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The company is recalling Sanyo made nine-cell lithium-ion batteries made for use with ThinkPad notebooks shipped between November 2005 and February 2007. It was forced to do so after a number of customers reported that their Thinkpad laptops caught fire after being dropped.
In accordance with US federal law, Lenovo alerted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after it received the reports, all of which related to an impact on the corner of the laptop. The CPSC said one owner suffered ‘minor eye irritation’ as a result of one such incident.
The batteries were supplied with the ThinkPad R60, R60e, T60, T60p, Z60m, Z61e, Z61m and Z61p series, and were also shipped out to customers as replacement units. The recall has been applied to all batteries with the part number FRU P/N 92P1131.
"In the interests of public safety, Lenovo will offer customers free-of-charge replacement batteries for all recalled units," said a spokesman from Lenovo. "Until a replacement for a recalled battery arrives, if you intend to transport your ThinkPad notebook PC or use it in a manner that may subject it to a strong external impact, you should turn off the system, remove the battery and only power your ThinkPad by plugging in the AC adapter and power cord."
Last year Lenovo was caught in the middle of the large-scale Sony laptop battery recall, which effected over 500,000 Thinkpads.
