PC Makers Recalling 100,000 Sony Batteries

Sony has launched another notebook battery recall, this time impacting computers made by HP, Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo, and Dell.

Back at the end of 2006, Sony took a major blow on the chin by recalling millions of batteries chipped in notebook computers—both those made by Sony as well as batteries the company manufactured under contract for a plethora of computer manufacturers. Fast forward to the end of 2008, and Sony is launching another notebook battery recall…and (so far) it is impacting up to 100,000 batteries sold around the world in computers from Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer, Toshiba, and Lenovo.

According to Sony, the recall covers 2.15Ah lithium ion cells that were manufactured between October 2004 and June 2005. The company has received 40 reports of overheating associated with batteries in the recalls, including some incidents with smoke and flames, 21 incidents involving minor property damage, and 4 instances were users suffered minor burns. The batteries are a different type than those that were subject to Sony’s massive battery recall of 2006.

Sony initially said the recall applied to some 35,000 computer batteries sold in the U.S. and another 65,000 batteries sold around the world from HP, Toshiba, and Dell. However, media reports have Lenovo and Acer participating in the recall as well.

The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission has images of impacted batteries and Toshiba, HP, and Dell, units impacted by the recall. Users with recalled batteries should remove the battery from the notebook (powering it by the AC adapter instead) and contact their computer manufacturer for a free replacement battery.