Battery health is something many users consider when using and charging devices like laptops and smartphones, but it's just as important to consider when talking about wireless peripherals, as one Reddit user who goes by u/Molti_gfx recently discovered. The user posted to r/spicypillows about their SteelSeries wireless mechanical keyboard that developed a case of battery bloat from being plugged in permanently. They noticed a "weird bump" in the keyboard's plate, caused by the battery swelling, and was forced to remove the battery from the keyboard for safety reasons.

All Li-ion batteries will eventually degrade as their users burn through charge cycles—especially above 85% and below 15%—and, although many brands put protections in place in their battery management systems (BMS), there will almost always be some percentage of cells that bloat as they degrade. It's unclear how long the SteelSeries keyboard was left plugged in, but, as the user explains, they left it connected to their gaming PC in order to benefit from reduced latency.

After removing the battery, the keyboard in question no longer receives power from the USB port, suggesting that the PCB always draws power from the battery, regardless of whether it's connected or not. This is not necessarily the case with many keyboard brands, like Keychron, NuPhy, MoErgo, and Epomaker, to name a few based on first-hand experience, and that PCB design likely resulted in the battery's early demise.

Wireless keyboards with swollen batteries aren't an uncommon occurrence, as is evidenced by the wealth of posts in r/spicypillows showing wireless keyboard batteries exhibiting the same symptoms. If you're the type to leave a keyboard on your desk, connected to a PC, a wired keyboard may be a better bet.