HP has issued a recall of 78500 laptops that may contain defective lithium-ion batteries. These defective batteries pose a risk of overheating and combusting as a result. The recall notice was reportedly made back in January.
According to HP the batteries were either shipped with or sold as accessories to a wide range of products, These include the HP x360 310 G2, HP ENVY M6, and HP Pavilion x360, to name a few. These devices were also sold worldwide between December 2015 and April 2018.
Here is the official statement from the company, in full:
The quality and safety of all HP products is our top priority. We learned that batteries provided by one of our suppliers for certain notebook computers and mobile workstations present a potential safety concern. We took immediate action to address the issue and are replacing the batteries in question. This action pertains to approximately 0.1 percent of the HP systems sold globally during the recall time period.
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Customers can visit HP’s site (https://batteryprogram687.ext
.hp.com) to learn if their battery should be replaced. Impacted customers will have their batteries replaced free of charge and may continue safely using their device by placing the battery in Safety Mode and connecting to an external power source.
Many of these batteries are also non-removable, and you’ll have to bring the affected laptop to an authorised HP technician to do so. To find out if your battery is affected, you’ll have to run the HP battery Validation Utility program. This will then check if the battery in your laptop is affected. If you are, then you should also get a BIOS update that puts your battery in a “Battery Safety Mode” until you can get it replaced.
The company does have a list of specific products that may have been shipped with affected batteries, as well as batteries that are compatible with them. Even if you’re using an HP device that isn’t on both lists, it’s best to just run the check anyway, if just for peace of mind.
(Source: HP)
