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Dell Denies It Knew of Overheating Battery Problem for Years

By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 20, 2006

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A published report says Dell might have known about a problem regarding overheating laptop batteries at least two years before the computer goliath issued a safety recall. The company denies it.

A person identified as an anonymous Dell insider leaked scores of documents to CRN, a computer industry publication, that indicated Dell knew of a dangerous battery malfunction for two years before a shocking video of an exploding laptop forced the company to recall batteries for about 22,000 laptops.

The source told CRN that the documentation, which included photographs of charred and melted laptops, was distributed to Dell executives years ago.

The documentation showed the following:

• One notebook was charred black for several inches on the bottom corner of the unit, about one-half inch from the system fan;

• Another notebook with a two-inch hole showing where a section of case had melted away, charred black and brown on the bottom of the unit, on the side, about half-way between the fan and the battery;

• More than a dozen notebooks where an inch or two of casing had melted away in the right-hand corner above the keyboard and just below the LCD;

• One system that was melted, mangled and charred black on the bottom corner of a notebook;

• More than one notebook with black charring around the Ethernet port;

• Several units that had melted and warped in the area immediately surrounding the cooling fan;

• Several units that had melted or burned away in the area covering and surrounding the laptop battery unit.

Despite the more than a dozen destroyed laptops mentioned above, in the Dec. 16, 2005 recall, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said, "Dell has received three reports of batteries overheating. The incidents involved damage to a tabletop, a desktop, and minor damage to personal effects. No injuries have been reported."

The ConsumerAffairs.com database has only one instance of a Dell laptop overheating.

"My laptop overheated enough to lightly burn my leg if not for clothing," wrote George of Inverness, Fla. "I spoke to Dell on several occasions and was told that nothing could be done because the unit was out of warranty. The unit lasted just short of two years after purchase before crashing."

Jess Blackburn, a Dell spokesman, would not say how many burned laptops have been returned.

"Any notebook that's returned to us that would have some kind of potential safety issue associated with it, gets not only our own engineering review but also that of a third party review," Blackburn said.

Blackburn said he can't speak to the accuracy of the CRN article because the author will not share the documentation from the supposed insider.

"I think Ed (the author) was referencing a dozen notebooks over a quarter in which we sold millions," Blackburn said. "But just because they're rare doesn't mean we don't take them seriously."

Consumers with Dell laptops can go to www.dellbatteryprogram.com to see if their laptop is affected and how to get the new battery.

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