Dell recalls 4m+ notebook batteries

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-08-15 05:23am

The world's largest manufacturer of personal computers, Dell, is to recall 4.1 million of its notebook computer batteries because of a fire risk.

Most batteries are in computers sold in the United States but more than 1m are believed to be outside the US.

Dell says it knows of six instances since December when the batteries, made by Sony, overheated or caught fire.

The US body responsible for consumer safety says it is the biggest recall of electrical products in its history.

A spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Scott Wolfson, said users of affected laptops should only run the machines on a power cord.

'Rare cases'

The Sony lithium-ion batteries were placed in laptops shipped between April 2004 and July 2006.

They were included in some models of Dell's Latitude, Inspiron, XTS and precision mobile workstation notebooks.

"In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and or fire," said Dell spokesman Ira Williams.

"It happens in rare cases but we opted to take this broad action immediately."

Dell has already launched a website (www.dellbatteryprogram.com) telling customers how to get a free replacement battery.

No injuries have been linked to Dell laptops with defective batteries, the company was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

The CPSC has identified 339 incidents in which lithium batteries used in laptops and cell phones - not just Dell products - overheated between 2003 and 2005.

Some incidents involved minor skin burns or actual injuries as well as property damage, Mr Wolfson said.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-08-15 06:25am

*Checks Inspiron 9300 battery*
Nope, not part of the recall.

Damn, there goes my hope of getting a brand new battery.

BTW, can't Sony do anything right these days?

AniThyng · Post by **AniThyng** » 2006-08-15 06:27am

I'm curious, if the batteries are faulty (and not an excuse to cover up for poor heat management of the notebooks on Dell's part), why would Sony's own line of notebooks be unaffected?

Do they not use thier own batteries, or are batteries destined for Sony's own use held to higher QC standards?

That said, this is sucky news, since i just paid Dell for a Inspiron 6400.....

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-08-15 06:46am

My 9300 appears to manage heat pretty well, and the battery itself gets only a little warm to the touch under extended use or charging.
As for Sony, my guess is that right now their laptop division execs have their collective heads up their asses and are blissfully unaware of the scale of the problem.
Or they could just not give a damn given Sony's reputation for having about the worst QC and customer support in the computer business.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2006-08-15 07:13am

Well, well, well, this could be the reason why my friend's Dell is so god damn hot! *e-mails article to friend*

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-08-15 09:39am

I wonder how many people will still continue to defend Dells as good machines after this little incident. . .

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2006-08-15 10:04am

This isn't the first time Sony laptop batteries have caught fire.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-08-15 10:24am

General Zod wrote:I wonder how many people will still continue to defend Dells as good machines after this little incident. . .

I could ask the same question about who'll continue to defend HP/Compaq/Apple/Gateway, or any other PC maker who bought bad batteries from Sony or LG.
Besides, almost all laptops (Lenovos are a notable exception) are made by the same few ODM's for resale by corporate customers such as Apple, Dell, etc.
In fact, here's the 9300 as offered direct by the ODM.
Speaking of Apple and battery recalls

Genii Lodus · Post by **Genii Lodus** » 2006-08-15 10:25am

I guess that this was one of the more public failures.

Bad Sony, bad. They really need a remedial in QC.

Macunaima · Post by **Macunaima** » 2006-08-15 10:45am

Hum, I've just check in their website and I'm using a Latitude D610 with an affected battery. I contacted our IT department (we have several D610 here) and they're now filling the forms in the website for replacements. The instructions says that is safe to use the computer with the power cord... and to think that just yesterday I've used this very own computer on the battery all day.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-08-15 11:14am

Glocksman wrote: I could ask the same question about who'll continue to defend HP/Compaq/Apple/Gateway, or any other PC maker who bought bad batteries from Sony or LG.

I don't recall any of those companies having recalls of over 4 million units.
Not that I'd buy from either of them anyways. I tend to limit myself to a very few specific laptop brands.

