Lenovo has announced a recall of 83,500 (78,000 in the U.S. and 5,500 in Canada) ThinkPad X1 Carbon 5th Generation laptops (with machine type 20HQ, 20HR, 20K3 or 20K4), manufactured between December 2016 and October 2017 over concerns of fire hazard. It said that it has worked with United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for voluntary recall of these laptops.
Lenovo said that it has received three customer reports worldwide of an overheat condition related to an unfastened screw which resulted in damage to the customer’s laptops, but it has not received reports of fire or damage to persons or property, other than to the laptop PCs.
On investigation and analysis it has found out that an unfastened, small screw, left in the unit during manufacture, could damage the surface of the lithium ion polymer battery and cause a short, leading to rapid cell discharge of the battery. This defect was the reason for three failures.
It also said that the recall is due to a manufacturing process lapse which Lenovo’s engineers have subsequently fixed. “Having taken the time to fully understand and correct this manufacturing issue, Lenovo is fully confident that its current ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptops meet Lenovo’s high quality and safety standards,” said Lenovo.
If you have bought a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 5th Generation between these dates, you can head to Lenovo support page here, enter the serial number and check if it’s affected. If it is, you need to contact Lenovo Services or an authorized Warranty Services Provider to schedule an appointment to have their systems inspected for an unfastened screw.