More Sony Laptop Batteries Recalled

IBM Corp. is recalling 526,000 laptop batteries worldwide made by Sony Corp., the latest in a series of problems with Sony batteries, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.

IBM and the batteries' distributor, Lenovo Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C., were seeking the voluntary recall of the rechargeable, lithium-ion batteries used in ThinkPad notebook computers, citing concerns of a possible fire hazard. About 168,500 of them were sold in the United States, while the rest were distributed worldwide, the CPSC said.

Earlier this month, Toshiba recalled 340,000 batteries made by Sony Corp. for its laptops, the latest in a series of embarrassing battery problems for Sony. Toshiba said the batteries cause its laptops to sometimes stop recharging or run out of power.

It's the latest in a series of problems regarding laptop batteries.

Last month, Dell and Apple recalled Sony batteries, citing concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire. Dell asked customers to return 4.1 million faulty laptop batteries, while Apple Computer recalled 1.8 million batteries worldwide.

Last week, three international airlines started prohibiting passengers from using Dell and Apple laptops during flights. Virgin, Qantas and Korean Air cited the risk of fire from overheating.

The Federal Aviation Administration has recorded 60 such overheating incidents since 1991, including five in the past two years.

In the most recent, on Sept. 15, a laptop belonging to a passenger aboard a United Airlines flight began to smoke before the flight took off. The passenger was put off the plane at Los Angeles International Airport, where the fire was extinguished.

That fire was cited by Lenovo in the latest recall.

There was minor property damage and no injuries were reported.

However, no U.S. airlines have banned any laptops. On Virgin, Qantas and Korean Air, first-class and business-class passengers may still use their computers, provided they use the aircraft's electrical outlets. However, passengers have complained that aircraft outlets are unreliable, and there are no outlets in economy class.

Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the CPSC, said the overheating problem did not appear to be linked to the defects cited in the Apple and Dell cases. But IBM and Lenovo sought a recall as a precaution, given Sony's past problems.

According to the CPSC, the recalled batteries were sold with, or sold separately to be used with, the following ThinkPad notebook computers between February 2005 and September 2006: T Series (T43, T43p, T60); R Series (R51e, R52, R60, R60e); and X Series (X60, X60s).

The batteries have the following part or model numbers, which can be found on the battery label: ASM P/N 92P1072, 92P1088, 92P1142 or 92P1170; or FRU P/N 92P1073, 92P1089, 92P1141, 92P1169 or 93P5028.

Consumers are advised to stop using the batteries immediately and contact Lenovo to receive a free replacement battery. For more information they can contact Lenovo at 1-800-426-7378 or log on to www.lenovo.com/batteryprogram.