Gateway Joins Growing List Of Companies With Battery Recalls

PC maker Gateway on Wednesday launched a voluntary recall of about 14,000 laptop batteries the company said could pose a fire hazard.

The affected battery packs came pre-installed with Gateway 400VTX and 450ROG series notebooks and were sold separately as a spare battery pack. The batteries and laptops were sold between May and August 2003 in the United States through Gateway's Professional and Direct channels, including its Gateway Country stores, the company said.

"Only battery packs identified by part number 6500760 or 6500761 (included on a label on the underside of the battery pack) are affected," the company said as part of its recall announcement.

Gateway said it will replace affected battery packs for free. The company is advising customers who still need to use their notebook PCs to turn off the system, remove the battery pack, and power the system via the AC adapter and power cord.

In issuing its recall, Gateway joins a growing list of PC makers who have been identified by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as having faulty laptop batteries.

Toshiba on Tuesday issued a battery recall on certain models after it reported a Sony battery was responsible for a notebook recently bursting into flames. In April, Acer America launched a recall of 27,000 batteries. In March, Lenovo voluntarily recalled about 205,000 ThinkPad batteries that could pose a danger to customers. The battery recall was the second for Lenovo in six months.

The issue of faulty batteries came to light last year when more than 10 million power sources made by Sony began showing defects and overheating. The recalls affected several manufacturers, including Apple and Dell.

Gateway didn't identify its faulty batteries as coming from Sony, but did say it was working with its suppliers on an exchange program for consumers.