Battery problems have been around for a long time, and it seems that even rugged devices designed for extreme conditions sometimes end up facing such issues. Today we find out that Panasonic has just issued a recall for no less than 280,000 batteries due to fire/burn hazards. The affected tablets are the Mk1, Mk2, and Mk3-series of the Toughpad FZ-G1.
According to AnandTech, who quoted Panasonic, the company received no less than 16 reports of combusted battery packs in just two months - March and April 2017. The same source reveals that one report came from Japan, one from Australia and 12 from North American customers.
As a consequence of this serious problem, Panasonic issued a firmware update to reduce charging from 4.2 to 4 volts. The patch also lowers the peak operating parameters of the battery. This is only a temporary solution to prevent any new incidents since those who own an affected tablet should contact Panasonic and arrange to get a new battery for free.
The models affected are FZ-VZSU84U, FZ-VZSU89U, and FZ-VZSU96U. Panasonic provides new batteries without asking for the old ones in return.