SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Explosion / rupture

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20200604-83F2B-2147371894. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (Microsoft Surface Pro 4, intel Core 5, 4 GB memory, 128 GB solid state drive). Incident: My Microsoft Surface Pro 4, purchased on March 12, 2017, began showing an orange-ish blotch on the lower left side of the screen in early to mid-May 2020. The computer also became very hot to the touch. I searched Microsoft Support and found multiple postings about this problem, all stating that the battery was swollen. I followed the steps indicated by users and confirmed the same battery swelling; Microsoft itself stated that the battery could not be replaced or repaired and recommended that the entire unit be replaced. I use the MSP 4 daily, as my primary computer. My local computer repair center stated that they do not work on Microsoft products. What alarmed me was a November 5, 2017 posting on the Microsoft Support pages, from volunteer moderator [REDACTED]: "this sounds like the battery is expanding. and you should not use your Surface." This 2.5 year discussion is found at [REDACTED] I also followed some instructions found on the same Support pages, accessed the "Surface Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and got the following message, again one that alarmed me: "If the orange splotch is present on the UEFI screen, it's a hardware issue and device needs replacing." Of course, the orange splotch was still present. I am concerned: (1) that Microsoft has known about this dangerous problem - a swollen battery in a computer - for over 2.5 years, and only asks consumers to pay even more money for a refurbished product that most likely will end up in the same dangerous condition; and (2) that my personal safety is at risk due to Microsoft's cavalier attitude - "y