The world’s largest personal computer manufacturer issued a global warning that the Sony-manufactured lithium-ion batteries could overheat and catch fire. The recall comes after video footage of a flaming Dell laptop was posted on the internet.

It has renewed concerns about the lithium-ion batteries, which have been the subject of several significant product recalls. They contain a liquid that can catch fire if the cell overheats and ruptures, and experts have voiced concerns about the implications if this happened on an aircraft.

Last December Dell recalled 22,000 laptop batteries amid overheating fears, and in 2001 the company asked for 284,000 potentially faulty batteries to be returned by customers.

Apple recalled 156,000 of its laptop batteries, manufactured by the South Korean company LG Chem, in May last year and in August 2004. HewlettPackard recalled 135,000 battery packs in October, again over fears of a fire hazard.

Apple said yesterday that it was investigating whether its current batteries met safety and performance standards. HP said that it was not affected by the recall. Sony refused to say for which other brands it supplied batteries.

The problems with lithium-ion batteries have not been restricted to laptops. Scott Wolfson, of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, said that the agency knew of 339 incidents in which lithium batteries used in laptops and mobile phones made by a range of manufacturers overheated between 2003 and 2005. Problems ranged from smoke and minor skin burns to more serious injuries and damage to property.

Lithium-ion batteries are lighter than their nickel metal hydride predecessors, because they enable more power to be packed into a smaller space. Many of the batteries, however, use cobalt oxide, which experts say can undergo “thermal runaway”; it begins to heat itself, possibly until it catches fire, when it reaches a certain temperature.

The scale of the current Dell battery recall is unprecedented. It comes after footage of an exploding Dell laptop from a conference in Osaka, Japan, excited online discussion about the potential of the machines to catch fire.

Thousands of Dell laptop owners in the UK were last night urged to check, via its website, whether their batteries are subject to the recall.

The lithium-ion batteries contain cells made by Sony for use in Dell laptops that were supplied between April 1, 2004, and July 18, 2006. The batteries were sold either separately or with Dell Latitude, Inspiron, XPS and Dell Precision Mobile Workstation laptop computers.

Rose Bambi, a Dell spokeswoman, said: “We are very concerned about customer safety, but the incidences of something happening are very rare.”

The batteries were supplied with laptop computers worth up to £1,500 and sold for up to £95 individually. Analysts estimate that the recall could cost Dell up to £157 million, excluding any lasting damage to the company’s reputation.

THE WORD ON THE WEB

“I heard a small poof and a couple of crackling noises, and then a hissing noise that sounded like a flare going off. The battery burned its way straight through the laptop, creating a beautiful hole”
Henrik Gustavsson, Illinois, who saw a colleague’s Dell laptop self-destruct

“White smoke began to pour out of the machine, filling up the room and there were flames coming up the sides of the laptop. I’m now so paranoid that it will happen again that I don’t use my laptop on flights anymore. Just imagine if that had happened on an aircraft”
Anonymous, quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald

“I could hear a popping noise, came out and the room was filled with smoke — the computer had burst into flames. Had we not been in the room, our house would have started on fire”
Cindy Brown, whose son, Nick, 11, had been playing on his Apple iBook when she smelled burning

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