How to check if your HP laptop is a fire risk or affected by battery recall

HP has put out a recall for its lithium-ion laptop batteries over fears they could overheat and start a fire. The recall affects approximately 101,000 batteries that were shipped in notebooks sold in the United States between March 2013 and October 2016.

That is a fairly large window, so it is important that you check your laptop carefully if there is any chance you could be in possession of a faulty unit. Here is how you find out if your HP laptop is affected by the recall;

Which HP laptop models have faulty batteries?

The faulty batteries were sold with HP, HP Compaq, Compaq Presario, HP ProBook, HP Envy, and HP Pavillion notebook computers. Affected units were sold through retailers including Best Buy, Costco, Walmart, Sam's Club as well as www.hp.com and other websites between March 2013 and last October. These were sold for between $300 and $1,700 (£240 - £1350).

How to check if your HP laptop is a fire risk

You will need to check the bar code on the battery to see if it is affected. The units included in the recall have bar codes beginning with 6BZLU, 6CGFK, 6CGFQ, 6CZMB, 6DEMA, 6DEMH, 6DGAL and 6EBVA.

It is important to note that the affected batteries were also sold separately, so you should check the barcode of any replacement laptop batteries you purchased during this time frame.

To remove the battery, first turn off the computer and disconnect the power cable and any other cables that might be plugged into it. On the bottom of the notebook, there should be a battery release latch that will partially eject the battery when pushed. This is usually marked with a battery icon. You can then lift the front end of the battery and remove it carefully from the laptop.

You will find the barcode printed on the back of the battery. If it matches the serial numbers listed above, stop using it immediately and contact HP, who will organise a free replacement.

Do not re-insert the battery into the laptop – you will be able to keep using your laptop without it by plugging it into the AC power cable.