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.
