Panasonic CR123A Date Inquiry

[biker1]

I am ready to purchase some Panasonic CR123 primaries.
I asked the seller the date on the battery.
She said >
Date of manufacture: 2009
Expiration date: 2014

The above seems not to make sense, unless the seller read the use by date of 2014 and subtracted 5 years :shakehead

I thought the Use by date on the battery will be 10 years from the date of manufacture.
And I thought the only way to know the date of manufacture is to subtract 10 years from the use by date on the battery?

Any input is appreciated.

I got the following info off the Panasonic website >>

User repble batteries sold in the North America market (CR123A, CR-P2, 2CR5). The date codes on
these batteries reflect a 10 year expiration date (MM/YYYY). Thus, the date of manufacture can be
determined by subtracting 10 years. Example: 052011 date code = Expiration date of May, 2011
(production date code is May 2001)


Seller just sent me these 2 photos of date of manufacture > 10/2009
expiration date 10/2014

Shot at 2010-10-09

Shot at 2010-10-09








If someone can explain the 5 year difference in dates, I'd appreciate it. At least the 10/2009 would be pretty important.
Thanks

 

[Mr Happy]

Sorry, the pictures don't work. You will need to put them somewhere public, like ImageShack, before linking to them.

At a guess, the 5 years is a more realistic expiry date. Everyone "wants" lithium batteries to have a 10 year shelf life, but optimistic hopes and claims on the part of manufacturers do not necessarily add up to what you will find in reality.

 

[biker1]

Sorry, the pictures don't work. You will need to put them somewhere public, like ImageShack, before linking to them.

At a guess, the 5 years is a more realistic expiry date. Everyone "wants" lithium batteries to have a 10 year shelf life, but optimistic hopes and claims on the part of manufacturers do not necessarily add up to what you will find in reality.

I gotta figure out the picture thing,
The manufacture date is 10/2009, which is most important, but was curious why Panasonic would put expiration of 10/2014?

1 Pic up in previous post

 

[Mr Happy]

The manufacture date is 10/2009, which is most important, but was curious why Panasonic would put expiration of 10/2014?

Perhaps that is a product expiration date -- a date after which the product should no longer be sold? If Panasonic made the batteries, you have got to suppose they know better than anyone how long they should last. If the maker doesn't know, who does?

It seems like I am flogging a dead horse around here,


but I will try again. With every disposable battery the clock starts ticking the moment it comes off the production line. The freshness and performance of the battery is draining away, tick by tick, with every passing month.

When you buy batteries, you want to buy them as fresh as possible and use them as soon as possible. If you want to store batteries against emergencies you need to use them and replenish them on a regular basis. Rotate the older batteries out and rotate the fresh batteries in.

 

[biker1]

Thanks.
Everyone likes a good now and then

Btw, I understand what you are saying.
It is just that I was confused, due to seeing Panasonic CR123A 2019 expiration dates around, in addition to the excerpt on the Panasonic website regarding date codes I posted previously.

But 10/2009 manufacture date is good enough for me

 

[biker1]

Just got off the phone with the Manager of the Battery Dept. over @ Panasonic regarding the above issue. I want to make sure I was not buying counterfeit batteries due to the discrepancies re the dates on the Curtains.
The manger looked at the photos and determined that was not the packaging as it comes from Panasonic, in addition, their CR123A cells do not come packaged from Panasonic in blister packs of 6 as I described to him. He also said that if the exp. date is 10/2014 as per the curtain, the manufacture date would be 10/2004, not 10/2009.

I told him my findings re the Sku# on the curtain, and that it came back to EVCV. He said that is a non for profit organization that buys Bulk batteries from Panasonic for the handicapped, etc. and couldn't understand how they are being sold the way they are. That is the best case scenario. The worse case scenario is that the cells are counterfeit, and have nothing to do with ECVC.

As it looks now, the Manager said that the CR123's were most likely sold by Panasonic to ECVC in bulk, and then ECVC, or someone re-packaged the batteries, most likely old stock, and dated the Curtain in a misleading way.
Panasonic always puts the exp. date on the CR123A battery formatted 00-0000 (month-year) and you then subtract 10 years to find the date of manufacture.

If the expiration date is correct, and this can be ascertained by the date code on the battery (10-2014) the cells would have been manufactured on 10-2004. He is going to pursue this further, and will let me know the outcome. I since canceled my purchase. Manufacture date of 2009 was fine, but 2004 is not.

 

[Mr Happy]

Very interesting. Thanks for the update.

 

[biker1]

Very interesting. Thanks for the update.

No problem.
I'll let you know when I hear of anything else.

