EE Finally Recalls ALL Exploding UK Power Bar Battery Packs

Mobile operator EE has finally wised-up to the fact that handing out millions of free portable Smartphone battery chargers (“Power Bars“) to their customers, some of which exploded (here), might not have been the best idea and they’re now recalling ALL of them.. as a “precaution.” Now here’s £20 to shut you up.

The Power Bar is essentially a 2600mah lithium–ion battery, which took approximately 4 hours to charge from flat to full and was also said to have a guaranteed life of 500 charges. As such EE’s move to offer the device for free gave their customers a burning desire to snap one up, but unfortunately the plan didn’t turn out so well.

During the summer a number of the operators customers noted that their Power Bar’s, apparently those with a specific model code of E1-06, had an annoying tendency to explode into the fires of Mount Doom, usually while in their hands or pockets. As a result EE ended up recalling around 500,000 of their units, while leaving those with different model codes in circulation.

However since then EE has recorded a “very small number of further incidents” where the EE Power Bar could overheat and turn your hand, or possibly other body parts, into the surface of Mercury, much like the effect of being forced to sit through an episode of Peter Andre’s reality TV series; although the latter may cause more lasting damage.

As such EE has moved to recall ALL POWER BARs, but at least you’ll get a £20 voucher for.. you know, not moaning about it.

EE’s December 16th 2015 Statement

We’re recalling all EE Power Bars. This is just a precaution, but we want to make sure all our customers are safe.

If you have a Power Bar, you should stop using it straight away and hand it in to one of our stores.

We are taking this action because we are aware of a very small number of further incidents where Power Bars have overheated in circumstances that could cause a fire safety risk.

Keeping our customers safe is extremely important to us, and that’s why we’re taking this voluntary and precautionary action.

What’s the issue?

We’ve identified a very small number of incidents where Power Bars have overheated.

What should I do?

We’re asking everybody to stop using Power Bars and unplug them from their phones or tablets, and the mains. You should return the Power Bar to an EE store as soon as you can.

How do I get my £20 voucher?

When you return your Power Bar to an EE Store you will be given a £20 voucher if you are an eligible EE customer. One of the team there will give you instructions about how to claim your voucher. You’ll be able to redeem your voucher at accessories.ee.co.uk.

How do I get a replacement?

At the moment we are fully focused on the recall and we will make further announcements soon.

In fairness no battery is 100% safe and it only takes a small defect, usually as part of the manufacturing process, for lithium–ion units to become dangerous. Indeed by now you’ve probably all seen the videos of exploding or burnt iPhone’s and other battery devices, the risk is always there, even if it’s usually only very very minimal. A lot of things in life are like this, much like driving a car filled with highly flammable petrol or running a boiler that uses explosive gas as its fuel. Risk vs reward.

In that sense if you hand out a couple of million batteries then don’t be surprised if a handful goes wonky, in a very bad way. But ideally a good quality manufacturing process would be able to reduce the risk significantly.