On January 24, HP recalled another 101,000 laptop batteries that were sold from March 2013 through October 2016, expanding a recall for 41,000 batteries in June 2016.

In the U.S., there have been 8 reports of the lithium-ion batteries overheating, catching on fire, melting and charring. Five of those incidents caused a total of $5,000 worth of property damage.

The Canadian government has also reported one laptop that caught on fire, with no injuries.

The recalled batteries were shipped with certain HP, Compaq, HP ProBook, HP ENVY, Compaq Presario, and HP Pavillion Notebook Computers — but not all batteries in these computers are affected.

The recalled batteries were also sold separately as accessories, spares, or replacements through HP Support.

They should have bar codes 6BZLU, 6CGFK, 6CGFQ, 6CZMB, 6DEMA, 6DEMH, 6DGAL or 6EBVA printed on the back.

HP customers should immediately go to the HP Battery Recall website at http://www.hp.com/go/batteryprogram2016 to check if their battery is recalled. If so, stop using it and remove it from the laptop. According to HP:

It is essential to recheck your battery, even if you did so previously and were informed that it was not affected. The batteries have the potential to overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to customers.”

HP will provide a free replacement battery for each verified recalled battery. In the meantime, laptops can still be used without the battery by connecting it to external power.

You may also want to check if your power cord is one of 6 million that HP recalled for a fire hazard in 2014.

For more information, consumers in the U.S. can contact HP Support from 8 a.m. – 7 p.m CST Monday through Friday at 1-888-202-4320.

HP has quite a history of recalling laptop batteries for fire hazards. Here is a list of previous recalls:

  • October 2005 — 135,000 batteries, 16 reports
  • April 2006 — 16,000 batteries, 20 reports, 1 burn injury
  • October 2008 — 32,000 batteries
  • May 2009 — 70,000 batteries, 2 reports
  • May 2010 — 54,000 batteries, 38 reports, 11 injuries
  • May 2011 — 162,000 batteries, 40 reports, 7 burn injuries, 1 smoke inhalation injury

Source: HP Expands Recall of Batteries for HP and Compaq Notebook Computers Due to Fire and Burn Hazards

Posted by Daily Hornet

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