Warning to all Creative Zen Portable Media Center owners, your battery may explode.
The other day I showed both the iRiver and Creative Portable Media Center to my cousin. Tried turning both on and both didn’t work, figured the battery had died in both. Today I finally remembered to plug them in to charge to test them out. I noticed the Creative had this black spot in the top right corner of the screen and some weird dark thing going on. Tried powering it on while plugged in and nothing. Figured I should reset it. Tried opening the back but couldn’t. Pressed down hard enough and finally got the case open. Sure enough the battery exploded. It damaged the screen and everything else. The entire unit plus the battery will need to be replaced. It’s been sitting on my desk in the same spot for over 6 months now. It’s not been hot and it’s not been cold so who knows.
Here’s the important information about the battery for reference:
Model Number: PMA-BA0001
Date Code: SMMJDHBC
Part Number: BA20603R79913
Oh and here are four pictures for your viewing pleasure. While stating that the battery “exploded” would be pushing it, the battery definitely expanded. Note the curve in the plastic:
Photo 1 - shows battery standing
Photo 2 - shows battery lying down
Photo 3 - shows pmc screen distorted in bottom left
Photo 4 - shows pmc screen with spot in top right
So while the Creative PMC may have the best battery life of the PMC’s be warned that it’s physical life may be short lived.
Tags: Microsoft, Music, News, Rants
December 31st, 2005 at 5:04 am
Corey,
Had a similar thing happen to me about a month and a half ago. It had sat on my desk for a few weeks then I charged it for a trip. I tested it before I left and it appeared to work for a few minutes and then died. I too found that the battery had expanded inside the case preventing me from opening it. I finally got it with a bit of work sliding and downward pressure near the battery catch to release the catch of the battery cover. I called Creative up and they promptly issued me an RMA to send the battery in with a written statement of the problem and proof of purchase. It took me a while to find some free time to pack it up with everything requested and send it out, but I sent it out a few weeks later got an email that a replacement battery with tracking number was on its way. A week later I received a replacement battery with instructions stating if you are not using your unit for more than 30 days to remove the battery from the unit.
Also the replacement battery warranty only lasts as long as the remaining warranty of that of the Zen.
Hope this helps.
May 18th, 2006 at 12:33 am
Responding to this thread from NeoWin Forums:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=462109&st=0&gopid=587518658
When I talked to Creative about this there were numerous instances of the battery becoming bloated. In my particular case the Zen PMC totally stopped working even when I tried another battery. They solution they tried giving me was to fully discharge then charge the battery and the bloating should go down. That of course was just gibberish. I spoke with a manager next and explained things a bit more. Then explained that I considered this to be worthy of a recall at which point they RMA’d the device.
June 12th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
hi , i have the same problem with my battery and they give me an rma number,to exchange the battery , hopefuly this problem will never hapen again
August 6th, 2007 at 6:14 am
I have a battery that expanded so bad that it broke the display and I couldn’t get the battery compartment open. It did this before and I was told by Creative they don’t know of any recall so they won’t cover it.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Battery exploded and ruined the device. Creative said they can replace for 329.00. Are they is crazy!!
January 11th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Battery exploded and ruined my machine. Creative said the would replace for 329.00. Are they crazy?
January 16th, 2008 at 3:32 am
I have a creative ZEN media player 4 GB, and after charging the battery to full I unplugged it. (it was still working fine then). I turned it off and haven’t been able to turn it on since. I first figured that perhaps the Hold was stuck on, however, it still wouldn’t turn on when plugged in. I figure the battery overloaded with energy because it must of kept receiving charge after it was full.
-What’s up with Creative and their batteries?