Sony Recalls Some Bravia TVs For Being Too Likely To Burst Into Flames

According to Bloomberg, Sony has issued a voluntary recall for about 1.6 million flatscreen televisions in the Bravia line because of a slight defect that makes them somewhat more likely to melt or catch fire than your average TV, but just slightly. Apparently, the recall was sparked by an incident in September when a Japanese owner discovered his Sony flatscreen started a small fire. Eleven such incidents have occurred in Japan since 2008. So far, no one has been hurt.

The blame supposedly lies on a faulty backlighting component that can overheat and melt the top of the affected models. This isn’t the first time that Sony has had to recall things for overheating. In hopes of remedying the situation, Sony is sending out inspectors to check out the TVs and replace the part if need be. If a replacement part is needed, Sony will offer TV rental during the repair, but they won’t offer any replacement TVs or refunds.

It seems that there haven’t been any overheating incidents outside of Japan, which is sort of odd, but not impossibly weird. The recall is voluntary, so the repairs shouldn’t really affect Sony’s bottom line much, but the fact that they’ve sold numerous products that tend to overheat and won’t be offering refunds or replacements might affect sales in the future. After all, you don’t want a TV that smokes. Smoking is bad for its health, almost as bad as melting or being on fire.

Affected models:

• KDL-40D3400
• KDL-40D3500
• KDL-40D3550
• KDL-40D3660
• KDL-40V3000
• KDL-40W3000
• KDL-40X3000
• KDL-40X3500

(Bloomberg via CNET)

Relevant to your interests

• Sony recalled 535,000 VAIO laptops for a similar reason
• Sony is also looking into buying out their partnership with Ericsson
• And Sony is at least partially responsible for this awesome PlayStation ad

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Eric Limer