Apple recalls 15in PowerBook batteries
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Apple has asked anyone who has a certain 15in PowerBook G4 models to return the battery, which could be faulty.
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(InfoWorld) - Eight months after recalling potentially flammable notebook PC batteries, Toshiba is again urging its customers to trade in the defective units, saying one of its notebooks caught fire on May 24. Toshiba was one of many PC vendors that recalled more than 8 million rechargeable lithium-ion batteries made by Sony. A manufacturing defect left those batteries vulnerable to short-circuiting and catching fire if they were jostled, prompting the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a broad recall. Dell was the first to recall those batteriesÂ in August 2006 and was quickly followed by Apple, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Gateway, and Sony. By October 2006, that defect had led to 16 reports of notebook computer batteries overheating, causing minor property damage and two minor burns, according to the Commission. On Tuesday, Toshiba said the latest fire was sparked by a battery that was never returned. "Recently, certain instances occurred where Sony battery packs installed in Toshiba portable computers caught fire," Toshiba said in a statement on its Web site. After an investigation with Sony, Toshiba found that the battery caused "the situation," the statement said. "The original Sony Battery Pack had not been replaced as recommended by Sony and Toshiba. We put importance on the fact that the incidents that occurred involved unreplaced Sony Battery Packs, despite our ongoing replacement program." In the original recall, the Commission warned laptop users to remove the batteries immediately and to power their PCs only by plugging them into a wall outlet until receiving a free replacement battery from the PC manufacturer. Laptop users were responsible for taking the initiative to return their own batteries, leading some analysts to predict that only a small percentage would do so. Other PC vendors may face the same challenge, although the Commission does not list any other fires. Dell is continuing to replace the faulty batteries, but a spokesman said he could not produce figures for the number of batteries replaced or whether the company had noted any overheating incidents since the recall began. "The recall's going well. Customers are taking heed to send back the affected batteries and have replacements sent to them," said Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman. In response to the latest fire, Toshiba warned customers to stop using the affected batteries immediately. Users who continue running their laptops on battery power should not leave their PCs unattended while they charge and should not place PCs on a sofa, bed or other surface that could obstruct its ventilation, Toshiba said. Toshiba has not changed the list of laptops that use the affected batteries. They include various models of the company's Portege, Qosmio, Satellite, and Tecra brand PCs. As with the original recall, Toshiba will replace all affected batteries for free.
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Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O) has agreed to recall about 28,000 batteries used in its 15-inch PowerBook G4 laptop computers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - IBM Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd. recalled 526,000 Sony Corp. batteries for ThinkPad notebooks on Thursday, becoming the latest notebook vendors to act onÂ fire-prone power sources. The companies advised owners of the batteries, which were sold worldwide with ThinkPads and as replacement units between February 2005 and September 2006, to return them to Lenovo for a free replacement. Lenovo took over IBM's PC division in May 2005. The voluntary recall was announced in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission after reports this month of a ThinkPad smoking and catching fire as a user was boarding an airliner at Los Angeles International Airport, the companies said in a statement. Apple Computer Inc., Dell Inc. and Toshiba Corp. have also recalled Sony notebook batteries this year. The batteries recalled Thursday were sold worldwide with T Series (T43, T43p and T60), R Series (R51e, R52, R60 and R60e) and X Series (X60 and X60s) ThinkPads or as replacement batteries for those units.Â More information is available at here. Owners in the U.S. can call a Lenovo recall hotline at +1-800-426-7378; numbers for customers in other countries can be foundÂ here.
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Blog: The PC maker says it is voluntarily taking back 14,000 notebook batteries, but this time, they're not made by Sony.
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Hewlett-Packard is making a high-stakes bet that it won't get burned by a bad battery. Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Toshiba and Fujitsu are recalling 7.7 million laptop batteries made by Sony. The batteries can, in rare instances, overheat and catch fire. HP uses Sony battery parts, too, but it is not recalling them. The company believes it is safe because it reviewed and rejected Sony battery parts for nearly a year before buying any, spokesman Mike Hockey says.
