HP Expands Recall of Batteries for Notebook Computers and Mobile Workstations Due to Fire and Burn Hazards
The US Product and Safety Commission on Tuesday announced a "battery safety" recall of about 78,500 HP laptops for what the UPSC calls "fire and burn hazards."
The recall involves lithium-ion batteries for HP commercial notebook computers and mobile workstations were sold to businesses and other organizations. The batteries were shipped with or sold as accessories for HP ProBooks (64x G2 and G3 series, 65x G2 and G3 series, 4xx G4 series), HPx360 (310 G2), HP Pavilion x360 11inch Notebook PC, HP 11 Notebook PC, HP ZBook (17 G3, and Studio G3) mobile workstations. The batteries were also sold as accessories or replacement batteries for the HP ZBook Studio G4 mobile workstation, HP ProBook 4xx G5 series, HP ENVY 15, HP Mobile Thin Clients (mt21, mt22, and mt31), or for any of the products listed above.
UPSC calls consumers to visit www.HP.com/go/batteryprogram2018 to see if their battery is included in the recall and for instructions on how to enable “Battery Safety Mode” if their battery is included in the recall. The website provides instructions on how to initiate the validation utility to check your battery and what to download if their battery is included in the recall. These batteries are not customer-replaceable. HP will provide free battery replacement services by an authorized technician.
HP has received eight new reports of battery packs in the U.S. overheating, melting, or charring, including one report of minor injury and two reports of property damage totaling $1,100.
The batteries were shipped in notebook computers and mobile workstations sold from December 2015 through April 2018 for between $300 and $4,000 and were also sold separately between December 2015 and December 2018 for between $50 and $90.