 

[biker1]

I called ECVC, and spoke with the Consumer products manager.
I explained the situation. She said that those batteries are shipped to the US Military in bulk, and that as per Military regulations/specifications, the curtains must show no more than a 5 year shelf life.
She said that if the curtain shows a manufacturers date of 10/2009, then that should be accurate, but she has no way to check the sku# because those batteries most likely have already been shipped.
I pointed out that if the date of manufacture is correct (10/2009,) the exp. date on the battery itself should say 10-2019, because Panasonic is not going to date their CR123A cells differently, but you as the shipper to the Military will date your curtain to conform with Military regulations? She agreed.

I requested the seller to let me know the date on the Battery, as that will be more reflective of the actual expiration, than the date on the curtain.

I called Panasonic re: the above. He said if that is what the regulations are, then yes, the curtain ECVC prints would reflect that. He said all he knows is that the labeling and packaging is not from Panasonic.
He verified that Panasonic's exp. date on the battery would still reflect a manufacturing date 10 years prior to the Exp. Date on the Battery itself.

 

[biker1]

UPDATE:

I found out the expiration date on the Panasonic CR123A is 10-2014, which verifies the cell was manufactured on10-2004.

I am confused regarding ECVC's explanation for their packaging >
Manufacture date: 10-2009
Expiration date : 10/2014

ECVC says that due to Military requirements, the cell labeling must reflect a 5 year shelf life, But the actual expiration date on the battery will say 10-2019 to reflect Panasonic's cell dating code protocol. I am the one that mentioned this to her yesterday, and after she thought a second about it, she agreed.
Well, this does not seem to be the case. I believe that Panasonic's cell expiration date protocol is accurate, but their appears to be a question with the ECVC curtain date regarding manufacturing.
After speaking with ECVC yesterday, and the reasoning given to me regarding their cell dating requirement by the US Military, it sounded strange, but plausible.
Now, I am not so sure, as it appears there may be a 'possibility' that ECVC is taking cells that expire on 10-2014, and dating the curtains manufacture date 10-2009, instead of 10/2004. Again, I am not sure of this, but there is a discrepancy regarding the dates.
I would not use 6 year old cells in my flashlights. You can imagine the ramifications if Military personnel were using 6 year old cells in their Weapons lights and flashlights, thinking the cells were manufactured in 2009, and were new.

Again, I am still looking into this, and am awaiting a response from ECVC as well as Panasonic.

UPDATE:

I received an email from the sales rep @ ECVC. She wrote that I didn't understand the conversation I had with her yesterday. She wrote that if the manufacture date on Their label says 10/2009, the expiration date on the Cell should read 10-2019, and that ECVC puts the expiration date on the curtain as 10/2014 due to military regulations. She said that i should be confident that the US Military is getting the best possible equipment from ECVC.
I responded that I Fully understood the conversation as my email content can attest to. I continued and wrote that I am still confused by the date discrepancy. No response as of yet, and may not get one.
No response from Panasonic either.

Btw, Panasonic seemed to not be as concerned as they first were, after I contacted them yesterday after speaking with ECVC. At first contact, the rep at Panasonic spoke of ECVC maybe using and selling old cells, etc. in addition to other concerns he had.

I am wondering if there is any funny business going on with the dating of the curtains, due to the fact that ECVC's reasoning is a little confusing to say the least, and the date on the cell does not back up the curtain labeling.

I may contact someone I know @ Ft. Riley regarding procurement of Batteries, etc. He is not in that division, but he may be able to direct me to the person who is. Not as a concern for myself, but this has become a possible question of reliability of the CR123's that the Military is using.
I base this partly on the concern of Panasonic regarding 'Old Cells' possibly being sold by ECVC, as I mentioned previously and in the above text.
In addition, the rep at ECVC previously said she could not check on the Lot number I had to given her. And she didn't seem like she was willing to check out my concerns to much.

So far, things doesn't wash.
I'll wait for any further responses.

 

[biker1]

Final Outcome :thumbsup:

I just picked up the Panasonic CR123A's today.
The Expiration Date printed ON the Battery IS 10-2019......PERFECT!!

I notified Panasonic, ECVC and the Seller later this afternoon regarding the ON Battery Date, and I apologized for the misunderstanding.

The problem is that the Seller kept repeating the expiration date was 10-2014, because he was reading it off the Curtain, and not the battery.
I found this out last night, which is why I was waiting to receive the batteries to check the date myself.
In addition, another purchaser told me the expiration date ON the Battery was 10-2014, which was obviously incorrect.

ECVC actually sent me an email early this morning to notify me that they checked their stock, and the date on the Batteries was 5 years beyond the expiration date on the curtain, which is the way it is supposed to be.

Panasonic also sent me an email early this morning regarding Miilitary requirements of dating the Panasonic CR123A Lithium cells.
This of course I knew from previous correspondences.

So now I have 36 batteries, and by the time I use them all, I may be near the expiration date