ConsumerProductSafetyCommission
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Smoking Boosted Boards recalled over battery issues
Last November, the folks behind the Boosted electric skateboard urged its customers to stop using their second-gen boards following battery "venting" until an internal investigation was complete. It turns out that those problems were the result of a short-circuit caused by water entering the battery -- not from issues with the power packs themselves. As a precaution, the company has reported the issue to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, is starting a voluntary recall of the standard range battery packs and will no longer market the board as water resistant.
US officials investigate 'hoverboard' safety
If concern about "hoverboard" safety from airlines, Amazon and the UK wasn't enough, the US government is getting in on the action. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating reports of both fires (10 known so far) and falls (29) to determine whether or not the self-balancing transporters are safe. It'll push for voluntary standards if it finds any systemic problems, but there is the possibility of regulation if the industry doesn't get its act together.
HP feels the heat, recalls 1040 and 1050 fax machines
Hey, office workers -- listen up. You know that cheap, god-forsaken fax machine that you've come to loathe something fierce? Well, if it's an HP unit, go ahead and peep the model number on the front -- don't worry, we'll wait. If it says either 1040 or 1050, in addition to being a pain in the ass to operate (like all fax machines are), there's also a small chance the cursed thing could catch on fire. Of the 1.1 million units sold between 2004 and 2011, only seven documented cases have (literally) gone up in flames, but the risk has instigated a voluntary recall for both models. If you're among the affected owners, go ahead and unplug the machine from its power source, then give HP a call at (888) 654-9296 to get a rebate. Also, be forewarned that while it's illegal to sell a recalled product, we've found scads of these units currently for sale on eBay. Like the previously recalled HP products, that's one smokin' hot deal we're inclined to skip.
Burn baby burn: HP pays out $425,000 to prevent a disco (laptop) inferno
The Haus of Meg will pay $425,000 in order to settle a claim that it consciously flogged laptops with batteries that could overheat or catch fire. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission slapped the company on the wrist for not issuing a recall quickly enough. It claimed that HP knew about 22 incidents involving battery 'splosions by September 2007 -- including one instance of a user being hospitalized, but didn't begin issuing a recall until ten months later. By May 2011, the company had recalled over 90,000 affected units that were prone to the odd bout of spontaneous combustion. If you're concerned you've got a duff battery, check out our list here.
Walmart recalls 1.5 million flammable Durabrand DVD players
Remember those amazingly cheap doovde players Walmart was so proud of a couple years back? Well, they ain't so amazing anymore, unless that's what you'd call a device capable of spontaneously bursting into flames. Sold between January 2006 and July 2009 exclusively at Walmart stores in the US and ASDA supermarkets in the UK, the explosive Durabrand units are being called back due to 12 reported instances of overheating, including five that caused fires. You have to love the irony of skimping on a doovde player purchase, only to pay for it later with "enhanced" insurance premiums. We reached out to Walmart for comment, but they didn't know what a doovde was. Nevertheless, we captured the conversation after the break. Update: While we haven't yet got clear confirmation that ASDA is following suit, we'd be very surprised to not see the product pulled and returns honored in the UK in the same fashion as in the US. [Via CNN Money; Thanks, Keith]
CPSC: Sony recall will include laptop batteries only
And you thought you could go the whole day without reading a single battery recall-related post; sorry, we'll try harder tomorrow. So you probably remember yesterday's scary report which quoted a Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesperson predicting that Sony's upcoming US battery recall will expand beyond just laptops, and might include portable DVD players and videogame consoles too. Well the same woman who made that statement, Julie Vallese, has now backtracked somewhat by telling CNET that "Any recall that the agency will make will be limited to batteries that power notebook computers. We have no anticipation at this time beyond that." So, does this mean that those other types of batteries are safe -- or that the CPSC knows about problems with them, but since they apparently won't be part of the recall, there's no need to worry the public? It's hard to say at this point, although Vallese's previous comment was pretty clear -- unlike the following response from Sony spokesperson Rick Clancy: "Sony has provided a wealth of technical data to the CPSC involving this tech, and it is omnipresent in a host of portable electronic devices, but as far as we know, from Sony's perspective, there is no initiative planned at this time that goes beyond what has already been communicated with respect to notebook computers." Doesn't sound very reassuring to us. Only time will tell if other kinds of devices are at risk from those little metal particles that tainted many a laptop cell, but if we had to proffer a guess, we'd say it's pretty unlikely that the QA breakdown which allowed so many batteries to become fire hazards was limited only to the manufacturing processes for notebook power packs. Let's hope we're wrong about this one.
Lexar recalling 66,000 defective JumpDrives
Here's a new one for you: we've all seen product recalls stemming from overheating batteries, defective CCDs, and faulty power cords, but this is the first we've heard of a USB thumb drive being called back for "posing a risk of burns to consumers and property damage." Actually, Lexar -- in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission -- is recalling a total of five different models when all is said and done: the 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB flavors of the JumpDrive FireFly and the 1GB version of the JumpDrive Secure II. According to the CPSC, 66,000 of the faulty units were sold between April and May of this year -- check the Read link for specific serial number ranges -- and although so far no injuries have been reported, consumers are advised to stop using affected models immediately. As usual, the company will hook you up with a new model free of charge if you ask very nicely; as for us, we're probably gonna hold onto ours and use them to brand new interns with the Lexar logo as part of our geeky hazing ritual.[Via The Inquirer]