Besides, almost all laptops (Lenovos are a notable exception) are made by the same few ODM's for resale by corporate customers such as Apple, Dell, etc.

Nice to see that my choice of going with a Lenovo for my next laptop upgrade is continuing to be justified then.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-08-15 01:06pm

Ummm... 4 million batteries were recalled, and 6 had caught fire. That's a catastrophic failure rate of... .00015%. That's not especially bad on any company's part, although clearly the batteries should have been recalled. Put another way, they would've had to have tested well over a half-million batteries thoroughly in order to have any realistic chance of replicating this flaw even once. I don't think that anyone's Q&C can be expected to catch that flaw, if it gets through the design phase.

Prozac the Robert · Post by **Prozac the Robert** » 2006-08-15 01:24pm

Curses. My laptop is of an affected type, but my worn out battery is not one of the affected models. I thought for a moment I might get a free new battery, but no such luck.

TimothyC · Post by **TimothyC** » 2006-08-15 03:58pm

Master of Ossus wrote:Ummm... 4 million batteries were recalled, and 6 had caught fire. That's a catastrophic failure rate of... .00015%. That's not especially bad on any company's part, although clearly the batteries should have been recalled. Put another way, they would've had to have tested well over a half-million batteries thoroughly in order to have any realistic chance of replicating this flaw even once. I don't think that anyone's Q&C can be expected to catch that flaw, if it gets through the design phase.

The NYT articel I read about this puts the *Potential* total failure rate much, much higher. Closer to several hundred units that have had this problem.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-08-15 07:04pm

MariusRoi wrote:
Master of Ossus wrote:Ummm... 4 million batteries were recalled, and 6 had caught fire. That's a catastrophic failure rate of... .00015%. That's not especially bad on any company's part, although clearly the batteries should have been recalled. Put another way, they would've had to have tested well over a half-million batteries thoroughly in order to have any realistic chance of replicating this flaw even once. I don't think that anyone's Q&C can be expected to catch that flaw, if it gets through the design phase.
The NYT articel I read about this puts the *Potential* total failure rate much, much higher. Closer to several hundred units that have had this problem.

Assuming that "several hundred"=400, that's still a failure rate of only .01%, requiring thorough testing of about 10,000 batteries to catch a single malfunction, on average. That's much worse, but realistically there are many more dangerous products that have passed faulty QC checks in the past.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2006-08-15 11:18pm

Shucks, I needa new battery - mine only last 15 minutes after only a year (probably really is a bad idea to leave laptop on lying on a sofa or bed or carpet as a habit- wouldn't be such of a problem if dell laptops had better ventilation).

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-08-15 11:25pm

If you cover up the air vents, I don't really think the brand matters much.

As for battery life, the advice I was given was to initially run it through a full charge/discharge cycle, charge it fully again, run it down to 40% and then pull it out and store it in a cool dry place until you need it.

It seems to work as I still get 2 hours or so out of my year and a half old battery.

Stile · Post by **Stile** » 2006-08-16 08:09pm

*checks battery*

Yikes!
orders battery...

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2006-08-16 08:27pm

Glocksman wrote:If you cover up the air vents, I don't really think the brand matters much.
As for battery life, the advice I was given was to initially run it through a full charge/discharge cycle, charge it fully again, run it down to 40% and then pull it out and store it in a cool dry place until you need it.

It seems to work as I still get 2 hours or so out of my year and a half old battery.

It is if the vents are on the bottom...

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2006-08-18 03:15am

Pu-239 wrote:
Glocksman wrote:If you cover up the air vents, I don't really think the brand matters much.
As for battery life, the advice I was given was to initially run it through a full charge/discharge cycle, charge it fully again, run it down to 40% and then pull it out and store it in a cool dry place until you need it.

It seems to work as I still get 2 hours or so out of my year and a half old battery.

It is if the vents are on the bottom...

Cheap chassis designs are quite a problem. You shouldn't need to be sitting at a solid perfectly level desk every time you want to use one, they are meant to be portable.