Apple Battery Recall Just Announced

elook

Good news - I was about to buy a new battery for my G4 iBook. I'm in the recall range. I bought last April.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news/index...4421452&EDATE=

Apple Announces Recall of Batteries Used in Previous iBook and PowerBook Computers Due to Fire Hazard



WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a
voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop
using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. (To access
color photos of the following recalled products, see CPSC's Web site at
http://www.cpsc.gov.)
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030904/USCSCLOGO )

Name of Product: Rechargeable, lithium-ion batteries with cells
manufactured by Sony for certain previous iBook G4 and PowerBook G4
notebook computers only.

Units: About 1.1 million battery packs (an additional 700,000 battery
packs were sold outside the U.S.)

Battery Cell Manufacturer: Sony Energy Devices Corp., of Japan

Computer Manufacturer: Apple Computer Inc., of Cupertino, Calif.

Hazard: These lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard to
consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Apple has received nine reports of batteries
overheating, including two reports of minor burns from handling overheated
computers and other reports of minor property damage. No serious injuries
were reported.

Description: The recalled lithium-ion batteries were used with the
following computers: 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch
PowerBook G4. Consumers should remove the battery from the computer to
view the model and serial numbers labeled on the bottom of the unit.


Computer model name Battery model number Battery serial numbers

ZZ338 through ZZ427
12-inch iBook G4 A1061 3K429 through 3K611
6C510 through 6C626

12-inch PowerBook G4 A1079 ZZ411 through ZZ427
3K428 through 3K611

3K425 through 3K601
15-inch PowerBook G4 A1078 and A1148 6N530 through 6N551
6N601


No other Apple notebook computers are involved in this recall.

Sold Through: Apple's online store, Apple retail stores nationwide, and
Apple Authorized Resellers from October 2003 through August 2006 for
between $900 and $2300. The batteries also were sold separately for about
$130.

Assembled in: Japan, Taiwan and China

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled batteries immediately and
contact Apple to arrange for a replacement battery, free of charge. After
removing the recalled battery from their iBook or PowerBook, consumers
should plug in the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement
battery arrives.

Consumer Contact: Contact Apple at (800) 275-2273 between 8 a.m. and 8
p.m. CT Monday through Sunday or log on to Apple's Web site at
http://support.apple.com/batteryprogram to check the battery's serial
number and request a replacement battery.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting
the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more
than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction.
Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost
the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to
protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire,
electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the
safety of consumer products -- such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette
lighters, and household chemicals -- contributed significantly to the 30
percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer
products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's
hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270 or
visit CPSC's Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. Consumers can
obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's Web site at
http://www.cpsc.gov.
Apple's Recall Hotline: (800) 275-2273
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Julie Vallese or Scott Wolfson
(301) 504-7908 or (301) 504-7051
Apple Media Contact: Teresa Weaver, (408) 974-6851


SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Strimkind

Interesting.
Perhaps all these problems with current batteries will lead to a new battery design.

Also, should I send in my battery. I believe mine applies under the older recall (i'm not exactly sure) but the battery has been fine so far.

__________________
Mac Mini Core 2 Duo 2Ghz (Mar 2009)

Duo 230, 190cs, 190, 2x1400cs, 5300cs

Arguably, if it exists in reality, it is realistic
If proof requires certainty, then arguably nothing can ever be proven

What you can do - David Suzuki Foundation

kevs~just kevs

Hey what are the chances that these batteries will be fixed and then put up on the refurbished site at the Apple.ca? Or might we see them in the "fire sales" at Yorkdale and The Eaton Centre?

__________________
iMac Core 2 Duo

8127972

I wonder how much of this is because of a real issue and how much is due to the fact that they're made by Sony and Apple wants to avoid getting sued.

__________________
8127972

ACDT, ACPT, MCSE 2003, ACSA

MacBookPro 2.66 Ghz Core 2 Duo (Mid 2009) W/OSX & Vista, WinXP, Win2K via Parallels, 8GB iPod Nano W/Video

I work on the dark side because the pay is better than what I could get the Apple world. Sad but true

winwintoo

Why wouldn't you check your battery?

Mine falls into the range for replacement - good. It was losing power anyway.

Take care, Margaret

duper

I've occasionally frequented macdailynews.com, where the writers were annoyingly smug when reporting incidents of exploding Dell batteries. I sent them a story featuring an exploding iBook battery, and it wasn't posted.

Hopefully they're a little less smug now.

Anyway, I have a 12'' iBook I was planning on selling. Now I can wait and sell it with a new battery. Any takers?

elook

The support site is up and getting hammered. The serials listed in the press release differ from the support site:

Computer model Battery model number Serial number range
12-inch iBook G4 A1061 ZZ338 - ZZ427
3K429 - 3K611
6C519 - 6C552
12-inch PowerBook G4 A1079 ZZ411 - ZZ427
3K428 - 3K611
15-inch PowerBook G4 A1078 and A1148 3K425 - 3K601
6N530 - 6N551
6N601

TrevX

You mean like this:

__________________
-Macbook Pro 2GHz Core Duo 15.4", 2GB, 100GB, Superdrive, Airport, BT, 256MB ATI x1600
-iPhone 8GB

duper

Yes, then ignoring the reports on Apple's exploding laptops.

Of course, the worst case with MDN is when they attack Bill Gates charitable foundation, which is not even remotely computer news, and serves to undermine what the foundation is doing. They really show a lack of class, sometimes.

dansgil

At least this isn't affecting AAPL.

As of this writing AAPL is up at 67.68 +0.37 (0.55%)
Sony (SNE) is down at 42.99 -1.43 (-3.22%)