What's your favorite place to buy batteries and chargers?

[1DaveN]

I like www.fasttech.com

I just ordered an Xtar VP2 charger from them for almost 25% less than I've seen it elsewhere (factoring in shipping, which is free at Fastech). I've only ordered from them once before, and although I had a shipping issue that I view as their fault, their customer service was excellent and they did offer me a full refund. My primary concern is that the charger is a real Xtar, but it's not my first VP2 and I think I'll be able to tell fairly easily.

 

[daan_deurloo]

I got my Chinese SkyRC iMax B6 clone from China since begin of July and it works great. Almost perfect voltage on one 18650 cell ( 4,22v ). It doesn't come with a power supply, but for that i just use a 19v 3,62a laptop adapter and it works great.


Haven't bought 18650 batteries yet ( New ones ). Oldest cell i got is from 2007/2008. Capacity is not that great, but well it works.

And cannot find my flashlight anymore i ordered at the same time ( which uses 18650 battery ). It had one panasonic cell inside. So it seems i have to order a new one from the exact same seller and buy a good 18650 cell from nkon.

 

[Isaiah6113]

+1 on Thomas Distributing. Bought my AA&AAA Imedion and Eneloops, Maha chargers from them over the years. Excellent prices and customer service.

 

[Grijon]

Mostly Amazon for me - as said above, just check out the seller before ordering if it's not from Amazon proper.

 

[Capolini]

I have used Illumns and MT. electronics for awhile,and still use them.

Then I tried IMRBATTERIES.Decent but incomparable to Liionwholesale.com!

I find that liionwholesale.com is the cheapest of them all!! They are in my home town also. They do not have as much variety,but they have the top brands.LG,Sony,Panasonic,Samsung, Efest ect.

http://liionwholesale.com/


I see that RTD VAPOR is also near me!............Bangor,Pa.!

One of many examples:

Efest IMR 3100 20a-

RTD-$10.39 Liiionwholesale-$8.22!! More than $2 cheaper and price drops as you buy more!

 

[Wolfy1776]

Great tip on lion wholesale. I hear there are many sites that rewrap are their batteries definitely genuine?

 

[Capolini]

Great tip on lion wholesale. I hear there are many sites that rewrap are their batteries definitely genuine?

They are GENUINE! No rewrapping. I ASSURE YOU OF THAT. If you read their website they tell you how they test ALL of their batteries and buy them from the manufacturers themselves.

 

[Wolfy1776]

I'm not being critical I'm so new at this with rechargeable lion batteries and I read these stories about what could happen. And I read that many batteries are rewrapped so I just want to err on the side of caution.

www.lionwarehouse.com has the best prices I have seen and almost close enough for me to drive there.

 

[RollerBoySE]

eu.nkon.nl

For us in Europe it's hands down the best alternative.

 

[Short_Circuit]

I'm one of the ones who've become very partial to Mountain Electronics because of their good prices over all, quick shipping and reasonable shipping and handling prices. I also use Battery Junction and ebay.

 

[Illum]

A couple US based sites
www.illuminationgear.com
Based in Rockledge, FL. is so close to me that in fact we share the same post office, but they don't have a physical branch office :sigh:

http://www.sbflashlights.com
Based in Houston, TX. Currently the only place I can find Solarforce L2 hosts in stock

www.Batteryjunction.com
Based in Old Saybrook, CT, bought from them for years

 

[Short_Circuit]

A couple US based sites
www.illuminationgear.com
Based in Rockledge, FL. is so close to me that in fact we share the same post office, but they don't have a physical branch office :sigh:

http://www.sbflashlights.com
Based in Houston, TX. Currently the only place I can find Solarforce L2 hosts in stock

www.Batteryjunction.com
Based in Old Saybrook, CT, bought from them for years

www.Goinggear.com
Based in Smyrna, GA

I had forgotten that Goinggear was right here near where I live and when I read your post I thought I should try and give some business to my home town boys you know? So I went to their site to price some 18650s and wow are they HIGH!. Why on earth would I spend $17-$18 for a 3400 mah battery when I can get the Sanyo 3500mah from Mountain Electronics for just $9.50 ea? Just another reason why I like Mtn. E.

GG wants $12 apiece just for a standard panny 18650 3400mah and I can get two of those on ebay for $18 with free shipping and a free plastic case. GG needs to get their act together.

