HP Laptop Battery Recall: Risk of Notebook Fire
Published: May 18th, 2009 • Comments: 12
About 70,000 lithium-ion batteries used in Compaq and HP notebook computers were recalled last week by Hewlett-Packard Co., as they could overheat and potentially catch on fire.
The HP laptop battery recall was issued after at least two incidents were reported where the computer batteries ruptured and caused flames to ignite. The fires did not result in any personal injuries, but property damage was reported.
The lithium-ion batteries were sold between August 2007 and March 2008, both separately and together with the following notebook computers:
- HP Pavilion Laptop Battery: for Models dv2000, dv2500, dv2700, dv6000, dv6500, dv6700, dv9000, dv9500, dv9700
- Compaq Presario Laptop Battery: for Models A900, C700, F700, V3000, V3500, V3700, V6000, V6500, V6700
- HP Laptop Battery: for Models G6000, G7000
- HP Compaq Laptop Battery: for Model 6720s
When sold together with a computer, the systems retailed for between $500 and $3,000. When sold individually, the recalled notebook batteries cost between $100 and $160.
The potentially defective notebook batteries contain a label on the bottom of the battery, featuring one of the following bar codes (where the “^” represents any letter or number):62940^^AXV^^^^, 65033^^B7U^^^^, 65033^^B7V^^^^, 65033^^BGU^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^, 65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^, 65035^^BGV^^^^, 67059^^V8U^^^^, 67059^^V8V^^^^.
Owners of HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP and HP Compaq laptops have been urged to check their battery and remove any defective batteries that have been recalled. A free replacement battery can be obtained by contacting HP at (800) 889-2031 or visiting www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement.
Last year, several different HP laptop model were affected by a notebook battery recall issued for batteries manufactured by Sony Energy Devices Corporation. Aproximately 35,000 lithium-ion batteries used in Toshiba, Dell and Hewlett-Packard notebooks were recalled after reports of at least 17 fires or flames erupting from overheated batteries.
There was also a massive lithium-ion notebook batter recall in 2006 for over 8 million other Sony batteries used in computers sold by Dell, Apple, Lenovo Group and Toshiba.
Comment by Joe on 18 May 2009:
I read this earlier and it scared me to death. The big Dell recalls were not fun either. You can log on to YouTube at anytime and see all of the laptops that literally blow up. I have continued to purchase 3rd parties for my HPs and Compaq and have yet to have any problems. Most recently at NoteBatt.com. A lot of companies like this have full waranties anyway instead of the limited ones that come with the stock batteries when you buy the laptop. Not to mention you are saving almost half of what you pay HP for it.
Comment by Mike on 24 May 2009:
My SmokeShutoff power strip shuts off if it detects smoke. Might add a level of safety for any of these situations where you have to leave a charger plugged in for when you need it. You can read more about it at SmokeShutoff.com.
Seems like with all these recharger fires, in some conditions my power strip should be a required part of the setup.
Comment by Norm on 1 June 2009:
Thank goodness most of these laptops (like my dv9000) never ran long enough for this to happen due to their faulty nVIDIA chip or wireless card or bad backlight.
Comment by Mary Ann on 12 June 2009:
My HP laptop battery exploded while on my lap. I was sitting up in bed and it burned my bedspread. Black smoke went all over. Two days later, the whole computer ignited. It was not plugged in. It sent flames to the ceiling. It was at work and a co-worker doused it with water. The battery exploded on a Sunday evening. I took the computer with me to work so I could call HP and report it. It combusted on it’s own Wedneday evening. (Three days later). Thank God it was not at my home, in my car, or in a cabinet at work. I have sent the computer to HP. They have received it. I have not heard anything else as of yet. The offical recall happened a few days after I sent in my device.
Comment by jennifer on 29 July 2009:
I lost everything I own due to my laptop catching fire. Thank the Lord I was able to get my children out. Why weren’t we told this could happen. I would have never put my boys in such danger. Someone needs to be handle accountable. This happen on June 29th 2009.
Comment by pat on 25 August 2009:
laptop caught fire today while it was turned off and in my carry case. carry case was on fire – had to be put out with fire extinguisher. fortunately the bag was out in the open and i was able to extinguish the fire within moments, so no injuries – just a burn on finger. why was i not notified about recall? this computer is registered with hp.
Comment by patrick on 26 October 2009:
I just found out about the law suit, this battery mess explains why my operating system quit working I can get a browser but can’t connect to the net.
I’m hoping I can get them to replace my laptop. I had some smoking vapors coming from the device, I was oversea’s when it happened, all i could do is pray, I got home just in time to witness the departure of my lap top and the birth of my exspenive my note pad, dvd, cd player, that’s HP baby
Comment by R Gramazio on 11 November 2009:
Unfortunately I trusted a aquaitance and purchased a Compaq from Arrons rent here buy here scam artists. Fro day 1 it never worked properly. It is sold with a sub-standard operating windows Vista system. And they charge a ridiculous price compared to an outright purchase of a better product offered by Compaq/HP………….
Meanwhile,5 medical operations later,never mind the pre-operative procedures,and the Cancer scares/removal of tumors involved. I have found a rash like symptom that surfaces after i showered mostly.Of course I am watching this rash like thing without panic but .have concerns that it another form of Cancer possibly surfacing? Now I find that this same rash symptom is not once in a while, it is not a permanent scar/burn created by the laptop purchased from Arrons Corp.And manufactured by Compaq/HP………
Consumers should demand that big corps protect the buyer and not sell us short in order to make mega-millions in greed for themselves and thier annual bonus’
Comment by justin on 17 December 2009:
is there a recall on toshiba L300 laptop
Comment by Stacey on 29 December 2009:
so i came home christmas night, turned on my laptop and within minutes thick smoke came pouring out and a large flame shot out the side. After jumping up in a panic the flame quickly went out (thank God). Well needless to say it has been shipped back to hp and am waiting to see what happens. i had heard about Dell computers but nothing about HP’s. Would have been nice to have been informed about the recall in may/june. i bought it June 2nd
Comment by Liz on 11 February 2010:
I recently discovered a “melted” VGA outport, SVideo and docking station. I am lucky that I discovered this quickly, the risk of fire is overwhelmingly frightening. I called HP and the customer service was useless, very poor communication. Has anyone researched a class action lawsuit? If so, please contact me. I expect a rebate.
Comment by joanne on 8 March 2010:
Yes, I also had serious overheating problems. In one case, I had the laptop on my lap and burned my thigh and got a blister that scarred. Interestingly I spoke to a lady at work who got one for her daughter and her daughter also burned her leg. These things aren’t just affecting computers they are hurting people and there should be a settlement. I’m walking around wth a scar on my leg now. I THINK A CLASS ACTION would get a bunch of people who have been physically burned by these things.