RSSSony's Battery Recall Expands, Again
by Ed Oswald
Sony and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said late Monday that it would recall an additional 340,000 batteries due to a fire hazard. Fujitsu, Sony, and Toshiba have expanded their previously announced callbacks, while Gateway joined the growing list of affected companies.
While a spokesperson for Gateway says it has not received reports of Sony batteries overheating like they have in other companies systems, the company decided to issue a voluntary recall of 34,000 batteries across 18 lines.
The faulty batteries were sold in Fujitsu laptops from June 2005 through October 2006; in Gateway systems from September 2005 through October 2006; in Sony systems from December 2004 through October 2006; and in Toshiba laptops from September 2004 through October 2006.
While the laptop battery recall is becoming quite extensive, the CPSC says there is no threat of overheating in Sony-produced batteries for other types of electronic devices.
Sony recently indicated it would be setting aside 51 billion yen ($429 million) for costs associated with the issues, which would appear in last quarter's financial reports. However, some analysts say that figure could double due to legal actions over the recall.
24 Comments
I have a Samsung cell phone with a deformed battery pack #BST0579KE. It won't fit on the phone anymore. The plastic casing was cracked on both sides. I opened it up to find it was a Sony battery #U5063067V
SONY
FUKUSHIMA
V1/TKG16J
Do I have any recourse other than buying a replacment battery? I have one more cracked but not as swollen.
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This is just because the batteries haven't really gotten going yet. When the PS3 and the Sony Blu-Ray player comes out the batteries will stop exploding and Sony will be the winner.
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LMAO
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(oops!)
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i said this before, and i'll say it again, it's about time that the battery had a revolution upgrade,
this is becomming a joke, this is real health hazzard, yet i don't here these companied getting sued, i can not believe these products have passed fcc standards, negligence is deffiently on my mind,
it's obvious by now that laptops are asking more then the current technology can provide, and it's about time that new legislations and laws come out to stop laptop makers requiring so much power, there should be at least a maximum fixed rate in laptop power usage, and if the laptop askes for more, then that paticular laptop cannot be passed, and cannot be sold, to hell with the consequences,
laptops are asking more and more power every week, and the battery tachnology can't give anymore,
it's amazing how many laptops have been brocken because of faulty batteries, and yet these companies are allowed to continue with out consequence, they should be sued, it's there responsibility in quality testing to confirm that the batteries they buy in live up to the specs that there laptops require,
this is happening all to often, at least twice a month now, which is bad, they shouldn't be allowed to carry on asking more and more exspectations from these batteries when clearly the facts speak for them selves that these batteries can not give more, and if that means that laptop technology has to be put on hold, whilst battery technology catches up, then so be, this should not be allowed to continue, laptops are to powerful, and require to much power, laptops are not suppose to be more powerful then ATX PC (desktop) but yet they are, this is wrong, and companies should be told to stop doing this, or they will be shutdown until they can garuntee safety standards are being acknowleged (which they are not, batteries that over heat becomes a fire hazzard, and not to mention possible acid leakage.
there is research going into a technology called (organic battery), but until this technology becomes availible laptop manafacurers needs to increase laptop effieciency, and if they can't then stop making power hungry laptops,
why are people or goverments for that matter not sueing, i can't believe that case after case after case after case, and still these comapnies are not getting the message, laptops have become more powerful then battery technology can provide, and YET THERE STILL GETTING AWAY SCOTT FREE, they should be sued, and goverment saftey stadards should be implemented so if these cases arise again in the future, there would be heavey, and i mean heavy penalties to pay,
because it's fact that battery technology was fine 5 years ago, because laptop power needs were so much less, there are laptops out there that are 3x more powerful then my desktop PC, and there is no way a battery can perform better than a PSU 400W, it just can't be done with current battery technology,
come on people, plaese sue them, they would soon resolve these problems if they were sued, money talks after all, and companies that keep getting sued really hearts them in the stock exchange aswell,
i blame goverments mainly, it's there respnosibility, companies obey safety standards, but them safety standards are 5 years out of date,
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thats retarded, a max power usage? now what about people who need a very powerful laptop for on the go? it is a design flaw that caused this, not a overworking of the laptop. lithium-ion based batteries are barely stable as they are to begin with, thats why they are not in cars, aside from not being able to provide the amperage, but they explode when compresed and thats not good. ever try dropping a cellphone off a cliff while it is on? i did once, and it resulted in a fireball.
