The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Electro Source LLC has announced a voluntary recall of about 231,000 Pelican Power Brick battery chargers. The recalled Pelican Power Brick is an external recharging battery pack that sells as a separate accessory to be used with the Sony PSP™ (PlayStation Portable). Electro Source has received 143 reports of the recalled battery charger overheating including one report of fire damage. No injuries have been reported.
The Pelican Power Brick consists of two lithium-ion battery cells connected via a circuit board and mounted in a small plastic housing. The battery cells are charged when plugged into an electrical outlet using the PSP™ AC adaptor. Once charged, it is used to recharge the PSP™. The model number for the battery charger, PL-6018, can be found on the back of the unit. Electro Source sold these chargers alone and also as part of several kits containing other accessories. Sony neither manufactured nor distributed the Pelican Power Brick. Only the Pelican Power Brick is included in this recall.
According to the manufacturer's literature, Pelican's Power Brick was designed to recharge and play a PSP when other power sources are not avaliable. The Power Brick was claimed to provide twice the playing time of a PSP battery at half the cost.
Manufactured in China, the Pelican Power Brick was sold through electronics and discount department stores nationwide, catalogs, and various Web sites from April 2005 through March 2006 for about $20 when sold alone, and for between $40 and $50 when sold as part of certain kits packaged by Electro Source.
