70,000 HP laptop batteries recalled due to fire hazard

It's been quite awhile since we've seen a major recall surrounding volatile laptop batteries, but it looks as if HP is the company bringing the topic back to the forefront. Announced today, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with Hewlett-Packard, has issued a voluntary recall of about 70,000 Li-ion batteries. Reportedly, these cells can "overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers," and so far, the firm and CPSC have received two separate reports of batteries that have overheated and ruptured, resulting in -- wait for it -- "flames / fire that caused minor property damage." For a look at what units are affected, head on past the break -- oh, and if you're reading this on an HP lappie right now, go ahead and grab the fire extinguisher just in case.

Description: The recalled lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are used with various HP and Compaq notebook computers. Models that can contain a recalled battery include:

The notebook model is located at the top of the service label on the bottom of the notebook. Batteries that can be subject to the recall will have one of the following bar code labels (^ in the code can be any letter or number):

62940^^AXV^^^^ 65033^^B7U^^^^
65033^^B7V^^^^
65033^^BGU^^^^ 65035^^B7U^^^^
65035^^B7V^^^^
65035^^BGU^^^^
65035^^BGV^^^^ 67059^^V8U^^^^
67059^^V8V^^^^

Sold at: Computer and electronics stores nationwide, hp.com and hpshopping.com from August 2007 through March 2008 for between $500 and $3000. The battery packs were also sold separately for between $100 and $160.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately remove the recalled battery from their notebook computer and contact HP to determine if their battery is included in the recall and to request a free replacement battery. After removing the recalled battery from their notebook computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives. Consumers should only use batteries obtained from HP or an authorized reseller.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program Web site at http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement

[rturius @ May 14th 2009 3:20PM]

At first I was blown away when I read it as 70,000 Hp (horse power) batteries! Now....not so much.

[tonycajjo @ May 14th 2009 4:30PM]

have to admit, took me a second read for me to say Hewlett-Packard.

[tonycajjo @ May 14th 2009 4:32PM]

i had just come from the Need for Speed Contest page. Nice.

[nitrous9200 @ May 14th 2009 7:59PM]

I've sent out 3 different HP dv2000/6000/9000 laptops for random repairs (not booting up and wireless not working) and that's only a few of the issues. Seems like these models were very poorly made.

[NOV14 @ May 14th 2009 10:51PM]

And here I was thinking I was the only person who read it that way at first. "THIS JUST IN: 70,000 HORSEPOWER SETS FIRE TO YOUR LAPTOP." If only...if only...

[James Johnson @ May 27th 2009 5:18AM]

I have a dv6000 and it's given me hell ever since 2006. I will never purchase another HP, and I recommend everyone who is currently looking for a laptop to buy anything but an HP.

[Homeboy @ May 14th 2009 3:21PM]

HP and quality doesn't go hand in hand these days. My DV9074 was plagued by hardware issues in 2007 and 2008 thanks to faulty nvidia chips, warm hot AMD CPU and other failures. In September 2008 I had enough and got a refund after 22 months of ownership. Bought myself a Dell and decided to stay away from Nvidia and AMD so I opted for a 17 inch laptop again but this one with a core duo and ATI GPU.

The difference between the two was like night and day. The Dell didn't flex nearly as much as the HP and is lighter despite the fact that I opted for a 9 cell battery. HPs have horrible battery life, the Dv9074 didn't last longer than 30-60min.

[Mike Cerm @ May 14th 2009 3:44PM]

I concur. 2 years ago, I recommended HP computers to a lot of people. Everyone I know who took my advice has experienced some sort of significant hardware failure. In total, of the 6 people I know with HP dv**** laptops, every single one has had problems. Some have had hard drive problems, some have had bad motherboards, but the every one has needed a new battery.

I just checked the serial on one of the dead 2 year old batteries, and it is not part of the recall. Judging by the fact the it died in under 2 years, it probably should be.

[7egend @ May 14th 2009 3:45PM]

Ha, HP is a luxury PC compared to the junk Dell ships out these days. A battery catching on fire would be the highlight of my day, where as the dell batteries in the past have just died around 2 months of use, and that's not even heavy use.

I hate this for HP, but you knew what you was getting when you bought a product that was built by the lowest bidder.

