SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20240521-73BFE-2147339080. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Hewlett-Packard Model Number 15-aw053nr (It is an HP Pavilion Notebook. Product No. X3T20UA#ABA. The ruptured battery was removed and disposed of as hazardous waste. The ruptured battery was labeled as follows: HP BP02XL, Number 849909-850, MFG DATE 2016/12). Incident: We recently encountered a dangerous situation with an HP Pavilion Notebook/Laptop (model 15-aw053nr) that nearly resulted in an explosion, fire, and personal injury. During normal use, the HP Notebook began to automatically charge its internal battery which had been latently degrading unbeknownst to the consumer. This resulted in a loud pop, a cracked notebook case and a ruptured lithium ion cell. The consumer had just seconds to unplug the notebook and place it on a non-flammable surface; otherwise a burn, fire, or explosion likely would have resulted. Since 2016, internal lithium-ion batteries made for Hewlett Packard devices have been affected by several inherent design and manufacturing issues that substantially affect the safety of consumers. The issues have prompted ongoing and repeated expansions of current battery recalls for HP notebooks. We regularly check the device's notification center and also run the complimentary HP Battery Recall Utility software on a regular basis. The previous industry design standards made it possible for consumers to easily view and proactively remove batteries if showing visible signs of degradation. CPSC needs to investigate the surrounding issues including; (1) The average consumer no longer has access to inspect the device battery, (2) The notebook continues to automatically charge a degrading internal lithium-ion cell, potentially creating a life threatening situation, (3) the device fails to notify the consumer when the battery is failing, and (4) The notebook fails to detect and automatically cut power to a dangerous battery. We