 

[Illum]

holy moo-cow you're right

 

[roadwarrior]

I recently had a battery purchasing experience with Amazon I want to share with you guys, it may help or it may not...

I ordered and received a quad of AA Eneloop Pros and a quad of AA Maha Powerex batteries. They came packaged in a typical shipping box from Amazon. Both quads were sold by Amazon and not a second party distributer.

The Powerex package was in mint condition, but was completely opened with the clear plastic seal completely removed from the cardboard package. The Powerex battery case was loose inside the shipping box and one AA battery was removed from the battery case and was loose inside the shipping box. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I was looking at a quad of batteries that now I had doubts of being new and unused. Where they a returned and possibly used quad from another customer?

I have a need for batteries and did not want to mess with having to contact Amazon and go through a lengthy return process, so instead I ran a discharge on them and got the following results:

1-276mAh
2-294mAh
3-289mAh
4-286mAh

Seemed kind of low to me for batteries straight out of the package in supposed new and never used condition when they are rated at 2700mAh...(Maybe I am wrong?) At this point I figured what the heck, might as well do a break-in since I have no idea what I have here....which resulted in the following:

1-2539mAh
2-2544mAh
3-2534mAh
4-2530mAh

Which shows they are now within minimum capacity of 2500mAh per Maha.

So life is well....

But last night the more I thought about it, the more I figured I should at least e-mail Amazon and let them know about my disappointment and that I would not be seeking a refund or replacement at this point, but I may not order batteries from them again. So I did.

Within five hours, I received a response from Amazon apologizing for the issue, to consider it an isolated incident and to give them another chance in the future. To make things right they are sending me a replacement quad of batteries at no cost, with a guaranteed delivery date of tomorrow.

Given Amazon's quick and responsive customer service, I more than likely use them again, but the whole experience soured me on ordering batteries over the internet.....I may just try and buy them in stores from now on instead. :sigh:

 

[markr6]

Amazon is the best! I swear, you could send them a bag of dog poop and they would give you a refund :laughing:

Seriously, it makes life so much easier. I don't abuse their leniency, but I have returned a fair deal of clothing due to things not fitting or just not what I expected. VERY slick process that takes about 2 minutes from start to finish including boxing it up.

I have yet to try 18650s via Amazon since Mountain Electronics is my goto shop. I would like to take advantage of these "4 for $12" sales online, but they are ALWAYS flattop cells, which I don't understand. Unprotected button tops fit in everything I've tried, and they're even REQUIRED in so many lights now.

 

[roadwarrior]

*Edit*

After a closer look, the replacement order they generated was mistakenly for the Eneloop Pros which I have no issue with and no desire to replace. Don't know how they mixed up the two given that I even went so far as to send them a picture of the Powerex package in the condition it arrived.

Tried cancelling their replacement delivery and they would not let me, instead stating it was too late and that I would need to either refuse it when delivered or request a refund. They even generated a return label for my perfectly fine Eneloops. What the heck!

I have emailed them my frustration and while appreciate them trying to do the right thing, I would have preferred they contacted me prior to generating a replacement order so as to get my approval.

In full disclosure, I have ordered items from Amazon in the past and have received nothing but great service and quality and will continue to use them in the future, I just don't know if it will ever be for batteries though.

 

[1DaveN]

My brother bought an expensive USB power bank from Amazon and it failed after a year. He contacted the manufacturer, who requested a photo of the label, and then replied that it was a counterfeit - not their genuine product. He simply forwarded the manufacturer's e-mail to Amazon and went to bed - when he got up in the morning, they had refunded the full purchase price. (It was a 3rd party seller who sent him the fake).

 

[roadwarrior]

I will admit they do try their best to take of you. I ended up exchanging emails with customer support and I will be refusing the replacement they sent and in lieu of my issue they authorized a $10 dollar promotional certificate towards my next Amazon purchase in which they are the seller of the item.

Currently debating if I should use it to purchase another quad from them....I have no idea what their shipping rate would be since I would not be meeting their $35 dollar free shipping threshold? :thinking:

 

[fridgemagnet]

For us in Europe, it's got to be nkon.nl

http://www.nkon.nl/

 

[MrJino]

I only get batteries from amazon. Most batteries have arrived in about 2 days.