Why I NEVER buy cheap Chinese batteries...

[Pioneer]

i have no problem purchasing and using 3rd party batteries for my laptops and computers. Any battery can develop a problem and I have personally experienced problems with two OEM laptop batteries over the years. Internal shorting is not that uncommon. If your batteries begin to feel unnaturally warm, replace them.

The primary advantage of purchasing OEM batteries has nothing to do with their reliability. It is the recall notice you will receive if a batch of their batteries develops serious problems. If that is worth the markup in price to you then feel free to buy their batteries.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

Sejanus it's not hard to get rid if the illness called racism simply get rid of politician and you've got the cure. The fearmongering "danger from the east" has been in use since the barbarian invasions and the roman empire and has always been used by politicians to create fear and strenghten their power trough that fearmongering. We're talking brainwashing by politicians since the 4th century and before so this goes deeper than simple racism it has become part of the western culture.

I agree that politicians have never been slow to play the racist card but I don't think that things are always that way. Your point about the Romans is interesting because of all the historical cultures that we know about, they seem to be the only one totally free of a racist culture.

It didn't matter who you were or where you came from, unlike the American myth, if you made the effort and had what was needed, you could start out as a slave and end up right at the top of the heap. I don't know if any slave actually made it all the way to Imperator but Publius Helvius Pertinax (AD 126 - AD 193) was the son of a freed slave who did become Emperor.

As to racism starting at the top, I'm convinced it starts at the bottom and is built into our genes, just like the appendix. The sooner we finally get rid of both those gene sets, the better for us all.

 

[maddoc]

Lithium batteries do not have thermal switches. They have charge management chips embedded - and as far as known these never have been counterfeited, and they cannot simply be left out.

There were a couple of reports on TV here in Japan about this topic. There reports clearly showed that (they took counterfeit mobile-phone batteries as an example) the security circuits were omitted and replaced by a simple combination of voltage regulator circuit and resistor to mock the correct unit resistance. No circuit to protect from over-discharge/over-heat. The problem with Li-batteries is that they become dangerous when completely discharged and then reconnected to a charger because of the irreversible formation of LiO2 when over-discharged.

 

[Roger Hicks]

A simple thought experiment:

Is it possible to build a more dangerous battery than the OEM standard? Never mind exactly how.

If it is possible to build a more dangerous battery than the OEM standard, could it be made significantly more cheaply than the OEM standard?

If the answers to both questions are "Yes", it's not hard to suspect that there are, in fact, cheap, dangerous batteries on the market.

This does not mean that all cheap batteries are dangerous (or even inferior), just that some probably are. Given the very different experiences that people have had with cheap batteries; given that there are apparently several different manufacturers or assemblers of cheap batteries; given that the very nature of a fake requires that it disguise its origins; then, I'd say it was a safe bet that many fakes are inferior to OEM, if not necessarily dangerous. Equally, it is perfectly possible that a third-party compatible battery that is not marked in such a way as to attempt to deceive the buyer is as good as (or even the same as) the OEM battery.

The problem with all of this is that people want simplistic, "one size fits all" answers.

Cheers,

R.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

It seems like the FED/Zorki/Leica stories of years ago when the idea was that one factory somewhere in the old USSR turned out hundreds of fake Leicas. I've always assumed it was dozens of small one man and a dog firms making them.

Same with the Chinese batteries, I don't believe there's just one big factory in China making all the "Made in China" batteries. There's probably dozens making everything from cheap and nasty - but dear when you buy them - right through to top of the range state of the art stuff. And no way for us to tell them apart until it's too late.

Still, every one you see these days has a mobile 'phone (and are usually chatting on it) but I've yet to see one explode and the scare stories suggest it should happen a lot. I'll have to keep my eyes open for the scorch marks...

Just my 2d worth.

Regards, David

 

[sevo]

There were a couple of reports on TV here in Japan about this topic. There reports clearly showed that (they took counterfeit mobile-phone batteries as an example) the security circuits were omitted and replaced by a simple combination of voltage regulator circuit and resistor to mock the correct unit resistance.

That would be possible with semi-permanent phone batteries (which don't have digital circuits on board), or very old ones. Most camera batteries contain a small microcontroller communicating the cell status via a I2c serial interface - that is nothing you can fake with a resistor and regulator.

