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Over 36 battery models are affected by the recall
Dell and the CSPC have issued a recall for 4.1M laptop batteries manufactured by Sony and sold between April, 2004 and August 2006

Dell, along with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), has issued a recall of 4.1 million laptop batteries manufactured for the company by Sony according to a Dell representative. The recall affects batteries manufactured by Sony in Dell’s Latitude, Precision, Inspiron and XPS laptop lines, manufactured between April 2004 and July 18th 2006. The exact models are as follows:

  • Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
  • Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705
  • Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90
  • XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710

Dell is advising customers affected by the recall to eject the battery after powering down the notebook and to use the laptop on AC power until a replacement battery has arrived. The affected batteries may spontaneously combust, sometimes rather violently.

According to Dell the problem is related impurities in the anode and cathode of the battery. Over time the impurities can work their way to the outside of the anode and rupture an isolator.  The ruptured insulator then leaves an opportunity to create a short circuit that could result in a fire.

Customers who may have recalled batteries can go to DellBatteryProgram.com to determine if they need a new battery or call 1.866.342.0011 for assistance from Dell.  

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Not all batteries are effected
By hstewarth on 8/15/2006 9:40:44 AM , Rating: 2
You must check the site if you have one notebooks. Because in a lot of cases ( probably majority ), most people do not have effected model. You enter the battery serial # and it tells you if you need to.

https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Identify.aspx




RE: Not all batteries are effected
By sweetpants1536 on 8/15/2006 10:04:47 AM , Rating: 2
It effects all systems from the D410 on up to the high end XPS systems


RE: Not all batteries are effected
By hstewarth on 8/15/2006 10:17:20 AM , Rating: 2
In any case please check the dell site, with you serial #. It can't be assume that all systems are effected.


RE: Not all batteries are effected
By sweetpants1536 on 8/15/2006 10:49:18 AM , Rating: 2
Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705
Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90
XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710


You will notice that all these systems are from D410 in the Latitude series on up, correct me if I'm wrong but that is ALL the systems from 410 up. However, perhaps you meant not all BATTERIES are subject to recall, in which case I'm sure that's true.


By sweetpants1536 on 8/15/2006 11:01:36 AM , Rating: 2
oops, already I put my foot in my mouth. It seems the Latitude D820 is not listed there.


By hstewarth on 8/15/2006 12:37:01 PM , Rating: 2
What I am saying, is that I have a Dell 9400 ( which is on the list ) and its batter is not effected. You must go to site and enter you serial # on the battery.

Basically what this means - even if you model is on the list - it doen't mean that you have a bad battery.

My battery is form Dell and for Dell 9400 and its doesn't need a recall. ( many others are also in the same condition ).


RE: Not all batteries are effected
By dice1111 on 8/15/2006 12:54:21 PM , Rating: 2
Damn, I made the list...


RE: Not all batteries are effected
By Acanthus on 8/15/2006 3:28:49 PM , Rating: 2
The battery in my E1505 is not part of the recall. It is a battery constructed in japan and is the stock 9 cell that came with the laptop.

The part number does not match any part number of the recall.


wow
By fliguy84 on 8/15/2006 3:33:02 AM , Rating: 2
Wow Sony makes those batteries? Weird, never heard any Vaio's explodes before.




RE: wow
By Samus on 8/15/2006 3:48:10 AM , Rating: 2
My Vaio PCG-R505 battery is made by Mitsubishi. Go figure.


RE: wow
By Hypernova on 8/15/2006 5:39:34 AM , Rating: 2
Speeks volumes about how much SONY trust their own batteries.


RE: wow
By TomZ on 8/15/2006 8:33:16 AM , Rating: 3
I don't think you can conclude that Sony Computer doesn't trust batteries produced by this other Sony division. Sourcing decisions are mostly based on technical requirements, cost, availability, logistics, etc. Also, many companies do not require that you source from other divisions if something exists as a general rule.


...
By tk109 on 8/15/2006 3:57:21 AM , Rating: 2
Boy I'll tell ya that Sony. Has anything positive or redeeming come out of Sony lately? Seems like it's always all bad news.

So who pays for the battery replacement? Sony or Dell? I'd assume Sony should but you never know how these things work. I hope Sony eats it. It's their mistake.




RE: ...
By PrinceGaz on 8/15/2006 7:11:54 AM , Rating: 3
Yeah Sony seem to suck big time these days. It was only last year that many makes and models of digital camera had to be repaired because of a faulty CCD which was manufactured by Sony. They really seem to be going downhill lately.


RE: ...
By TomZ on 8/15/2006 8:36:14 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
So who pays for the battery replacement? Sony or Dell? I'd assume Sony should but you never know how these things work. I hope Sony eats it. It's their mistake.

Dell said that the recall will have no impact on its financials, so I assume that Sony is paying for the replacement.

I think it is kind of interesting that Dell would choose to name the source of the batteries. That means that the Sony brand pays for the lost goodwill/reputation instead of Dell. I think this is an unusual move.


