HP Laptop Battery Recall Issued For Second Time Due To Overheating Concerns

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a recall on HP batteries used in several laptop models produced from 2013 to 2016.

The new recall on an estimated 101,000 laptops focuses on batteries used in the HP ProBook, HP ENVY, Compaq Presario and HP Pavilion series. Bar codes for the affected batteries begin with 6BZLU, 6CGFK, 6CGFQ, 6CZMB, 6DEMA, 6DEMH, 6DGAL and 6EBVA.

Users with an affected battery can ship the unit to HP for a free replacement. Information on the replacement process is available through HP’s website.

The announcement follows an earlier recall in June 2016 that affected 41,000 HP laptops. As the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission notes, the recall follows a report of a battery in a laptop that suffered from “overheating, melting and charring,” causing around $1,000 in damages.

The updated recall for HP highlights the continuing hurdles consumer electronics manufacturers have faced with battery construction. Toshiba had to issue a similar recall for a combined 184,000 laptop batteries over overheating safety concerns. Samsung is also only beginning to recover from the impact of the controversy over defective batteries on the Galaxy Note 7. The scandal — which at had the phone be banned from all U.S. flights — was found to have been caused by manufacturing issues with the battery assembly.