Sony Battery Woes Continue

Fallout from faulty batteries manufactured by Sony continues to plague the laptop industry. Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. recently has announced its second battery recall within a month’s time.

Nearly a year after the first round of mass recalls, Toshiba has issued two additional recalls of batteries made by Sony subsidiary, Sony Energy Devices Corp. The first recall issued July 19 affects about 10,000 batteries, and as of August 19, Toshiba is recalling an additional 1400 batteries. Models listed in the recall notices are from the Tecra and Satellite product lines.

Reuters: Toshiba recalls more Sony PC batteries, Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:57am ET

EE Times: Toshiba recalls more laptop batteries, 08/10/07

Information Week: Notebooks Bursting Into Flames Again, July 19, 2007 04:07 PM

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of Information and Public Affairs release #07-267, August 9, 2007 lists Satellite A100 and A105, and Tecra A7 models in the recall. The CPSC says consumers should stop using the affected batteries immediately, request a free replacement battery from Toshiba, and use only AC power until the replacement battery is received.

The recall in July stemmed from reports in June of at least two notebooks catching fire from Sony made batteries. Reports of three more overheating incidents lead to the recall of the additional units this August.

Toshiba is not the only company that has recently found more faulty batteries. Earlier this year, Acer America Corp. also issued an additional recall of 27,000 Sony batteries

The recalls are in addition to the 9.6 million batteries recalled in 2006, including manufactures such as Apple, Dell, Gateway, and Lenovo.

Full details on the latest round of recalls are available using the links included below.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Toshiba Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard

Acer America Corporation Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Previous Fires

Toshiba Support:

Sony Battery Pack Recall Programs

Acer Support:

VOLUNTARY BATTERY REPLACEMENT PROGRAM

If there are readers who own any of the most recently recalled products, get it replaced before you get burned. And if there are any readers that have not taken care of batteries from the original round of 2006 recalls, what are you waiting for, the insurance money?