HP extends 2018 battery recall program, delayed announcement due to government shutdown

HP launched a voluntary recall program of about 50,000 batteries in early 2018. This year, the company extended the program to 78,500 additional batteries, after receiving eight more complaints from its customers. HP launched this recall in January. However, due to the closure of the US government early in the year, this recall was only publicly announced by the CConsumer Product Safety Commission.

The batteries recalled last year were used in some HP laptops and sold separately from December 2015 to December 2017. The list of affected computers includes some HP ProBook 640/645 G2 / G3 and 650/655 G2 / G3, HP x360 310 G2, HP Envy m6, HP Pavilion x 360, HP 11, ZBook 17 G3 and HP ZBook Studio G3 notebooks.

Since HP has received additional complaints for batteries since early 2018, the company has had to expand the list of PCs affected by defective batteries with some HP ProBook 400 G4 and HP Pavilion x360 (11 inches). The same batteries were also sold as accessories for the HP ZBook Studio G4, HP ProBook 430/440/450/455/470 G5, HP Envy 15 and HP mobile thin clients (mt21, mt22 and mt31).

HP recommends that customers with a potentially affected computer visit an appropriate Web site and download a special HP Battery Program Validation Utility (Basic Version, Full Version) that automatically verifies whether a battery is potentially dangerous or not. If the utility determines that the used accumulator needs to be replaced, it advises you to update the system BIOS and enable the "Battery Safety Mode" which prevents it to charge. After that, customers should contact HP and order a new battery that will be sent to them for free. For laptops with built-in batteries, HP will also send a technician to swap them.

Battery reminders are not unusual these days. Since the beginning of 2017, HP has recalled approximately 230,000 batteries that could overheat, catch fire, or even explode, causing personal injury and / or property damage. Obviously, it's good to see that HP takes the problem seriously, but the numbers seem rather overwhelming. However, what is unusual is that reminders of this type are usually accompanied by an official report and an announcement from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The official reason for the delay in the CPSC's announcement, according to the CPSC, was due to the closure of the US government.

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Source: CPSC (via SlashGear)