Batteries purchased on the Good Deals section

[MarNav1]

Took the leap and bought 20 CR123 cells from NTSupply.com. $17.95 for 20 cells and free shipping. Shipped on 3/8 and arrived on 3/12 from Indiana. Batteries were loose in an oversize box with a piece of paper stuffed inside the box.
I tested the cells with a ZTS MBT-1 tester as soon as I got them.
2 cells at 40% charge.
7 cells at 60% charge.
4 cells at 80% charge.
7 cells at 100% charge.
I contacted them today and informed them of the state of charge of the cells and the poor packaging. They responded within 10 minutes of my Email and refunded $8.95 to cover the bad cells. No mention was made in response to my packing issue. I said I would take 10 more cells and send them back the $8.95 (hoping I would get some fresher cells perhaps). They declined.
I have mixed emotions on this purchase and probably would not order any more cells from there.
In all fairness CS said they had sold 1000's of cells with no complaint.
I post this so others who might order to use caution. I was also hoping this would be a good source for inexpensive 123 cells for CPF members also.
Your results may vary. :shrug:

 

[Kestrel]

Geez, I'd rather have 20 mediocre (but uniform) cells than these ones that are all over the map - my (relatively few) new cells are the only ones I can get safe 'matches' for in my 2 and 3 cell lights.

I hope that the folks who are buying these cells and who don't have battery testers don't get in trouble from mismatched cell voltages.

 

[MarNav1]

Agreed. I don't think they have any intention of checking them either. It's funny because in a way you could say the supplier is cheating the above site too, but if nobody brings it up then there is no problem. I got about 35% fresh cells which in my opinion is lousy but what can you do. I told CS I wasn't bashing them, only hopefully making them aware of the problem.

 

[csa]

Yeah... I've sorta given up on super-cheap cells and decided I'll settle for paying slightly more and not having to worry about this kind of garbage. I buy in bulk from batterystation these days.

 

[kramer5150]

Curious... what brand were they? Isn't it somewhat risky buying the generic cheap ones?

 

[MarNav1]

http://www.flashlightz.com/product.php/ryder/cr123a/?product=175498
Yes it is risky. I was curious to see how they were was the main reason for buying them, also to share with other CPF'ers. I wrote a review on the site as well but so far it hasn't made it to the light of day. They sell other items and they may be fine but these cells are a big thumbs down. So basically I got 11 decent cells for 8.95 shipped. Customer service like I say responded VERY quickly but didn't offer any solution other than refund. I think that is their policy for returns. I would like to see them improve the quality of the cells myself but maybe that isn't a priority for them, hard to say. I don't want anybody to bash the site either as I was fully aware of the risk, just reporting on these particular cells since we are always looking for the best deal on decent 123 cells.

 

[MarNav1]

Yeah... I've sorta given up on super-cheap cells and decided I'll settle for paying slightly more and not having to worry about this kind of garbage. I buy in bulk from batterystation these days.

Agreed, I think Battery Station is the place to go for the bulk cells. :thumbsup:

 

[thebeans]

Took the leap and bought 20 CR123 cells from NTSupply.com. $17.95 for 20 cells and free shipping. Shipped on 3/8 and arrived on 3/12 from Indiana. Batteries were loose in an oversize box with a piece of paper stuffed inside the box.
I tested the cells with a ZTS MBT-1 tester as soon as I got them.
2 cells at 40% charge.
7 cells at 60% charge.
4 cells at 80% charge.
7 cells at 100% charge.
I contacted them today and informed them of the state of charge of the cells and the poor packaging. They responded within 10 minutes of my Email and refunded $8.95 to cover the bad cells. No mention was made in response to my packing issue. I said I would take 10 more cells and send them back the $8.95 (hoping I would get some fresher cells perhaps). They declined.
I have mixed emotions on this purchase and probably would not order any more cells from there.
In all fairness CS said they had sold 1000's of cells with no complaint.
I post this so others who might order to use caution. I was also hoping this would be a good source for inexpensive 123 cells for CPF members also.
Your results may vary. :shrug:

I too took a chance on these cells. Being a newbie and not having tremendous experience, can I check the cells with a voltmeter to determine their state of charge? If yes, what voltages would relate to what % charge? I would like to check them all tonight and see how many bad ones I have so I can contact their CS. Thanks for your help!!

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Thebeans,

Welcome to CPF.

Open circuit voltage won't tell you much about the cells. However, if you can check the voltage under some kind of load, then you should be able to make a comparison between your various cells.

Some people use a resistor for a load, others us a 3 volt lamp. The ZTS tester supplies a pulse load and checks the voltage under load, but the load is not applied long enough to use up much of the capacity of the battery. Using Ohm's law you can figure out what resistor to use. As a reference, my ZTS tester applies about a 830 mA load to the cell for testing.

Tom