Hewlett-Packard has issued a voluntary worldwide recall for 15,700 notebook batteries after reports that they overheated, causing minor property damage and, in one instance, a minor burn injury, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The batteries were manufactured in China during early January 2005 and have a bar code label that starts with “L3.” The recall issued on April 20 includes HP Pavilion (dv1xxx,ze2xxx), Compaq Presario (V2xxx, M2xxx) and HP Compaq (nx48xx) models.

“Consumers should stop using the ‘L3’ coded batteries immediately and contact HP to determine if the specific battery is one of the ones being recalled, and if it is, receive a free replacement battery,” the commission said. Of the 15,700 batteries being recalled by HP, around 4,100 were thought to have been sold in machines marketed in the US.

“HP fully stands behind the products it makes and has taken a proactive approach to this situation to ensure the safety of our customers and the integrity and quality of our products. HP is only recalling some of the battery packs used with some of these products. Customers in Saudi Arabia are unaffected, as the products in question were not imported into the Kingdom,” said Sherifa Hady, consumer business manager, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Middle East.

Individuals who purchased their notebooks on the “gray market” in Saudi Arabia or those who bought their machines abroad, should check that their notebooks are not equipped with the potentially defective battery packs. According to HP, the problems are limited to just the batteries, and users can still use their notebooks on AC power until their replacement batteries arrive.

In October 2005, HP issued a similar recall for over 130,000 batteries used in similar model laptops. Last year’s recall also involved the HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario families of laptops but many more models were affected.

More information about the battery recall is available on HP’s website at http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement.