The OEM has put a recall and replacement programme in place after fears of overheating and fires.
HP Inc. has announced a worldwide voluntary safety recall and replacement programme affecting various notebook computer and mobile workstation batteries.
The recall and replacement has come into effect following the discovery that the batteries in question have the potential to overheat, posing a potential fire and/or burn hazard. The OEM has stated it is “extremely important” to establish whether or not your battery is one of those affected.
The at-risk batteries were shipped with the following notebook computers between December 2015 and December 2017:
- HP Probook 64x (G2 and G3)
- HP Probook 65x (G2 and G3)
- HP x360 310 G2
- HP ENVY m6
- HP Pavilion x360
- HP 11
Furthermore, the batteries were also shipped with the HP ZBook (17 G3, 17 G4, and Studio G3) mobile workstations, as well as being sold as accessories or provided by the OEM, or an authorised HP Service Provider, as replacements.
The majority of these batteries are not customer replaceable, as they are system-internal, although HP is providing a free battery replacement service by an authorised technician. The OEM has also released a BIOS update called ‘Battery Safety Mode’, which is only available to affected products.
The update will be enabled during a system reboot, and will discharge the product’s battery whilst instructing it to cease charging until the mode is disabled again. The notebook or workstation will then be able to be safely used by connecting to an HP power adapter.
The OEM is “proactively notifying customers” but also encourages them to undertake their own checks as soon as possible, to ascertain whether or not their battery, or batteries, are affected.
