Kyocera Recalls Explosive Batteries

Kyocera Wireless has issued a recall of cell phone batteries used in one of its smart phones after discovering the batteries can explode, the company said Friday in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

The Kyocera 7135 Smartphone has been sold with batteries manufactured in Hong Kong that "can short-circuit and erupt with force or emit excessive heat, posing a burn hazard to consumers," Kyocera says in a release.

The phones were sold through Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular, and Alltel, as well as through other retailers and Web sites from September 2003 to December 2003, Kyocera says. The batteries have "Kyocera" written in red and white on the front of the battery, and contain a product code that ends with "-05," the San Diego company says.

Customers Warned

Kyocera instructed any users of the 7135 phones bought during that period to immediately stop using the batteries sold with those cell phones, or any batteries purchased separately from the phones during that time period.

The company plans on contacting those who purchased the battery in order to deliver a free replacement battery, but asked any customers who do not hear from the company by February 6 to call (800) 349-4478 between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific Time Monday through Friday to obtain their replacement battery.

Nokia dealt with several incidents of exploding batteries last year, but blamed those problems on users who installed counterfeit batteries in their phones.