[Homeboy @ May 14th 2009 5:48PM]

7legend: I have had absolute zero problem with my Studio 17. Here is a list of the problems my HP had;

-Motherboard/GPU toasted twice
-CD load tray ejecting randomly
-Battery good for nothing
-One of the speaker not working
-WiFi card acting up
-Noisy like a private jet
-Heats up like a nuclear reactor

HP kept on insisting on repairing it until warranty expires and then leaving me out to dry but I didn't want to accept it considering the big lump of oney I had paid for the laptop. The only edge HPs have on Dell is the speakers and screen. Dell ship their laptops with embarrassingly poor quality screens which good for nothing when it comes to photo editing.

[7egend @ May 14th 2009 6:27PM]

Funny you should bring that particular model up. My wife has one, first the capacitive touch controls failed reinstalling the drivers also failed the only thing that worked was turning the machine off removing the battery and holding the power button for 10 seconds, this fixed it for about 30 minutes. Track pad has a horrible texture to it which makes using the machine unbearable the engineer / industrial designer needs to quit his day job. The battery was rendered useless like I said before within 2 months of purchase. We then replaced it with a MacBook and she hasn't touched it since. In now sits in a closet waiting for me to find some meaningless use for it, it does make a good 250gb network drive though

your experience may be different but numbers and customer satisfaction show that HP is superior to Dell, and from my experience I agree with the numbers.

[Greg N. @ May 14th 2009 3:21PM]

What "barcode" is it?

I have a p/n and s/n on the sticker on the bottom of my laptop.

I also have a dv6707us, but I've left the thing on for hours on end sometimes and I've never had any heating problems.

[Eric @ May 14th 2009 3:22PM]

Follow the link. It has better pictures from where the barcodes will be found.

[Angdvl089 @ May 14th 2009 3:23PM]

Of course my model isn't included. It's never been. It has a shitty battery and the wifi card doesn't work either. F*ck hp.

[el Capitan @ May 14th 2009 3:29PM]

13" Macbook late 2007 dead on arrival -> new motherboard -> new harddrive -> new battery -> new charger and my macbook still doesnt charge! now they told me, sorry your warranty is out. f*ck apple!

[GoGoGadget @ May 14th 2009 3:33PM]

MICROSOFTRULEZ!!!
APPLESUX!!!

[NeoJew @ May 14th 2009 3:45PM]

Yahr, mine neither. It's too bad cause the battery only last 10 min, a free replacement would have been nice T_T

[owdee @ May 14th 2009 3:25PM]

interesting. i have two of the batteries affected for my dv2000 and i have never experienced any overheating at all....or on any part of my notebook for that matter. it is quite cool. i wonder if i should worry, though.

[Eric @ May 14th 2009 3:29PM]

Why not just get the battery replaced anyways? Unless I'm reading it wrong, it's a free replacement battery isn't it?

[Shadow08 @ May 15th 2009 12:02PM]

Get them replaced. It's not worth coming home to a burned down home one day.

[a @ May 14th 2009 3:25PM]

dv9540us here. where do i go?

[Eric @ May 14th 2009 3:27PM]

HP looks nice and they're relatively cheap but it comes at a price. I hate the wi-fi in my DV2410ca. It disconnects all the time for no reason. They're also so hot that you can't even keep your hand on it for more than a couple of seconds.

[chris @ May 14th 2009 3:27PM]

we have a handfull of HPs here, im going to check this out see how many are on that list...

[Dillinger @ May 14th 2009 3:34PM]

poor lauren

[fikhl @ May 14th 2009 5:05PM]

Excellent!
"I'm a PC and I... *explosion* :D

[ill trooper @ May 14th 2009 5:22PM]

Get Jack Bauer on the case! Renegade exploding-battery vectors at large in the general public! Self-effacing 'not-cool-enough-for-a-Mac' mousey red-head, may also be disguised as boxy self-described 'artist' who 'cuts video.' Laptop-hunter HUNTER!

[L.M.L.Y.P @ May 14th 2009 3:32PM]

;D! awesome sending mine in, 2 year old battery that gets 40 minutes under powersaver.

[moldymac @ May 14th 2009 3:33PM]

Hope mine is covered, that battery is useless!

[j0nd4m4n @ May 14th 2009 3:34PM]

You guys should check on the HP site, it have better descriptions and procedures to return the damn thing.
I have a dv9700, but it seems like my battery is not affected based on the bar code on the battery.
HP customer service really sucks, they ask me to reinstall my entire system even just because of hardware issue (trackpad grounded improperly so the cursor goes everywhere). My fix is to hammer slam the trackpad and get rid of the statics.

