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HP Inc. is voluntarily recalling about 50,000 laptops, notebooks and mobile workstations due to eight incidents of fires, overheating and melting of the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used in the devices.
The recall, which was announced Jan. 4 by HP in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), covers a wide range of laptops and notebooks, including:
HP ProBooks (64x G2 and G3 series, 65x G2 and G3 series)
HPx360 310 G2
HP Envy m6
HP Pavilion x360
HP 11
HP ZBook (17 G3, 17 G4, and Studio G3) Mobile Workstations
Some of the affected batteries were also sold as accessories or replacement batteries for the listed devices.
The affected machines were sold at prices from $300 to $4,000 from December 2015 through December 2017 at Best Buy and other stores. They were also sold through authorized dealers and online through Amazon.com, hp.com and other websites, according to HP.
The recall only applies to specific batteries that were used in some of the machines named in the recall and doesn’t affect all batteries used in all the devices.
To check to see if the battery in your HP computer is affected by the recall, users should immediately visit a special HP website, www.HP.com/go/batteryprogram2018 to check the status of their computer batteries.
Also available on the site are instructions on how to enable a “Battery Safety Mode” on the device through a BIOS update until the battery in a computer covered by the recall can be replaced.
The website also provides instructions on how to initiate the validation utility to check their battery and what to download if their battery is included in the recall. Many of the affected batteries are not customer replaceable, so will have to be replaced by HP technicians, the company said in a statement about the recall.
Users of the affected computers can call HP toll-free at 888-202-4320 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or contact the company online here and here to get more information and to find out how to get a replacement battery for their affected device.
Three reports of property damage, totaling $4,500, have been received by HP involving the affected machines.
This HP recall was conducted voluntarily by the company under the CPSC’s Fast Track Recall process, which expedites product recalls so consumers can get the service and support they need as quickly as possible.
The company recommends that users quickly check their machines and install the BIOS update if the device uses one of the affected batteries.
“During the reboot process, an option will be presented to enable Battery Safety Mode,” the statement continues. “Accepting Battery Safety Mode causes the battery to discharge and to cease future charging until Battery Safety Mode is disabled. HP strongly recommends accepting Battery Safety Mode so that the notebook or mobile workstation can be safely used by connecting to an HP power adaptor.”
HP has provided an HP Battery Program Validation Utility that will automatically check to determine if a battery in a device is affected by the recall.
The company has also provided a list of Frequently Asked Questions to assist consumers with the battery recall.