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It was on Aug. 14, 2006 that Dell first announced it would recall more than 4 million laptops notebook battery packs after reports of fires and property damage.
Now, nine months after those first voluntary recalls of Sony-made notebook battery packs, Acer will recall some 27,000 notebooks that also contained those same lithium-ion batteries.
Acer, which is based in Taiwan but has a North American office in San Jose, Calif., announced the recall April 25 in conjunction with the U.S. CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
The 27,000 notebooks recalled by Acer were all sold in the United States between May 2004 and November 2006, according to the CPSC.
The models that came with faulty packs included the companys TravelMate notebooks with model numbers 321x, 242x, 330x, 561x, C20x, 422x, 467x and 320x.
The recall also involves some models in the companys Aspire line, including the 980x, 556x, 930x, 941x, 560x and 567x.
Problems with the Sony battery packs occurred when microscopic particles in the battery cells came into contact with other parts of the battery cell, causing a short circuit in the cell.
Several other PC vendors eventually got involved in the recall of the Sony battery packs, including Apple, Lenovo and Gateway. Altogether, the CPSC recorded 16 different incidents of battery packs overheating and catching fire. The incidents resulted in some property damage and there were two cases of people suffering minor burns.
After the recall was first announced, Sony shouldered the financial burden of replacing the faulty battery packs.
The full details of Acers recall can be found on its Web site.
Acer is urging its users to check their notebooks and to contact the company to order a replacement battery pack.