Big Recalls of Battery Packs, Compressors
BatteriesPlus has expanded its recall of battery packs used with cordless tools by 65,300, and DeVilbiss Air Power Co. has recalled 460,000 air compressors.
Two large recalls announced Aug. 30 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission affect products used in construction, one of them involving battery packs used with cordless tools and the other air compressors.
BatteriesPlus LLC, of Hartland, Wis. is the firm recalling the Rayovac NI-CD and Rayovac NI-MH Cordless Tool Battery Packs -– 65,300 of them in addition to about 111,800 recalled in December 2011, according to CPSC. The replacement battery pack can explode unexpectedly, the agency reported, saying BatteriesPlus has received three additional reports since the previous recall of exploding batteries, with one reported injury.
The recall involves all RAYOVAC-branded replacement battery packs used with cordless power tools and having part numbers beginning with "CTL." "RAYOVAC," "NI-CD" or "RAYOVAC," "NI-MH" and a part number beginning with "CTL" are printed in white lettering on the product. They were sold as replacement batteries for Black and Decker, Bosch, DeWalt, Makita, Lincoln, Milwaukee, Panasonic, Ryobi, and Skil tools at BatteriesPlus retail stores nationwide and online at www.batteriesplus.com between June 2008 and July 2012 for $60 to $70.
Consumers should immediately stop using them and should contact BatteriesPlus toll-free at 877-856-3232 between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. CDT weekdays or visit www.batteriesplus.com and click on Recall Notices/Bulletins at the bottom of the page.
The second recall, by DeVilbiss Air Power Co. of Jackson, Tenn., is bigger: 460,000 Craftsman, EX-CELL, Porter-Cable, and Pro-Air II brand air compressors. The unit’s motor can overheat, posing a fire hazard. CPSC said DeVilbiss has received 10 reports of motors overheating but no injury reports.
These were sold by industrial and construction distributors from July 2003 through December 2008 for $259 to $299. Craftsman-brand compressors were sold at Sears stores nationwide from July 2003 through December 2008 for $279 to $329.
Consumers with EX-CELL, Porter-Cable, and Pro-Air II compressors should contact DeVilbiss toll-free at 866-885-1877 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. EDT weekdays or visit www.porter-cable.com or www.devap.com. Consumers with Craftsman compressors should call Sears at 888-710-9282 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CDT Monday through Saturday or visit www.sears.com.