DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced Hewlett-Packard is voluntarily recalling 70,000 lithium-ion batteries that shipped with several models of its HP and Compaq laptops.   According to the CPSC, two separate reports of batteries that  "overheated and ruptured, resulting in flames/fire that caused minor property damage" but no injuries.

We have reproduced the Consumer Product Safety Commission news release below in it's entirety:

                                             NEWS from CPSC
                      U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2009
Release # 09-221 Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 889-2031
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
HP Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Lithium-Ion batteries used in Hewlett-Packard and Compaq notebook computers

Units: About 70,000

Importer: Hewlett-Packard Co., of Palo Alto, Calif.

Hazard: The recalled lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm and CPSC are aware of two reports of batteries that overheated and ruptured, resulting in flames/fire that caused minor property damage. No injuries have been reported.

Description: The recalled lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are used with various HP and Compaq notebook computers. Models that can contain a recalled battery include:
HP Pavilion                              Compaq Presario            HP            HP Compaq
dv2000                                              A900                       G6000                6720s
dv2500                                             C700                        G7000
dv2700                                             F700
dv6000                                           V3000
dv6500 dv6700                             V3500
dv9000                                           V3700
dv9500                                           V6000
dv9700                                           V6500
                                                         V6700
The notebook model is located at the top of the service label on the bottom of the notebook. Batteries that can be subject to the recall will have one of the following bar code labels (^ in the code can be any letter or number):
62940^^AXV^^^^ 65033^^B7U^^^^
65033^^B7V^^^^
65033^^BGU^^^^ 65035^^B7U^^^^
65035^^B7V^^^^
65035^^BGU^^^^
65035^^BGV^^^^ 67059^^V8U^^^^
67059^^V8V^^^^

Sold at: Computer and electronics stores nationwide, hp.com and hpshopping.com from August 2007 through March 2008 for between $500 and $3000. The battery packs were also sold separately for between $100 and $160.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately remove the recalled battery from their notebook computer and contact HP to determine if their battery is included in the recall and to request a free replacement battery. After removing the recalled battery from their notebook computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives. Consumers should only use batteries obtained from HP or an authorized reseller.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program Web site at http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or call (800) 889-2031 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.

Media Contact: Sheila Watson at (281) 514-6552 or sheila.watson@hp.com

CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx