After completing an extensive and quick investigation into a handful of laptop explosions throughout Asia in the last six months, Dell has come to the conclusion that a batch of their laptop batteries are faulty and is quickly announcing a recall of almost 4.1 million of the batteries worldwide.

The recall begins today with the launch of a website – DellBatteryProgram.com and a toll-free number - 1-866-342-0011 where consumers can check to see if their laptop is one of the models effected and have the battery exchanged for a new one.

At this point, Dell Canada has not issued any information specific to the Canadian market and the program details I’ve listed above are being posted on the Dell Canada website.

The recall involves all Inspiron, Latitude, and Precision workstations and XPS units that were shipped to market between April 2004 and July 18th of this year.

Through the website or the phone number you’ll be asked to check the part number to see if it’s from the bad batch. If so, you’re recommended by Dell to remove the battery and use the laptop using its AC power cable instead, until a replacement battery can be shipped to you.

The batteries in question are manufactured by Sony who has performed their own separate investigation and have determined that the batch was faulty, specifically that impurities had made it into the oxides inside, increasing the chances of the batteries short circuiting and accelerating in temperature.

Lithium Ion batteries have the advantage of lasting longer and generating a great amount of energy, perfect for today’s feature-packed devices, but the intense energy storage also means that when the batteries suffer problems, the released energy can manifest itself as melting, intense flames, and/or explosions. It’s a level of damage never seen with nickel cadmium or alkaline batteries.

Its worth noting that although there have been millions of these Dell laptops around the world, only six so far have been reported as having problems, none in North America so far. The problem is considered to be a rare one, but one that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

Sony also manufactures lithium ion cells for several other companies, including Apple who is currently investigating their own product line, Lenovo, Gateway, and Hewlett-Packard. It is possible that any of these companies may issue their own recalls in the near future.

All of the reported incidents of exploding laptop batteries have been with Dell laptops only.

Precautions

CTV has asked me to put together a list of tips for consumers worried about their laptop batteries. Here are some precautions you can consider:

Keep any device that uses a Lithium-Ion battery out of the sun, out of direct heat, do not leave it in the trunk of a car on a hot day for example.

When removing a battery, avoid touching it to metal, such as keys or coins in your pocket.

When replacing a Lithium Ion battery, only order from authorized dealers and suppliers. Avoid "no-name" brands.