Sony Built For Apple, Too
By aliasfox on 8/15/2006 10:06:33 AM , Rating: 2
If I recall, the PowerBook 5300 back in 1996 also used Sony batteries. They were among the first lithium ion batteries to be used. After the recall, the Li-ions had to be swapped for NiCds (or was it NiMH?) batteries with roughly half the power (or so I hear, I never owned one).

Much as I don't like Dell's laptops, it would suck if your battery life suddenly dropped from four hours to two... or from two to one...




RE: Sony Built For Apple, Too
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 8/15/2006 11:16:00 AM , Rating: 2
Unfortunately we just deployed about 1000 DELL D610 laptops. I checked the S/N against 5 of the laptops I have sitting around my desk.... all 5 are marked for recall :( Guess I'm going to have a busy work week hunting down all of these laptop batteries and checking them..... damn it all. On the plus side, nice deflection by DELL to name Sony as the cause of this, puts all the blame on them, makes DELL look good for issuing the recall, not bad PR FTW!


By sweetpants1536 on 8/15/2006 12:47:58 PM , Rating: 2
Aren't Apple and HP doing a battery recall too?


wrong link!
By torbreck on 8/15/2006 3:24:00 AM , Rating: 3
I think the url is www.dellbatteryprogram.com, not www.dellbatteryrecall.com.




RE: wrong link!
By Tim Thorpe on 8/15/2006 3:42:56 AM , Rating: 2
Fixed.

Thanks,
Tim Thorpe


heh....
By Souka on 8/15/2006 9:05:37 AM , Rating: 3
My company dropped Lenovo/IBM for laptops and went to Dell...

... we've been regretting it ever since...now this....


*sigh*





RE: heh....
By KorruptioN on 8/15/2006 11:15:11 AM , Rating: 2
Lots of Thinkpads come with Sony batteries too. My brother's R51 does.


Power Density-
By giantpandaman2 on 8/15/2006 5:36:03 AM , Rating: 2
Doesn't look like the problem is too widespread, but kudos to Dell for doing something about it rather than sitting on their hands. Corporate responsibility makes good business/PR sense.

I'm curious about the power density of batteries now. Obviously there are always going to be some that short, no matter how good your quality, whereas before you get a burnt battery, now they actually have enough power to explode. Compared to, say, gasoline, they're still far lower on the power density chart, no? Scares me as to what will happen when they catch up to combustibles.




RE: Power Density-
By minosnz on 8/15/2006 5:47:28 AM , Rating: 2
a new sideline product? dell could sell the faulty batteries as a new sort of mains powered fire starter... you just don't know when it will light!

:)


HP also had battery recall ( last year )
By hstewarth on 8/15/2006 3:49:18 PM , Rating: 2
This is nothing new with the battery recalls - HP last year had a recalled and I believe IBM also had one before.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06007....

I would also guess that the # of effected units is far less than the stated 4.1 Million. I believe there only been a 100 or so cases so far of actually having a problem.




By kilkennycat on 8/15/2006 8:58:09 PM , Rating: 2
The number of batteries recalled is 4.1million..... Whether they all get exchanged is now solely a decision by the individual laptop owners. If I owned any of the subject laptops, I would want my battery exchanged for safety... AND I get a brand-new battery. The machines involved go back to April 2004. Not bad getting a free new battery after 2 years of service.


Boom
By INeedCache on 8/15/2006 8:51:12 AM , Rating: 2
I can just picture the Dell dude in a bomb squad outfit.




Sony to foot bill
By ashay on 8/15/2006 3:33:26 PM , Rating: 2
By kilkennycat on 8/15/2006 8:51:43 PM , Rating: 2
Sony has supplied Li-ion batteries to many laptop vendors. Seems as if it is going to be a VERY expensive year for Sony, with the initial PS3 hardware likely to be sold at a $200-$300 loss per unit.




Wow
By mb on 8/15/2006 9:12:49 PM , Rating: 2
For the 4+ million batteries being recalled, the one that came with my E1705 has not been recalled.

Hopefully that is a good thing.




silly
By Gigahertz19 on 8/16/2006 1:44:23 AM , Rating: 2
The reports of a half dozen burning laptops are infinitesimal out of the millions of machines that Dell sells each year.




Dude, you gonna go to hell...
By L1NUXownz1fUR1337 on 8/15/06, Rating: -1
RE: Dude, you gonna go to hell...
By TomZ on 8/16/2006 8:57:03 PM , Rating: 2
Again you fail to recognize the difference between hardware and software. Here's a quick tutorial for you. Hardware consists of electronic components soldered to boards, cases, hard drives, power supplies, screens, keyboards, and batteries, etc. Software consists of programs that you load and run on your computer that do things, like operating systems, drivers, and applications. See the difference? Now based on that, can you understand why software cannot cause the short in the battery that caused it to overheat?


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