14 DAY TRIAL // HP has announced that it’s expanding the battery recall program that it started in June 2016, as it discovered that more batteries could catch fire because of overheating.
In an announcement today, the company says that batteries that are shipped with laptops such as HP, Compaq, HP ProBook, HP ENVY, Compaq Presario, and HP Pavilion Notebook Computers sold worldwide from March 2013 through October 2016 could be affected by an issue causing them to overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard.
Additionally, batteries for these models that are sold separately could also be affected, HP says. The company recommends customers to recheck their batteries even if they were originally told they were safe.
“Because these batteries pose a fire and burn hazard, it is essential to recheck your battery, even if you did so previously and were informed that it was not affected. However, if you have already received a replacement battery, you are not affected by this expansion,” HP says.
If you’re trying to determine whether a specific battery is affected or not, the company also has a validation program that does the whole thing automatically, but you can also check it manually.
Stop using defective batteries
What’s important to note, however, is that HP does not recall laptops, but batteries, so the aforementioned models are not defective, but only come with a faulty battery that can pose a risk of fire when overheating.
“HP is not recalling its notebook computers. HP has announced, in cooperation with various government regulatory agencies, a worldwide voluntary safety recall and replacement program for certain notebook computer batteries,” the company stated.
Customers who have already replaced their batteries as part of the original recall program do not need to exchange them again, as this expansion does not affect new units.
It goes without saying that should you have one of the laptops suspected to come with a defective battery, you are strongly recommended to stop using it as soon as possible and contact HP for a replacement. You can also use the laptop without a battery, but connected to an external power source until you get the new battery.