Hearth Record

CPSC, IBM Announce Recall to Repair Computer Monitors

Home product recall 03-088. Announced by CPSC on Mar 4, 2003.

  • CPSC: stop using it
CPSC’s own notice, on cpsc.gov

Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own notice is on cpsc.gov.

The short answer

Announced by CPSC on Mar 4, 2003. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.

Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.

What’s wrong with it?

The monitor’s circuit board can overheat and smoke, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

What should you do?

Consumers should stop using these monitors immediately and contact the IBM Repair Center at (800) 426-7378 anytime for a free inspection and repair or replacement.

Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

  • How to reach the firm: For more information, consumers can log on the company’s website at www.ibm.com/pc/g51recall

Which ones are recalled?

The recalled IBM monitors include the G51 CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and G51t Touch Screen CRT models. The G51 and G51t monitors have the following model numbers on a label on the back of the unit: 6541-02N, 6541-02E, 6541-02S, 6541-Q0N, 6541-Q0E, and 6541-Q0S. The label on the back of the recalled G51 models also has a date of manufacture between June 1997 and September 1997. The “IBM” logo can be found on the front of the units.

56,000 units, as CPSC gives them.

IBM G51 CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and G51t Touch Screen CRT Computer Monitors.

Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

CPSC’s photos

CPSC shows 1 photo on its notice. Hearth Record doesn’t copy them; each opens on cpsc.gov.

Who made and sold it?

  • Distributed by IBM, Armonk, N.Y.
  • IBM, MicroTouch Systems, and major retail stores nationwide, including Best Buy, CompUSA, Office Max, and Radio Shack, sold the monitors, from June 1997 through December 1998, for about $370.
  • Made in China and Malaysia, as the notice gives it.
Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

Was anyone hurt?

IBM has received five reports of monitors overheating and smoking, including one report of minor property damage. No injuries have been reported.

Source:

CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.

What the record doesn’t say

  • The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
  • The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
  • How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Source:

Hearth Record wrote these lines.

Sources

  • U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.

    Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.

Source:

Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.

How to read a record

Four things every record does, shown on an example record made up for this guide.

An example record, made up for this guide

An example nursing home

Made up for this guide: no real place is shown

Not fully inspected in over two years (CMS flag)

11 health citations at the latest inspection cycle

The state average is 14.3.

Source:

CMS, State and US Averages and Health Deficiencies. Released Oct 8, 2026. Updated monthly.

From the homeNone yet. Replies and paid listings aren’t open, and when they open they will sit here, below the record.

1 of 4

Every fact names its source.

Who published it, when, and how often it changes sit beside each fact, with a link to the agency’s own file.

Sign in

A free account keeps your watch list, shortlists, comparisons and saved searches on every device, and can email you when something you watch changes. Browsing never needs one.