Hewlett-Packard is to recall more than 15,000 laptops
worldwide because a fault makes them a fire hazard.
The move comes six months after the company was forced to recall
around 135,000 lithium ion rechargeable battery packs after several
burned users’ laptop machines.
The new recall of 15,700 HP and Compaq laptop computer batteries
was announced by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. It
warned, “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, with one
minor burn injury reported. Eleven cases of minor property damage
have also been reported.
The recalled batteries are among those manufactured in early
January 2005, and carry a barcode label starting with L3. Users
should “stop using the L3 coded batteries immediately” and contact
HP, which would issue a free replacement, the commission said.
Laptop computers in the HP Pavillion, HP Compaq and Compaq
Presario families may contain affected batteries.