HP expands recall of incendiary laptop batteries

HP is recalling the batteries of more laptop models due to fire risk. The recall program has been underway since June last year, but now new data shows that more models are at risk than previously known.

Details of the recall are available on a special webpage that HP has created. Laptops in the HP Compaq, HP ProBook, HP Envy, HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario laptops are eligible for the exchange, as was also announced in June. New information has led customers to reconsider whether they should exchange their battery, even if previously reported not to be necessary.

HP has put a new version of its tool online that allows customers to find out if they should hand in their battery due to fire risk. HP states that the hazardous battery models were sold between March 2013 and October 2016; this means that the manufacturer has continued to sell dangerous batteries after the initial discovery of the problem.

Customers who have a battery that poses a fire risk should immediately remove it from their laptop and no longer use it, according to HP. Connecting the laptop to mains power remains harmless, according to the manufacturer.