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Another day, another huge recall of hundreds of thousands of dangerous power banks.
This time around, it's Iniu, which is now recalling 210,000 BI-B41 portable 10,000mAh power banks due to concerns that they may overheat and cause burns to the user, or even catch fire. As reported by NotebookCheck, Iniu encourages all owners of potentially affected systems to return their power bank to receive a gift card or a refund, depending on their preference.
"Through our enhanced quality assurance protocols, we identified a potential issue with specific battery cells used in limited batches of our BI-B41 power bank," Iniu said in a statement.
Affected devices were sold between August 2021 and April 2022. They bear the serial numbers “000G21”, “000H21”, “000I21”, and “000L21," and were packaged in black and blue shell casings. If you have this model of power bank, you can find the serial number on the back sticker. If the last two numbers are "21," and it was purchased on Amazon USA, and has that shell color, you should probably look into sending it back.
If it was purchased elsewhere, has a different serial number, or has a different color casing, you should be fine, but it's worth confirming with Iniu to be sure.
(Credit: Iniu)The US Consumer Product Safety Commission confirmed that the power banks pose "fire and burn hazards to consumers." It cites 16 reports of power banks overheating, including 11 reports of fires, and three where minor burn injuries were reported. The total damage from these incidents is reported to exceed $380,000. It advises anyone affected to stop using the power banks immediately and to return the problematic devices.
You can submit a recall claim via Iniu's website; the company promises a response within 15 days. "If your product is confirmed to meet the recall criteria, we will promptly process your refund or gift card," it says.
In the meantime, Iniu encourages you to responsibly dispose of the affected power banks via your city's Household Hazardous Waste collection center, or an accredited lithium-ion recycling center that can properly manage the hazardous nature of some of the internal materials. Do not dispose of lithium-ion devices in a standard landfill.