LG Electronics is recalling some 65-inch OLED TVs from 2016 and 2017 that were sold in Europe, as part of a voluntary program announced by the European Commission.
Alarm bells briefly rang earlier this year when LG announced a similar recall in South Korea of some OLED TVs that were said to have faulty power boards. The company explained at the time the power boards posed a risk of “current overflow” that could cause overheating in the TVs, and that it would replace them for free in all recalled products. It also said that TVs sold overseas were not affected by the issue, but now it seems that is no longer the case.
John Archer wrote in Forbes that the recall program has now been expanded to Europe, though the range of products affected is a lot more limited. Whereas in South Korea the power board issue was found in 18 different 65- and 77-inch OLED models from 2016 to 2019, the European Commission has decided that only five 65-inch LG OLED models need to be recalled.
The affected models are as follows:
Those TVs were all manufactured in Poland and some were sold in the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland, as well as Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, and Croatia, Archer reported.
“During the operation it is possible that the TV overheats which might cause certain damages to the power board or back cover preventing the normal operation of the TV,” the European Commission said in a statement. “Potential burn/scald of finger in case of unintentional contact with hot surface of TV back cover; Potential smoke inhalation from defected TV.”
Archer also reported the voluntary product recall has been expanded to several LG OLED TVs that were sold in China.
LG said in a statement to Archer that the European Commission’s Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs investigation into its TVs had categorised the overheating issues as being “Low Risk”, which is the lowest risk assessment level it can issue.
That’s partly because there have not actually been any reported incidents of the overheating problem occurring in any European country, LG said. It added that the voluntary recall program is precautionary in order to prevent any problems arising later.
