HP Recalls Laptop, Mobile Workstation Batteries Due to Fire, Burn Issues

HP has recalled some laptop and mobile workstation batteries due to an overheating problem. The HP laptops that are affected were shipped in the last two years, between December 2015 and December 2017. Users can visit HP's website to check if their battery is included in the recall. The company has listed all the models that have been affected by the issue. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued the recall on its site, detailing that about 50,000 batteries are affected in the US, adding that an additional 2,600 faulty batteries were sold in Canada.

HP has promised a free battery replacement and an appointment to get it replaced for the impacted customers. In a blog post, HP has put out instructions on how to enable 'Battery Safety Mode' in case a battery is included in the recall. HP in a release, said, "HP strongly recommends accepting Battery Safety Mode so that the notebook or mobile workstation can be safely used by connecting to an HP power adaptor." Not all batteries of the affected laptops are part of the recall, which is why the company has released a HP Battery Validation Utility to check if the particular battery in a notebook computer is affected. Validation using the utility takes less than 30 seconds, HP noted.

The affected batteries were shipped with or sold as accessories for these HP laptops: HP ProBooks (640, 645, 650, 655 in G2 and G3 series), HPx360 310 G2, HP Envy m6, HP Pavilion x360 310 G2, HP 11 Notebook PC, HP ZBook (17 G3, 17 G4, and Studio G3) Mobile Workstations. The list also includes the HP ZBook Studio G4 which doesn't ship with the affected batteries but could have been replaced with them.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has said that HP has received eight reports of battery packs overheating, melting, or charring, including three reports of property damage totalling $4,500 (roughly Rs. 2,85,200). Meanwhile, HP has said, "The quality and safety of all HP products is our top priority. We recently learned that batteries provided by one of our suppliers for certain notebook computers and mobile workstations present a potential safety concern." It added, "HP's primary concern is for the safety of our customers. HP is proactively notifying customers, and will provide replacement battery services for each verified, eligible battery, at no cost."

The minimum system requirements for HP Battery Program Validation Utility are Windows Operating System, Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5.2, and HP Software Framework. If the latter two are not available on the computer, users can download the fully-loaded battery validation utility program instead.