George's Weblog

When I renewed my Wired subscription I don't remember reading that I would receive a promotional gift. So it was a pleasant surprise to see an unexpected envelope in the mail. That was, until I opened it.

Inside was a battery power pack complete with charging cable. Looking at it casually, it seemed a bit deformed. After opening it I saw that the battery inside had expanded to the point that it broke the plastic outer housing.

I broke the remaining plastic apart so I could take a look at the battery itself. It was puffed up like a balloon.

Needless to say, I'm glad this stupid little thing didn't explode in my face or burn down my house. If I'm reading the data code correctly, this battery was made two years ago. I'm going to do some additional testing to see if I can determine exactly what went wrong.