Amazon Recalls 260,000 Portable Power Banks For Fire Hazard (cnbc.com)

Amazon is recalling 260,000 AmazonBasics portable power banks that can "overheat and ignite," according to a release by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The company has received more than 50 reports of the power banks overheating in the U.S., causing chemical burns and property damage. CNBC reports: "Consumers should immediately unplug and stop using the recalled power banks and contact Amazon for instructions on how to return the unit and receive a full refund," the release says. Amazon is contacting everyone who purchased one of the affected devices. The recall covers six versions of the AmazonBasics portable battery: 16,100 mAh; 10,000 mAh; 5,600 mAh; 2,000 mAh with micro USB cable; 3,000 mAh; and 3,000 mAh with USB micro cable.

Comments

Amazon basics are junk

[Anonymous Coward]

A few Amazon basics are OK, but most of it is just too cheaply made. I know a person who had problems with this battery I believe. Didn't catch fire, but was getting pretty hot. Crummy China made stuff is just too risky to use to save a few bucks. Buy a good known brand that has circuitry that protects the device.

Re:Amazon basics are junk

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck you, not everyone can afford the perfectly functioning or even safe version. Some of us fly basic economy class because we have to, we don't snort our coke through hunna dolla bills.

Re:Amazon basics are junk

[Anonymous Coward]

Anker brand batteries are available at affordable prices on Amazon and other locations. They have not had this kind of problem.

But keep whining about expenses as your cheap ass battery pack explodes and sends you to the hospital.

Re:Amazon basics are junk

[DontBeAMoran]

Fuck you, not everyone can afford the solid form of coke. Some of us have to buy our coke in liquid form and even then some of us prefer pepsi.

Well wtf?

[bobstreo]

How else will I be able to recharge my Chinese knock-off hoverboard from Amazon?

Re:Well wtf?

[DontBeAMoran]

Try searching for "Amazon Basic Campfire Kit".

Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[SuperKendall]

I've really mostly used Amazon Basics for cables so far, those have seemed to be fairly decent. I would be a little more hesitant with something complex, though I would not have thought a mobile charger would be that tricky.... guess I"ll not be getting an Amazon Basics UPS for my computer!

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure they are just rebranding something, not really designing their own from scratch.

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[sexconker]

Amazon Basics came about because Amazon got jealous of all the fly by night companies that were creating storefronts on Amazon and eBay for dropshipping from aliexpress. The bigger players in this space actually get the Chinese manufacturers to slap their logo on the product / box. Other than that, the item you get from any of the dozen companies (including Amazon) is identical.

It's true for everything from portable battery packs, to USB power adapters, to primary cell batteries, to "hover" boards, to solar lights, to RGB light strips, to mandolin slicers, to slow cookers, to beard trimmers, to everything else made in China.

The only reason to buy the Amazon Basics brand is if it is somehow cheaper after considering tax and shipping (occasionally even Amazon needs to clear stock), or if you expect it to fail soon and want the more generous return/refund policy of a "shipped and sold by Amazon" item.

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[Anonymous Coward]

Amazon basics is pretty much this, but with the Amazon brand and US warehousing.

Amazon is usually pretty good with their basics brand but it looks like they've got to police their suppliers a bit more. Waaay to easy to slip in substandard parts.

On ali express you can order powerbank parts jellybean. Complete logic boards, batteries, nickel strips, cell shrink wrap. Add an injection molded case and you've got a product. And that's what I can do sitting at my computer her in the US. In a mfgr district in china it's 100 times easier.

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[I_Wrote_This]

Mine was recalled last night. (Well, I say "recalled" - I was told to stop using it and send it for recycling...).

A pity - most other portable charger are significantly bigger (in particular, much thicker). I'd bought mine (the 5600mAh) because it was the most suitable size.

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[SuperKendall]

I figured that was the case also, but I assumed they had done some level of screening for quality... not so sure now. Like I said, most of the cables have seemed fine (I've seen some really cheap cables before and the Amazon ones were not as bad).

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[tlhIngan]

The only reason to buy the Amazon Basics brand is if it is somehow cheaper after considering tax and shipping (occasionally even Amazon needs to clear stock), or if you expect it to fail soon and want the more generous return/refund policy of a "shipped and sold by Amazon" item.

I'm sure most people buy Amazon Basics because Amazon would've vetted their suppliers. You can go to Ali Express, but you're taking a crapshoot on stuff like power banks that are so shoddily made they are time bombs. In the best case, your "4000mAH" bank may have low capacity cells, so you really only get 1000mAH out of it. (Seach Big Clive (dot com) on YouTube or Google and he's taken many power banks apart).

Basically it's Ali Express with the dodginess removed. And a modicum of support, because US company after all.

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[DontBeAMoran]

Have you compared with monoprice.com?

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[sexconker]

I'm sure most people buy Amazon Basics because Amazon would've vetted their suppliers. You can go to Ali Express, but you're taking a crapshoot on stuff like power banks that are so shoddily made they are time bombs.

Basically it's Ali Express with the dodginess removed. And a modicum of support, because US company after all.

Except Amazon doesn't vet the suppliers for shit, just like they don't vet the 3rd parties they allow onto their storefront and take stock from. (The "Fulfilled by Amazon" program allows a 3rd party seller to dump fake/bad/whatever stock of an item into Amazon's warehouse so Amazon can handle the logistics of picking, packaging, and shipping the item. Amazon commingles stock though, so even if your item is "shipped and sold by Amazon.com", it could in fact come from the pile of fakes/defectives from a shady 3rd party.)

And even if Amazon did strongly vet the suppliers, that's not enough. Chinese manufacturing is such that you have to sample and check from every single shipment, lest they try to pull some bullshit on you 3 months down the line. Or you can just ship it all and have a generous return policy, but that doesn't prevent battery packs from exploding on people, does it Jeff?

