Acer recalls 27,000 notebook batteries

The Acer America Corporation and US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have announced a voluntary recall of approximately 27,000 notebook computer batteries. Those batteries eligible for the free replacement program are the rechargeable lithium ion batteries containing battery cells manufactured by Sony Energy Devices Corporation.

As announced previously by the CPSC, there have been 16 reports of notebook batteries overheating. These reports were associated with earlier recalls by other notebook computer manufacturers of batteries containing these Sony cells.

An Acer spokesman said the company has received no reports of incidents and found no technical issues after months of testing and investigation. The decision to recall the units was made out of an abundance of caution, he said.

When asked why Acer had announced its recall months after its competitors had announced theirs, an Acer spokesman said that the company had been working with the CPSC and Sony since the recall was announced.

“All parties felt it was better to be safe than sorry,” the Acer spokesman said, acknowledging that it took the company months to come to that decision.

Last year, Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Toshiba and other PC makers were forced to recall notebooks with batteries made by Sony after it came to light that a flaw in Sony’s manufacturing process could lead to short circuits, sparks or fire.

The affected Acer models were sold in the U.S. and Canada from May 2004 through November 2006 for between $500 and $1,500, the company said.

The laptops possibly containing the recalled batteries were the TravelMate series with 4-digit model numbers beginning with 242, 320, 321, 330, 422, 467, 561, C20, and the Aspire series beginning with model numbers 556, 560, 567, 930, 941, 980.

Acer advises customers to stop using these recalled batteries immediately and contact Acer to receive a free replacement battery. In the meantime, customers may continue to use their notebook PCs by turning off the system, removing the battery, and powering the system via AC adapter and power cord, until the replacement battery is received.