[Mr. Picklesworth @ May 14th 2009 3:37PM]

"My fix is to hammer slam the trackpad and get rid of the statics."

Funny, that was my fix to all HP stuff. With all that talking about environmental sustainability, though, I came up with a more creative solution for the last one: I attached a chain and used it AS A BOAT ANCHOR!

[Luke @ May 14th 2009 3:34PM]

sweet not affected =D

[Soulsaber @ May 14th 2009 3:46PM]

How is that sweet? I would gladly take a free replacement =D

[Nicole @ May 14th 2009 4:22PM]

Sweet! I needed a new battery anyway!

[ciphercore @ May 14th 2009 3:41PM]

Thanks for the heads up engadget

[Wes @ May 14th 2009 3:42PM]

http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement

[DirtyVegas @ May 14th 2009 3:46PM]

Jeesus. What happens to the Laptop Hunters? I like the first chick a lot. Hope she's okay.

[Parts Guy @ May 14th 2009 3:48PM]

The battery in the picture is of an aftermarket battery manufactured by BTI, but the recalled batteries are from HP. BTI batteries should be fine!

[molen22 @ May 14th 2009 3:49PM]

Whatever. My laptop and battery were both on the lists so I called and they told me that my particular battery wasn't being recalled even though everything was exactly number for number just like all of their info sheets. Something's fishy here...

[krenshaw @ May 14th 2009 4:03PM]

thats phone number is wrong, it doesn't lead to HP..........

[G1User @ May 14th 2009 4:04PM]

Now I know what HP stands for....Hot Poop! No issues with my Dell XPS 16!

[Greg N. @ May 14th 2009 4:09PM]

I have my HP plugged into the wall all the time.

If I use it unplugged, the battery dies in 5 minutes.

[digitallysick @ May 14th 2009 4:12PM]

Figures , HP is garbage

[lightmyfire @ May 14th 2009 6:33PM]

"Figures , HP is garbage"

Now that's a little too harsh a generalization. The "DV" line has had it's share of problems so this isn't too surprising- though being a HP fan I'm bummed they have fallen to the battery problems of Sony and Apple.

Still- The 2 hp lappies I've had (currently on second) have been built like tanks and waaayyy cheaper than comparable lappies by other manufactures.

Can't say the same for my notebook experience before. My apple ibook was a nightmare.

[Sean @ May 14th 2009 4:16PM]

I have a DV6000 and I have literally burned my leg on its battery. I have no idea why mine isn't being recalled. HP batteries suck anyways; I have 15 minutes of juice.

[krenshaw @ May 14th 2009 4:17PM]

I'm glad to see that my battery isn't affected, I took out the battery and was running by the powercord and thought I would be out of a laptop for a while, but I'm all smiles now. I wanted to buy a 12cell but I'm not sure yet. I will wait for a little bit longer, maybe by the time the original battery starts to not keep charge properly they will have 18cell batteries out that are not bigger than a 12 cell...so I'm waiting a little bit.lol, by then I might be on a new laptop all together.

[Anthony @ May 14th 2009 4:17PM]

Phew.

I have an odd HP laptop I guess. the label on the screen says dv6000, but the label on the bottom says dv6500, and my battery isn't effected, so yay.

good.

[Ben @ May 14th 2009 6:26PM]

Same Here.
I really wanted that new battery.

[insky @ May 14th 2009 10:37PM]

No, that's how all the dv laptops are. The dv6000 denotes the series of the laptop and the dv6500 tells you which model it is.

[krenshaw @ May 14th 2009 4:22PM]

I think you need to buy yourself a new battery, because you killed that one. you should always train your battery, if you have plugged in all the time and don't give it time to die then recharge to full again, you will give it what is charge memory. where it thinks it is charge but its really not charged, so it will report that its fully charged when its not. I would say drain the battery and leave it out for a couple days maybe weeks, then charge it fully and depleat that charge (repeat). you might get back 1/2 or 3/4 what it was at original. but I would say buy a new battery.

[Tuxedo.Bond1 @ May 15th 2009 7:18PM]

HP uses lithium-ion / lithium-ion polymer batteries in their laptops these days. These batteries do not suffer from voltage depression (AKA memory effect).