 

[btgc]

Still, every one you see these days has a mobile 'phone (and are usually chatting on it) but I've yet to see one explode and the scare stories suggest it should happen a lot.

Then and now I read about iphones turning into flames, their soldered-in batteries, that is.

Last time this has happened to 5C but it is considered to be their budget phone, right?

 

[nongfuspring]

Same with the Chinese batteries, I don't believe there's just one big factory in China making all the "Made in China" batteries. There's probably dozens making everything from cheap and nasty - but dear when you buy - them right through to top of the range state of the art stuff. And no way for us to tell them apart until it's too late.

It's supposed to be quite common for factories that mostly make products for generic big name brands to simply relabel or slightly modify the name brand products to sell independently, or through another brand.

I'm not sure if I would be willing to take risks on my gear using ultra cheap batteries, but for things like flashes, tripods, lens hoods etc. I've really lucked out on some things in the past that have proven at least as good as their better known counterparts. In fact there have been a few "knock offs" I've bought that I'm convinced are actually exactly the same as their more expensive versions, just sold under a different license. When I lived in China I often came into contact with so called "shanzai" (mountain village) goods which can be even better than their originals, since in-house factory technicians would take the original product and actually throw in new and sometimes innovative features that the original product didn't.

I think it prudent to take no-name Chinese brands seriously and judge according to experience rather than reputation.

 

[x-ray]

Nikon had to recall a bunch of their oem batteries for the D800/e just after the D800 came out v

 

[Rob-F]

For my Panasonic and Fuji cameras, I have been using the "Maximal Power" brand for my spare batteries. So far, I have had good luck, no problems. These batteries do not come with any protective case; usually just a plastic wrapper and/or paper box. I always put them in some wrapping before putting them in my camera bag, to prevent shorting out. I do wish they would provide a proper case for extra batteries. Even the official OEM spare battery for my M8.2, for well over $100, (I think it was more like $120 or $130) did not come with a case. That was really disappointing!

 

[Spanik]

Tell that to Boeing...

 

[Sparrow]

... could this explain why the dreamliner's batteries keep blowing up? ... boeing are buying them cheap off eBay, surely not

PS ... personally I don't worry about the batteries, it's those bendy wings that frighten me

 

[DominikDUK]

I agree that politicians have never been slow to play the racist card but I don't think that things are always that way. Your point about the Romans is interesting because of all the historical cultures that we know about, they seem to be the only one totally free of a racist culture.

It didn't matter who you were or where you came from, unlike the American myth, if you made the effort and had what was needed, you could start out as a slave and end up right at the top of the heap. I don't know if any slave actually made it all the way to Imperator but Publius Helvius Pertinax (AD 126 - AD 193) was the son of a freed slave who did become Emperor.

As to racism starting at the top, I'm convinced it starts at the bottom and is built into our genes, just like the appendix. The sooner we finally get rid of both those gene sets, the better for us all.

Sejanus the romans were more open to other cultures but that doesn't mean that there wasn't racism especially directed at their enemies. The barbarians who dare to attack Rome. For my latin test at the uni I had to translate letters by roman senators about Nero. One of the reasons Nero was hated that much and all kind of crimes were attached to his name despite the fact that he didn't commit them was his friendliness towards non true romans. Two third of the letters were complains about Nero beeing too friendly to non romans and allowing them to attain higher positions in the state. And how those foreigners will destroy the roman empire.

Racism starts at the bottom out of envy or jealousy but those in power massively encourage racism.

 

[Archlich]

The title is not necessarily racist - like David mentioned in #45, cheap batteries can definitely be dangerous, more so than the expensive ones - but there is simply very few or no cheap ones being made outside China, so "cheap batteries" automatically become "cheap Chinese batteries".

So it comes down simply to whether if you should buy cheap and take the risk.

 

[raid]

So this why Toyota Camry's keep on getting recalled! The car owners have been using non-OEM batteries!

 

[Monochrom]

wow...i cansay almost the same, onmy late epson rd1s the alternative batt almost exploded on the charger, thankfully wasn´t in the camera!!!

But i´ve had good experience with the ones i´ve bought...alhpugh try no to do it unless the product seems serious enough..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25733346

Apart from cheap lithium batteries often having much lower capacity than genuine ones, I really don't want one exploding in my camera or laptop!

Of course, most batteries are perfectly safe - but unless you buy a genuine battery or a respected brand (e.g. Energizer), you're playing Russian roulette...