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(InfoWorld) - Gateway Inc. is recalling 14,000 batteries used in its notebook PCs after four customers reported that their computers had overheated, a similar condition to the massive battery recall that swept the industry in 2006. Dell Inc., Apple Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and other vendorsÂ recalled more than 8 million batteries made by Sony Corp. when customers began complaining that the rechargeable lithium-ion cells could overheat and catch fire after being dropped. Gateway recalled 35,000 batteries in that episode, beginning in October 2006. However, the new recall affects battery cells made by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and assembled into battery packs by Simplo Technology Co. Ltd., of Taiwan, Gateway spokeswoman Lisa Emard said on Tuesday. Gateway, the third-largest PC vendor in the U.S., expects both vendors to help cover the cost of the action. "We're working with our suppliers to cover the cost of replacement battery packs and other direct costs. We expect our costs to be limited to incidental expenses associated with administering the exchange program," Emard said. Simplo and Samsung did not return calls for comment. Even when they offer free replacement batteries, PC vendors face a challenge in persuading laptop users to participate in recalls. Earlier Tuesday,Â Toshiba launched a campaign to remind laptop users to return Sony batteries, after one user's computer burst into flames eight months after the previous recall began. Gateway expects better results from this recall since all the PCs were purchased through direct channels, either over Gateway's Web site and phone lines or through professional direct sales, Emard said. That means Gateway still has the buyers' addresses, and plans to contact them with news of the exchange program. The recall affects certain Gateway 400VTX and 450ROG series notebooks sold between May 2003 and August 2003, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The faulty batteries are identified by part numbers 6500760 or 6500761 and say "made by SMP" on a label pasted on the underside of the battery pack. "The root cause of this failure becomes apparent as the batteries age and perform repetitive charging cycles," Emard said. Of the four customer complaints, one had caused minor property damage while the others simply overheated, she said. Â
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Apple, in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced Thursday a voluntary recall of 15&quot; Aluminum PowerBook batteries.
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By Rachel Konrad< Associated Press  SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer Inc. on Thursday recalled 1.8 million Sony-built notebook batteries that could overheat and catch fire, just 10 days after Dell Inc.'s record-setting recall involving the same problem and the same supplier.
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The computer maker recalls laptop batteries that could overheat. Yikes.
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Apple, in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced Thursday a voluntary recall of 15&quot; Aluminum PowerBook batteries. The batteries being recalled could potentially overheat, though no injuries relating ...
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Apple Computer has been ordered by the Japanese government to investigate its products after reports that at least one of the company's laptops has caught fire as a result of defective batteries from its partner Sony.
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Company says 4.1 million batteries--affecting nearly all Dell notebook lines--are on the recall list.
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Thousands of rechargeable batteries for use in Apple&#39;s Powerbook G4 laptop are being recalled. The batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard. However, no injuries have been reported.
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(InfoWorld) - Apple does not agree that a manufacturing defect caused power failures in an iBook G4 laptop sold in Denmark, but it refunded the customer's money, said the country's Consumer Complaints Board. An Apple spokeswoman in the U.S. said, "Apple disagrees with the DCCB's findings based on our own investigation, and has a strong track record for customer satisfaction." The case is just one of many concerning the iBook G4 that the board has heard about, Frederik Navne Boesgaard, the complaints board's legal adviser, said Wednesday. Apple also faces a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California concerning a similar problem with the iBook G4. In a complaint filed on Nov. 7, plaintiff Alan Vitt said the computers' motherboards fail at an abnormally high rate. Apple is seeking to have the complaint dismissed -- its filing on that motion is due Thursday with the next hearing in the case set for Oct. 4. The Danish complaints board, part of the government-funded National Consumer Agency, published a technical report on faulty iBooks in May. The study found solder joints around a voltage regulator were flawed in such a way as to deteriorate each time the computers were turned on or off, until they would no longer start up. However, using a clamp to apply pressure to the computers' casing, next to the trackpad, closed up the broken joints and allowed the computer to start -- a clear sign of an original design flaw, the study concluded. In response, Apple submitted its own technical report saying that the flaw was not due to cycling the power on and off, but this was not enough to sway the board's decision. Two weeks ago, the board challenged Apple to concede the point and refund the customer's money or take their customer to court. Apple paid up, said Navne Boesgaard. The complaints board is handling four such cases, and owners of faulty iBook G4s continue to come forward: 15 more have called him in recent days, he said. The faulty iBooks were among the first notebooks using the G4 processor that Apple produced and had an opaque white casing like their G3 predecessors. The machines examined, the 800MHz Model 9164LL/A and the 1GHz Model 9426LL/A, were introduced in April 2004 and discontinued in October of that year. The board received the complaints between April and November 2006.
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Apple notes that the model and serial numbers are located on the label on the bottom of the battery, and can be viewed by removing the battery from the computer. Apple is providing an online form for consumers to begin the battery recall ...
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Both the CPSC and Apple advised G4 customers affected by the fault to contact Apple immediately. Apple said it has made provision to supply replacement batteries free of charge by arrangement with the battery&#39;s South Korean manufacturer, ...