Another Laptop Battery Recall For Sony

Toshiba, HP, Dell Impacted

By John Laposky -- TWICE, 10/31/2008

Tokyo — Sony Corp. released a statement today supporting the voluntary recall of about 100,000 notebook computer batteries due to reports of overheating and fire incidents, a month after recalling more than 400,000 Vaio laptops because of battery hazards.

The latest recall affects certain laptops from Toshiba, HP, Dell, Acer and Lenovo using Sony 2.15Ah lithium-ion cells, according to Sony .

The recall, initiated by PC manufacturers and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, encompasses about 35,000 notebook battery packs in the United States, with an additional 65,000 sold worldwide.

Affected PC manufacturers have collectively reported 40 incidents globally of overheating associated with these recalls — some of which included smoke and/or flames. Sony was informed that four incidents involved small burns and 21 included minor property damage. Reportedly, 19 of these overheating incidents occurred in the U.S.

Sony believes that most of these incidents were related to manufacturing line adjustments made fromOctober 2004 to June 2005, which may have affected some battery cells produced during that period. In addition, there were some incidents that may have involved a raw material flaw.

The Sony 2.15Ah lithium ion cells are a different type of cell from those covered by the much larger recalls and replacement programs that certain PC manufacturers announced in 2006.