WASHINGTON: Hewlett-Packard Co. is recalling nearly 15,700 batteries used in HP and Compaq notebooks worldwide following reports of overheating and burning, according to a report issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Thursday.
This is the second recall in six months as the company and the commission had announced recall of 135,000 battery units worldwide in October 2005. In the present case, batteries beginning with the bar code L3 are found to be affected most. Batteries used in several models of HP Pavilion family notebooks, HP Compaq family notebooks and Compaq Presario models could be affected by the malfunctioning.
The commission said in statement that an internal failure can cause the battery to overheat and melt, or char the plastic case, posing a burn and fire hazard. "HP has received 20 reports of batteries overheating... One minor injury has been reported (and) 11 cases of minor property damage."
HP is voluntarily recalling the lithium ion rechargeable batteries, which were sold at national and regional computer and electronics stores, as well as online, in 2005.
Of the recalled batteries, nearly 4,100 are said to be in the U.S.
The commission said the batteries were manufactured in China and the computers were sold in the United States at retail and online stores from January 2005 through December 2005. Battery packs were also sold separately.
The commission has advised HP and Compaq notebook users having battery packs with an "L3" bar code label to stop using it and contact the nearest HP dealer. Details of the recall and replacement can be had from www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement.
HP said the problem is limited to the batteries and owners can continue to use the notebooks on AC power until the batteries are replaced.