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Well said!
Countries need to be passing laws that limit laptop power requirements. Roll it back to 1999 levels, just to be safe.
Companies that continue to push the envelope need to be shut down. End of story. Who do they think they are?
And why is nobody getting sued? There just aren't enough lawsuits in the world, if you ask me. Somebody should sue all the lawyers that aren't suing these companies! Why isn't this happening?
Why do WE have to be the ones to point this out?
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I wouldn't call a massive and extremely costly battery recall "GETTING AWAY SCOTT FREE." Yeah, they definitely didn't do their job with quality control, but they are working to make it right.
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Ill agree with you on one thing, we could use some fresh battery technology. And negligence played a big part in all this. With better quality control, maybe it wouldnt have happened. But the batteries arent actually failing because of excessive current draw. Theyre failing because of a manufacturing malfunction, that somehow allowed metallic particles to be mixed with the electrolyte inside the battery. Theyre shorting out internally, causing them to overheat. It,s kinda like laying a crowbar accross the posts on your car battery. lol
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You epitomise everything that is wrong with the attitude of US consumers today.
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hrm...
I think that the consumers should be the ones responsible for every kind of shopping. I mean you're the one that's buying the stuff, so you should know what you're buying. You should know if it's good or bad. If it's bad, and you sue them, fine. If it's bad, and you don't sue, and just complain, ... wtf ?
I buy a lot of stuffs and gets defects a lot, but I just believe that it's my bad luck, and never blame the manufacturer. Why blame them if you're the one who's got bad luck and decided to buy that piece of crap?
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This issue is far more complex then you realize. Your emotions are getting the better of you. Emotions lead to confirmation bias. Have you ever thought that this recall is just a paranoia frenzy? This danger is minimal.
You start off saying that laptops are too powerful then you switch to saying that batteries are faulty. So which is it? Are the batteries faulty or are they being overloaded? ALSO a battery is not a PSU, it is a power source! Batteries generally limit the amount of time a laptop can run not the amount of VOLTAGE(your use of the word power is ambiguous) they can get. I can keep going but basically what I am trying to convey is that you ramble is not consistent with reality.
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I agree with you 100%. (Well, maybe 99%)
Sorry ... I guess my /sarcasm tag was too well hidden.
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If you are so al-fired emotional about the laptop battery and so "sue" happy, go for it. I think if the problem was as bad as you want to make it, something would be done without paying the lawyers. Also, you should have used your spell check and gramar check when you wrote your epistle. I got a good laugh from your spelling errors and punctuation goofs. Anyway, so be it, you got your say thanks to a free country.
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November 25th 2006.
****Tonight on News at 11******
Kid losses hand when PS3 controller explodes!
More on this tonight!
In related news, Sony recalls all PS3 Controllers. Enraged PS3 owners turn their consoles into paperweights and door stops!
Lol.. sorry i just had to..
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Please die Sony.
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I'd rather they survive this ordeal but becoming more humble.
After all, they do sometimes make good products and are innovative. It's their arrogance that I can't stand.
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Sony just drove Lik-Sang out of business today. :(
http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901
Why? Because they sold Sony products to Europe. You know, because Europeans are NOT allowed to have Sony products so Lik-Sang had to be sued into oblivion. Sony is becoming more arrogant and evil every day. It goes both ways though, I hope every laptop manufacturer out there sues Sony into the ground. See how they like it.
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I wonder, If i bought a laptop, ran it for 24 hours straight, recharging extensively in between, and then lit the thing on fire and burned myself a little. Could I sue Sony for Sh$@loads of money?
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only if you are american.
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I definitely am!!
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I think you meant U.S. Citizen. We're only 1/3 of just 1 of the 2 entire continents that would fall under the term "American." =p
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I'm pretty sure that was the EU who decided they had no 'presence' in Europe that would legally permit them to sell to the UK. Sony filed suit, but it was over before that even became an issue.
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Touché. :)
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