this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2025
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managing family relationships around hoarding of hazardous materials (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 months ago by IsThisLoss@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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so, I was eating dinner in a common area of the family house when I noticed a ~decade old laptop with a swollen battery.

I brought it to the attention of the family member that owned it, and I was blown off with "just don't use it".

I've previously had them instigate/massively escalate conflicts over throwing out food that was covered in mold.

I showed a compilation of lithium battery fires and attempted to explain just how big of a hazard we were facing, especially when there isn't a fire extinguisher in the (wood framed) house, and the family member began yelling at me over "wasting perfectly good money over imagined danger", and then I was threatened with a 5950.

I don't have anything remotely resembling the means to get my own housing, but this seems like an acute and imminent danger.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a better course of action than ignoring it and hoping the battery does not vent?

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[–] darkcalling@hexbear.net 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

If it's worrisome do you perhaps have funds to purchase them a new battery? They sound very cheap and careless to be eating moldy food so maybe if presented as a free thing for them maybe they'd go for it? Helps if you can do this around an actual holiday so it seems less like you're trying to exercise control over their stuff. Of course if they're just a careless control freak (and being cheap has no actual part in it) even this could be received with hostility I suppose. Even if you have no experience you can often find battery replacement videos on youtube if it's an internal one by searching the model and "battery replacement" though be wary some may require tools like special screw-driver bits which may drive the cost up (though some seller MAY include things like that with the battery).

Otherwise a fire extinguisher and working smoke alarm sound good to me as alternative purchases.