Lenovo Recalls 208,000 Notebook Batteries (UPDATED)

Since this story was originally posted, it has been updated to correct the total number of batteries being recalled by Lenovo, as well as the number of customers who complained about their batteries.

Lenovo Group has found a new problem with some notebook battery models, and will recall 208,000 of them worldwide, the company said today. Lenovo had joined other PC vendors in a massive recall of faulty notebook batteries some months ago.

Lenovo made the move after five customers complained their batteries overheated after they had dropped or hit the notebooks. The defect caused minor eye irritation for one user, and damaged the property and computers of the others, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall affects the nine-cell, extended-life version of a battery pack manufactured by Sanyo Electric of Japan. Lenovo sold the packs between November 2005 and February 2007 as an option in certain versions of ThinkPad notebook PCs in the R series, T series and Z series model lines, the commission said. The faulty packs have the part number FRU P/N 92P1131.

Buyers of those PCs had the choice to purchase either a standard six-cell lithium-ion battery pack or longer-endurance nine-cell packs, said Lenovo spokesman Ray Gorman.

The problem occurred with the pack, a box designed in tandem by Lenovo and Sanyo that holds the battery cells. That is a different fault than the metal shards that contaminated battery cells made by Sony, causing some batteries to overheat or catch fire and leading to the recall in 2006 of millions of notebook batteries used by nearly every PC vendor.

—Ben Ames, IDG News Service