Nokia BL-5C battery may explode during charging.

Nokia have issued a product advisory for the Nokia BL-5C handphones battery, manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan between December 2005 and November 2006. Matsushita have produced a total of 46 million pieces of these batteries during the period stated above.

Nokia have stated that they "has identified that in very rare cases the affected batteries could potentially experience over heating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge", and "very rare cases", the overheating could short circuit resulting in explosive burns. Nokia have went on to saying that they have only recorded over 100 such incidences worldwide, and in all these 100 cases, the overheating occurred during the charging of the batteries only.

Nokia have also made it very clear that other batteries in their whole range are safe, and have suggested for users of the BL-5C battery to "monitor" its condition during charging, if possible. The affected handphone models using the BL-5C battery is as below:-

Nokia 1100, Nokia 1100c, Nokia 1101, Nokia 1108, Nokia 1110, Nokia 1112, Nokia 1255, Nokia 1315, Nokia 1600, Nokia 2112, Nokia 2118, Nokia 2255, Nokia 2272, Nokia 2275, Nokia 2300, Nokia 2300c, Nokia 2310, Nokia 2355, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2610, Nokia 2610b, Nokia 2626, Nokia 3100, Nokia 3105, Nokia 3120, Nokia 3125, Nokia 6030, Nokia 6085, Nokia 6086, Nokia 6108, Nokia 6175i, Nokia 6178i, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6230i, Nokia 6270, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6620, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6631, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6682, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6822, Nokia 7610, Nokia N70, Nokia N71, Nokia N72, Nokia N91, Nokia E50 and Nokia E60.

Nokia will replace all batteries from Matsushita if you are affected. You will need to check that your battery is indeed the BL-5C as follows:-

At the front, "Nokia" and "BL-5C" is printed.

At the back, you can find "Nokia" and "BL-5C" on the top and take note of the 26-digit serial number at the bottom.

With this 26-digit serial number, enter to this Nokia

site, scroll down to the bottom and enter the serial number into the box. Hit "submit" and you will be notified if you qualify for the battery replacement and how to go about getting it, or not.

Please note that this applies to only ORIGINAL Nokia BL-5C battery manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan. So please don't bother if you own a "replica" version. If you do, please be aware of this situation as it may as affect your "replica" battery as well.