Kobalt yard tools sold at Lowe’s recalled over fire risk

Sr Digital Curator

More than 500,000 yard power tools sold at Lowe’s have been recalled over concerns about fire hazard risks.

According to a notice from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Greenworks Tools issued the recall for 554,780 Kobalt yard power tools, including trimmers, blowers, mowers, chainsaws and pruning saws that use 24V Kobalt-branded batteries with a USB-C charging port.

The batteries with a USB-C charging port come in 3.0Ah, 4.0Ah, 5.0Ah, 6.0Ah, and 8.0Ah. The 6.0Ah and 3.0Ah batteries were also sold separately from the tool.

Only products with the USB-C batteries are included in the recall.

“Charging the lithium-ion batteries through the USB-C port while the batteries are inserted in the yard power tools can cause the batteries to short-circuit, posing a risk of serious injury from fire hazard,” the CPSC notice says.

There have been 34 reports of the batteries producing smoke, sparking or catching fire while the batteries are inserted in the tool and charging with the USB-C port. No injuries or property damage have been reported.

The products impacted by this recall were sold at Lowe’s stores nationwide and online from January through May for between $20 and $482.

You can find a full list of yard power tools included in the recall here.

Anyone who owns the recalled power tools should stop charging the batteries with the USB-C port while the batteries are inserted in the power tools immediately and contact Greenworks Tools for a free replacement battery.

Filling out this registration form will allow owners to receive replacement batteries without the USB-C port, a charger adapter, a warning label to place on the yard power tool, an updated product manual and a pre-paid shipping label with instructions to return the recalled batteries.