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[Anonymous Coward]

This isn't even close to fair given we are talking about an actual recall here.

Re:Interestring, so far AB has seemed OK

[tlhIngan]

Except Amazon doesn't vet the suppliers for shit, just like they don't vet the 3rd parties they allow onto their storefront and take stock from. (The "Fulfilled by Amazon" program allows a 3rd party seller to dump fake/bad/whatever stock of an item into Amazon's warehouse so Amazon can handle the logistics of picking, packaging, and shipping the item. Amazon commingles stock though, so even if your item is "shipped and sold by Amazon.com", it could in fact come from the pile of fakes/defectives from a shady 3rd party.)

And even if Amazon did strongly vet the suppliers, that's not enough. Chinese manufacturing is such that you have to sample and check from every single shipment, lest they try to pull some bullshit on you 3 months down the line. Or you can just ship it all and have a generous return policy, but that doesn't prevent battery packs from exploding on people, does it Jeff?

I would say Amazon does a poor job of vetting Amazon Basics suppliers. Remember, it's Amazon's name on the box, not ChongDing Electronic Supply Limited, and Amazon is a US company. Should an Amazon Basics thing be of such poor quality, the lawsuits will start flying. And it's much easier to sue Amazon than it is a random supplier on Ali Express.

It's why Amazon is doing the recall - you think the Ali Express supplier is recalling the product? They've probably sold twice the number in the time period since the recall started. And that's where the price difference between Amazon and Ali Express goes - all the little nasty details that Amazon has as a US company versus a Chinese company.

disappointing

[Mister Liberty]

I thought by now Amazon would have AI-driven hoverable drone-like power banks, that would simply fly back to base to Amazon on the recall signal.

Re: disappointing

[bill_mcgonigle]

:amazon battery cackles menacingly:

Re: disappointing

[Anonymous Coward]

Posting anon because I gave you and parent mod points - this made me laugh too long.

Re: disappointing

[Anonymous Coward]

:amazon battery crackles menacingly:

FTFY

Inefficient

[Anonymous Coward]

From an engineering standpoint charging a battery with another battery is a terrible idea. Losses all around.

Re:Inefficient

[EETech1]

From a practicality side, having to be within 6 feet of an outlet to be able to charge your device sucks.
Little had been gained.

Re:Inefficient

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed. That's why I use my portable battery to power an incandescent light bulb, which I hold up to the solar panel on my other device. Works like a charm!

Re:Inefficient

[fluffernutter]

Or they could just put decently sized batteries in the phones in the first place.

LiPo

[Anonymous Coward]

While the high power density and variable form factor of LiPo cells is nice... they seem a bit, well, dangerous. (If someone can confirm that these devices are indeed LiPo, as their flat form factor strongly suggests (or if i'm completely wrong), that'd be groovy)

Was trying to find a reliable source...

[Anonymous Coward]

Got the email, but couldn't find a reliable source to validate it. Sent it to Amazon phishing but haven't heard back yet.

Love our 15,0000 pack. Hoping if recall is real they'll swap it.

Got it b/c my wife kept forgetting to charge her phone and tablet; great price and value.

Re:Was trying to find a reliable source...

[petes_PoV]

Got the email, but couldn't find a reliable source to validate it.

I recevied the email, too. It contained details that only a bona fide vendor would have. It had the Amazon order number. It was sent to the email address I use for Amazon (please tell me you know better than to just have a single email address for everything). The product description matched my order history.

So yes, I was sure - to a level of certainty that outweighed the potential (very limited) "hack attack" probability and scope for damage.

The only worrying thing is that since I bought this in 2015, I have parted company with the power bank. I don't know where it is, or who has got it. Though I do still have the charger, so I guess / hope the device isn't being used by anyone.

Re:Was trying to find a reliable source...

[TemporalBeing]

Got the email, but couldn't find a reliable source to validate it.

I recevied the email, too. It contained details that only a bona fide vendor would have. It had the Amazon order number. It was sent to the email address I use for Amazon (please tell me you know better than to just have a single email address for everything). The product description matched my order history.

So yes, I was sure - to a level of certainty that outweighed the potential (very limited) "hack attack" probability and scope for damage.

The only worrying thing is that since I bought this in 2015, I have parted company with the power bank. I don't know where it is, or who has got it. Though I do still have the charger, so I guess / hope the device isn't being used by anyone.

I still haven't gotten any kind of response on its validity from Amazon; and Slashdot is sadly the most reliable source I've heard about the recall from.

Re:Was trying to find a reliable source...

[TemporalBeing]

Oh, and no - it didn't have anything other than the models affected and a phone number to call. Nothing verifiable.

That's a pity

[nicolaiplum]

I bought three of these for various things, and they always seemed to work well. In particular, the 5600mAh one is thin, much thinner than the typical power bank based on cylindrical cells. I have never had any problems with them, but I shall stilll be disposing of them. I suspect that Amazon got bitten by a a slightly out of tolerance manufacturing technique, which happens to a lot of other power pack and battery makers too. Amazon is, unlike many of them, able to do a recall and willing to do so. I don't hold this against them, and I'd buy "Amazon Basics" again.

I am replacing the slim pack with this one from Anker: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pr...

Amazon's returns process was pretty slick. They do send you an email with an external link, but:
The order number can be searched against your Amazon order history, and their help pages recommend you do this if you get an email about an Amazon order;
The product name, email, order number, etc, all matched what I had purchased;
The external site didn't ask for any personal information.

The external site only asked what power packs I had, gave a bunch of links to disposal information in various countries, and said I would get a refund. So the security risks are close to zero, even if the link didn't see legitimate.