HP recalls another 162,000 laptop batteries

Hewlett Packard has recalled a further 162,000 lithium-ion batteries after discovering a product model series that was missed in last year's worldwide recall.

The batteries, shipped with laptops that were sold between July 2007 and May 2008, “can overheat and rupture, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers,” the US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned late last week.

The new model series discovered was the HP Compaq 6520s and one of its HP Pavilion series.

The computer maker plans to recall about 162,600 lithium-ion batteries used in its HP and Compaq branded products, adding to the 54,000 recalled last year and the 70,000 units recalled the year prior. 

Consumers with HP Pavillion, Compaq Presario, HP and HP Compaq notebooks should check HP’s list of affected series, available through HP or the safety commission. 

The safety commission advised that consumers should immediately remove the batteries from their notebooks and contact HP.

It also advised consumers that were told previously that their batteries were not affected to check again. 

HP said that approximately five percent of the batteries sold in the period were affected, and urged customers to use its online validation process to determine whether they were affected.  

HP did not explain how it missed the batteries that were included in the latest recall, but said that "further investigations with our suppliers that identified additional battery packs, including certain battery packs used in one additional commercial product model series."