IBM is recalling 117,000 of its computer monitors to fix a circuit board that can overheat and smoke, causing a fire hazard.
In cooperation with the CPSC (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission), the Armonk, N.Y., company on Tuesday said it is voluntarily recalling the G51 CRT and G51t Touch Screen cathode ray tube models. On the back of the monitors in question are the model numbers 6541-02N, 6541-02E, 6541-02S, 6541-Q0N, 6541-Q0E and 6541Q0S.
The label on the back of the monitors also have a manufacturing date of between June and September 1997. They were built in China and Malaysia.
The monitors were sold by IBM, MicroTouch Systems and major retail stores, including Best Buy, CompUSA, Office Max and Radio Shack, between June 1997 and December 1998. They cost about $370.
The recall involves 56,000 monitors in the United States and another 61,000 in other parts of the world, said IBM spokesman Bob Page.
IBM received five reports of monitors overheating and smoking, including one report of minor property damage. There were no personal injuries, according to the CPSC.
Page said IBM first started receiving reports about the problem in 2001 and began working on the recall with the CPSC in late 2002.
Users of these monitors should call the IBM Repair Center toll-free at (866) 644-3155 between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday. IBM will send users a pre-addressed, pre-paid box in which to ship the monitor, which will be repaired and returned within days, Page said.
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