Why I NEVER buy cheap Chinese batteries...

[RichC]

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...

 

[ian_watts]

you're playing Russian roulette...

Not really. When is the last time you heard about someone's camera battery exploding? The incidents described in the article would have most likely resulted from inadvertent shorting.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I have to say that this seems to me to be a typical panic story, which all the medja now default to.

I have purchased many dozens of third party lithium batteries from typical eBay sources over the last fifteen years and not one of them has given me any problems. The article describes four episodes reported on aircraft out of how many millions of flights?

In fact, I have only once witnessed a battery fire. About thirty years ago, I purchased a Wyse laptop. Within an hour of being initialised, it got seriously hot, so I took it back to the dealer. He was extremely skeptical but agreed to get his technician to check it. I returned after a leisurely lunch to find his premises surrounded by fire engines. Apparently, while on the test bench, the battery had caused a serious fire.

That battery was made in America.

 

[hellomikmik]

Apparently, while on the test bench, the battery had caused a serious fire.
That battery was made in America.

That's why I will never buy a battery Made in USA from now 🙂

 

[RichC]

Hasn't happened to me, but did to a friend a few years back - nothing spectacular: a pop and smoke, but the the heat killed her laptop. So it does happen. And yes, it was cheap eBay battery...

I'm not saying it's common - just that considering the price of a replacement camera, paying a little extra for a decent battery makes sense.

 

[KevinS]

Having just bought a couple third party batteries for a camera, I was hoping for some info on that subject specifically. None of the batteries in the alleged incidents in the BBC article are identified, so there's nothing useful there regarding Chinese batteries. Didn't bother with the video.

 

[DominikDUK]

The oem batteries are mostly made in china not only the third party batteries. Chinese products can be manufactured to any standard you just have to pay more for higher quality something few companies and people are willing to do.

Adidas left China because they felt that the production costs and wages became to high this clearly shows the mindsets of Multinationals.

 

[sevo]

I have purchased many dozens of third party lithium batteries from typical eBay sources over the last fifteen years and not one of them has given me any problems. The article describes four episodes reported on aircraft out of how many millions of flights?

Not a word on the origin of the batteries either - instead, one instance out of three where a battery had been short circuited by a careless passenger carrying it along with a screwdriver (where a counterfeit battery would have created a smaller problem given that they tend to have lower capacity), and another with a "personal air purifier" (where have you last been offered counterfeit batteries for personal air purifiers?).

 

[reiki_]

Read Black Swan.

 

[sevo]

The oem batteries are mostly made in china not only the third party batteries.

These days, ALL batteries seem to be made somewhere in SE Asia. The better OEM ones in China, Thailand, (South) Korea or Vietnam, the off-brand ones somewhere with worse environmental and workplace safety regulations (the last I've bought were from ROK, Laos and Cambodia).

 

[mervynyan]

all batteries I have seen are made in Asia.

 

[DominikDUK]

I was only responding to the threads title.

 

[NY_Dan]

OEM batteries cost more, but in my experience are well worth it. Years ago I bought some spare non OEM Nikon batteries. The non-OEM batteries would not charge properly. Evidently they're not manufactured to the same tolerances. You get what you pay for, and you pay for what you get.

 

[funkydog]

China batteries are good if you don't mind having 1/2 the capacity at 1/2 the longevity for 1/2 the price. I've bought more than ten for various digital cameras over the years and none have exploded. When they go bad, they simply go flat fast or stop holding a charge. Some also swell and don't fit in the battery compartment any more. This usually happens after the second year. They also die faster if fully charged and then left unused for months.
I now prefer to buy original batteries when I can afford them. Going on holiday with four cheapy third party batteries that hardly last a day's shooting is no fun.

 

[yanchep_mike]

If we would not buy anything made in China or Asia, we would not buy much, would we.

 

[colyn]

Many camera makers have updated the firmware to prevent using non-oem batteries. My G1 will not work if the battery is not a Panasonic battery. I wonder if this is the reason in part for this.

As for the cheap batteries I have bought off eBay, I have yet to find one that is any good so I no longer buy them..

I did have a eBay purchased Chinese battery explode while charging in my original Nikon charger once. I had to buy another charger needless to say...

Any battery can explode if mis-handled but cheaply made batteries are usuall more prone to since cheap parts such as thermal switches are not up to standards...

 

[sevo]

Many camera makers have updated the firmware to prevent using non-oem batteries. My G1 will not work if the battery is not a Panasonic battery. I wonder if this is the reason in part for this.

Nope, they want the after-market spares business by themselves. No safety concerns there - every cheap and potentially dangerous battery will identify itself as a original, what they lock out are perfectly identical (and safe) batteries from the same production line sold by other brands or for other purposes.

Any battery can explode if mis-handled but cheaply made batteries are usuall more prone to since cheap parts such as thermal switches are not up to standards...

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. The issue with counterfeit batteries exploding is that the makers of extra cheap ones use a smaller cell (sometimes a very much smaller cell), as that is the component on which they can save most, but let the chip identify the battery as having full capacity (or the camera or charger could identify the fake), so that it will be overcharged (which Li cells will not tolerate).

 

[KoNickon]

Adidas left China because they felt that the production costs and wages became to high this clearly shows the mindsets of Multinationals.

And we're to blame also. We're the ones who buy based on low price, right?

 

[judsonzhao]

from which description can you draw the conclusion that cheapie Chinese batts caused this?

 

[CliveC]

China batteries are good if you don't mind having 1/2 the capacity at 1/2 the longevity for 1/2 the price. I've bought more than ten for various digital cameras over the years and none have exploded. When they go bad, they simply go flat fast or stop holding a charge. Some also swell and don't fit in the battery compartment any more. This usually happens after the second year. They also die faster if fully charged and then left unused for months.
I now prefer to buy original batteries when I can afford them. Going on holiday with four cheapy third party batteries that hardly last a day's shooting is no fun.

In my experience, it's probably closer to 80% capacity, 80% longevity for 20% the price. I have no qualms of buying third party batteries, but I try to do some research first.