Dell recalls fire hazard notebook batteries

Dell today recalled up to 27,000 notebook batteries that are suspected of being a fire risk.

The voluntary recall affects models sold in the Americas from June 22 to September 15, and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa between June 22 and October 4.

The batteries, which have the potential to short-circuit, overheat and start smoking when not in use, were made by Sanyo Electric. Dell shipped them in its consumer Inspiron and commercial Latitude laptops, and they were also sold separately by Dell or through one of its service providers in the same period.

Dell said it had received one report of a battery in one of its computers catching fire - this resulted in "minor property damage" but no injuries, and prompted the recall.

The specific models at risk are the Latitude CPiA, CPiR, CPtC, CPtS, CPtV, CPxH and CPxJ, and the Inspiron 3700 and 3800. Batteries with the following ID numbers are affected: DP/N followed by 01691P, 001691P or 0001691P and 42011, 42012, 42013 or 42014 as a separate code. More information on the recall can be found here.

This is the second such situation to plague Dell this year. In March it warned that up to 400,000 notebooks shipped in 1999 contained potentially faulty chips. ®

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