DELL Battery Recall Program

This is not design related but it's important enough that the information needs to be made widely available. This is a clipping from a security advisory from Dell regarding their exploding batteries:

"Dell has identified a potential issue associated with certain batteries sold with Dell Latitude™, Inspiron™, XPS™ and Dell Precision Mobile Workstation™ notebook computers. In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies, Dell is voluntarily recalling certain Dell-branded batteries with cells manufactured by Sony and offering free replacements for these batteries. Under rare conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could pose a risk of fire.

Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or provided or sold separately as secondary batteries:

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

In addition, these batteries may have also been provided in response to service calls. The batteries were shipped to customers between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006. The words "Dell" and one of the following are printed on the batteries: "Made in Japan" or "Made in China" or "Battery Cell Made in Japan Assembled in China".

If you are using one or more of the notebook computers and/or battery packs affected by this recall, you should immediately discontinue use of the battery. You may continue to use your notebook computer safely by turning the system off, ejecting the battery, and using the AC adapter and power cord to power your system until your replacement battery is received.

Please go to www.dellbatteryprogram.com to determine if you have any batteries that are subject to this recall."