HP Recalling 6 Million Power Cords

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
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If you have or know someone with an HP or Compaq notebook or mini notebook computer, heads up. HP is recalling the LS-15 power cord due to fire concerns. They say there are about 5.6 million of the cords in the US and another 446K in Canada. Hit up HP's support site to get a replacement before you get burned.

The Palo Alto, California-based company has received 29 reports of cords overheating and melting or charring. There have been two claims of minor burns and 13 claims of minor property damage, the statement said. The computers and accessories were sold with the AC power cords at electronics stores, dealers, and online from September 2010 through June 2012 for about $500 to $1,500, the statement said.
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I don't get this. HP knows EXACTLY how many amps their computers use (since they designed it), so how could they accidentally sell 6 million power cords with too low of a current-handling rating?

This is what happens when you give the bean-counters more control than the engineers. Engineer says "this laptop draws 10 amps", bean-counter comes back and says "we can save 3 cents per laptop if we use a 9-amp cord instead"

I really hope HP learns the meaning of "penny-wise and pound-foolish" with this screw-up
 
sir-gold said:
I don't get this. HP knows EXACTLY how many amps their computers use (since they designed it), so how could they accidentally sell 6 million power cords with too low of a current-handling rating?

This is what happens when you give the bean-counters more control than the engineers. Engineer says "this laptop draws 10 amps", bean-counter comes back and says "we can save 3 cents per laptop if we use a 9-amp cord instead"

I really hope HP learns the meaning of "penny-wise and pound-foolish" with this screw-up
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HP is in most cases just a name. They probably spec'd out a charger and outsourced the engineering & build to some place in China or some place that is essentially a front for a China company in North America or Korea.
 
This is why a free market economy doesn't work. We really need to centralize manufacture so that things are at least made properly instead of being produced by whatever company claims to do it for the lowest possible cost. It might not be efficient, but there would be fewer power supplies for laptops that catch on fire.
 
Just filled out my paper work for a replacement. Glad my house hasn't burned down.
 
Have contacted thirty customers so far with another fifty or so to go. Baffles the mind how something like this could get through quality control.
 
AceGoober said:
Have contacted thirty customers so far with another fifty or so to go. Baffles the mind how something like this could get through quality control.
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This simply demonstrates that the was no QA at all. That was probably outsourced to the supplier as well.

China isn't the "land of cheap crap" because they make bad products, it's because they tend to set a very low bar for QA checks.
 
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