Dell to recall four million laptop batteries

Computer giant Dell is to issue free replacement batteries to the owners of 4.1 million notebook computers with batteries made by Sony that have been determined to be a fire risk.

US computer firm Dell is to issue free replacement batteries to the owners of 4.1 million notebook computers with batteries made by Sony that have been determined to be a fire risk.

Texas-based Dell negotiated conditions of the recall with the US federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, which called it the largest electronics-related recall ever involving the agency.

A Dell spokesman said the Sony batteries were placed in notebooks that were shipped between April 1, 2004, and July 18 of this year.

Dell employs about 4,000 people in Ireland.

“In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and/or fire,” said the spokesman, Ira Williams. “It happens in rare cases, but we opted to take this broad action immediately.”

The battery packs were included in some models of Dell’s Latitude, Inspiron, XPS and precision mobile workstation notebooks. Dell planned to launch a website overnight that would describe the affected models. Williams said the website would tell consumers how to get free replacement batteries from Dell.

Rick Clancy, a Sony spokesman, said the companies had studied problems with the battery packs intensely for more than a month, after getting reports of about a half-dozen fires or smoking laptops in the United States.

Lithium-ion batteries have been around for about a decade and are used in devices such as mobile phones and digital music players. Clancy said tiny metallic particles sometimes short-circuit the battery cells, adding that configuration in an electronic device can contribute to problems.

Clancy said Sony would help Dell pay for the recall, but neither he nor Dell officials would estimate the campaign’s price tag or say how the companies would divide the cost.