tablet a charge. It’s used infrequently, but comes in handy from time to time.
The case is metal (I assume aluminium), and after two or three years of use, and being transported in laptop bags, it’s acquired a fair few dents in its case. There are photos below. None of the dents have pierced the metal surface; the deepest I’d estimate at maybe a mm or two.
Does damage like this pose a risk? Should I retire the power bank and replace it (and be more careful with the next one)?
Aggh. That should say “power bank” in the thread title. I can’t see how to report the thread in Tapatalk - perhaps a passing mod could edit it for me please?
Also, sorry about the link formatting. That one’s down to Tapatalk as well.
Impossible to say, without knowing how tightly the cells are packed inside the case. My WAG is that the dents aren’t deep enough to damage the cells inside.
Then again, maybe the cost of a replacement (<$20, or sometimes as cheap as $13) is worth the peace of mind.
By the way, this is the disadvantage of metal (compared to plastic) - it dents easily. A plastic case subjected to the same bump would simply bounce back, maybe get scratched slightly but that’s about it. (Remember the Saturn car ads?)
It doesn’t look dented enough to damage the batteries inside. If it had damaged the cells it probably would have burst into flames by now. If it hasn’t done so, and you didn’t say “need answer fast”, I’d keep using it. Perhaps buy one with a plastic case next time.
It’s a violation of US law to transport a known damaged lithium battery on a passenger aircraft. It might also be illegal on a train or subway; the regs in question come from DOT which regulates all modes of transport.
Whether there’s any actual incremental fire risk for your particular level of damage I’m not equipped to say. But there is an incremental legal risk.
Consumer lithium ion batteries are supposed to pass a ‘nail penetration’ test without excessive thermal runaway. A few small dents in the casing holding the steel encased battery cells does not pose any meaningful risk. What is likely, however, is that your battery pack has lost ~20% of capacity per year simply due to chemistry. When you start to notice reduced capacity, get a new battery pack.
It’s fine. Those dents aren’t nearly deep enough to compromise the interior space to the point of failure unless the designers of the device are way beyond incompetent. I’m no lawyer, but I highly doubt that this rises to the level of “damaged lithium battery” necessary to trigger transport laws, either.
That’s almost certainly fine. If you’re worried, just unscrew the casing and check out the batteries inside. That metal thing isn’t the battery, it’s just a case that holds the batteries and charger circuitry in place. They’re usually standard li-ion batteries (probably 18650 cells), which you can also replace for much cheaper (and better quality) than what you get in power banks.
This is an example of what it probably looks like inside:
If the batteries aren’t punctured, you’re good. If they are, be very very careful and take it to an e-waste recycling center.
