Multiple iPad Pros with swollen battery in Bretford Sync Station

[talksr]

Hi there,

I am in a state of disbelief. We have 2 x Bretford PowerSync+ Stations stacked ontop of one another.

I opened the top station at the start of the week to remove three iPads to send to have the screens repaired and found over six of our iPad Pros had swollen batteries. One appears to have burst and sprayed a sticky substance all over the one next to it.

 

I contacted Apple who suggested that I remove them from use (duh) and agreed they could repair them at a price of just under £100 each. They were not prepared to do this for free.

 

I am left with a very expensive repair bill but more importantly, I have no idea of why so many have gone like this.

The room they are in, ICT suite, can get hot and currently has no A/C as an extension is being built which meant the ac had to be disconnected.

The room has been far hotter in the summer when the iPads were all connected in.

 

I am just at a loss as to what has caused this and any method of recourse I may have in getting some of the money covered.

They are all iPad Pro 9.7 inch iPads. Around 2 years old. What is interesting is the case also had older iPads inside (ones without the lightning port) as well as newer iPad mini's. None have swollen, just the 9.7inch pros. These were really expensive at the time of purchase and I am really disappointed to see so many totally out of action.

 

Does anyone have any ideas on why this has happened or similar experiences?

[crc-ict]

Might be worth having the chargers in the Sync stations checked out - might be supplying too much voltage and frying the batteries?

 

LiPo batteries like these normally go wrong because of physical damage (unlikely inside an undamaged iPad), too high discharge current or overcharging. I'd bet on overcharging.

Edited May 2, 2019 by crc-ict

[IrritableTech]

When a lipo is charged reasonably rapidly it creates heat, add to that the warm environment and the continued connection to a power supply (which will effectively power the device whilst maintaining a full charge) and you'll create some internal gassing. That pressure will cause the battery to swell and usually on an ipad that is just glued together, will cause the screen to be pushed out of the case.

 

It looks to me like this charging solution has a lid with lots of holes in it for heat to escape. Stacking them sounds like it could have prevented the heat to escape efficiently.

 

Unless this is a wide spread issue with the ipad pro - I think you are looking at your environment as the cause of the failure I'm afraid.

[howartp]

Stacking them sounds like it could have prevented the heat to escape efficiently.

The product page does mention that you can stack three high.

[talksr]

When a lipo is charged reasonably rapidly it creates heat, add to that the warm environment and the continued connection to a power supply (which will effectively power the device whilst maintaining a full charge) and you'll create some internal gassing. That pressure will cause the battery to swell and usually on an ipad that is just glued together, will cause the screen to be pushed out of the case.

 

It looks to me like this charging solution has a lid with lots of holes in it for heat to escape. Stacking them sounds like it could have prevented the heat to escape efficiently.

 

Unless this is a wide spread issue with the ipad pro - I think you are looking at your environment as the cause of the failure I'm afraid.

 

Thank you both.

 

VERY unfortunate and frustrating. By stacked, the iPads are stacked horizontally with gaps in between so there should be room for heat dissipation. I wonder if it would be better to put the charger on a timer plug such that it only ever charges for a set amount of time each day? This would be handy particularly for holidays.

 

What I don't get is that other iPads are absolutely fine. It is just the iPad Pros. I have standard iPad airs in the same case as well as Minis and older iPads and they are all fine with no signs of any issues.

Maybe the Pros have a different battery technology?

[IrritableTech]

Thank you both.

VERY unfortunate and frustrating. By stacked, the iPads are stacked horizontally with gaps in between so there should be room for heat dissipation. I wonder if it would be better to put the charger on a timer plug such that it only ever charges for a set amount of time each day? This would be handy particularly for holidays.

What I don't get is that other iPads are absolutely fine. It is just the iPad Pros. I have standard iPad airs in the same case as well as Minis and older iPads and they are all fine with no signs of any issues.

Maybe the Pros have a different battery technology?

 

I'm guessing here but the ipad pro has a faster processor and a higher resolution screen and therefore a higher current is required to run it. So it has a bigger battery which takes longer to charge and I think it may also have an initial charge at a higher rate (2.1-2.4 amps) rather than the older ipads which were lower. So your charging bay is having to work harder - creating more heat, the ipads are charging quicker - causing more heat. In an enclosed space in a warm room...

 

Not sure about the stacking thing - I can't see it referenced, but surrounding lipos fast charging doesn't seem like a great plan to me.

[howartp]

https://www.bretford.com/product/powersycplus-station

Features & Benefits

Versatile - Where space is limited, the PowerSync+ Station 20 can be stacked up to three units high or individually mounted on the wall.

[caffrey]

One appears to have burst and sprayed a sticky substance all over the one next to it.

 

Is this how iPad minis are made ?

 

Sorry I'll get my coat

[bknaggs]

I wonder if it would be better to put the charger on a timer plug such that it only ever charges for a set amount of time each day? This would be handy particularly for holidays.

This is what we did with our Mini 2s after about 10 out of 60 ended up with swollen batteries. They're charged for a couple of hours a day and so far we've not seen any other devices swell.

[atcoates]

Is this how iPad minis are made ?

 

Sorry I'll get my coat

That process doesn't work, you need to go into the lightning port.

[chazzy2501]

More likely that they got too hot whilst charging. The odd thing is that an ipad can manage heat and charge rate, My thinking is how they'll react to external thermal stress whilst charging. (probably from the other ipads) Edited May 2, 2019 by chazzy2501

[talksr]

Hmm,

I have contacted Bretford twice to see if they have any ideas, but no reply at all which is not like them.

 

Will give them another week.

[talksr]

Just a quick update.

I attempted to get in touch with Bretford six separate times and not once did they have the courtesy of getting back in touch.

Regardless of cause and fault, their sales team were always so keen to contact me when I purchased my units. I have four in total , which amount to thousands of tax payer money.

The sync stations are certainly not the cheapest around, and in my opinion are some of the most expensive.

 

I have got the batteries replaced by a third party repair company, but just wanted to express my disappointment at Bretford. I certainly will not be using them moving forward and would recommend them to others as when you have an issue, they just ignore you.