Eneloops made in Japan? Can you tell without testing them?

I found these Eneloops on ebay and ad indicates 'made in Japan'. When I get them are there easy ways to tell for sure if they are in fact made in Japan (other than testing them) like markings on packaging or battery itself?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-Eneloop-8-Pack-AAA-800mAh-BK-
4MCCA8BA-Ni-MH-Rechargeable-Batteries-/331245431614?hash=item4d1fc42b3e:g:fc8AAOSwEK9TxsFb

Here are other Eneloops but ad doesn't indicate where they're made. Is there a way to tell by item #?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...kCFckYHwodYr4FQw&is=REG&ap=y&m=Y&A=details&Q=

ELO said:

When I get them are there easy ways to tell for sure if they are in fact made in Japan (other than testing them) like markings on packaging or battery itself?

Click to expand...

The package and the individual cells will be labelled with the country of manufacture. If they are not counterfeit (there are several threads on this forum showing clues to that), you can rely on the label.

Amazon had a run of Eneloop fakes, so I'm sure Ebay has had their share of counterfeits and the real key is in finding a reputable dealer.

I've used 1111deals out of Brooklyn, NY for my original Eneloop purchases and he's still selling now the Gen. 4 2100s:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-BK-3MCC...664329?hash=item5d495b1489:g:adoAAOSwyTZUU5lU

There are others, but I'm confident in 1111deals to recommend them here and I would buy more Eneloops from them in the future.

The funny thing is is that there's something up in the state of Utah and Eneloop sellers on Ebay.

For a good year and a half, two years even, there have been these sellers based out of Utah selling bulk light/dark blue Eneloop AA/AAAs and chargers, like you'd find at CostCo in the blister pack. They're never sold in the packs, just loosely, but they're legit. I've always guessed that these guys were the same vendor selling various items, but feedback was/is always 100% with nary a problem.

We're talking 'hijacked tractor trailer' amounts of Eneloops, not 'I shoplifted a couple of packs' amounts and they'd all get sold.

FF to last Wednesday when I was cruising Ebay looking for something to buy. I don't know how I stumbled across them, but I ended up looking at...wait for it...wait for it...two Utah sellers selling a bunch of Fujitsu AAs and AAAs, both 2000mAh and 2450mAh AA/AAAs.

I ended up buying a Fujitsu 4xAA power bank and AA/AAA charger that comes with four Fujitsu 2450mAh AAs (mine dated 11/2013) and then I bought a sealed Fujitsu box of 8 2000mAh dated 6/2015.

If you look at the ad, he's very knowledgeable on the Fujitsu/FDK/Panasonic/Sanyo connection and is obviously a bulk buyer of FDK sourced cells, as you can see from my package:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/272031667868?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I bought the batteries and power bank from the seller above but this person below was also selling the rare Fujitsu power bank:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Multipurpos...item33a9cf0948:g:O90AAOSwsB9V9LFr&_ssn=shopgl

I know that they're the same because they're both in the same city, celling Fujitsu cells and they're the only two vendors selling that Fujitsu power bank on all of Ebay. And they appear to be my Eneloop sellers from the past, who have branched out!

Anyhow, I did buy two 8 packs of Eneloop Glitters off of Woot, but apart those and a Costco AAA pack of green Eneloops, I've used the above two people solely and to good effect.

Chris

Ok thanks for the help! I'll probably try 1111deals then and start out with 8 AA Enelopes. Was thinking about buying AccuPower IQ-328 charger for $25 shipped too (ebay). I just became interested in rechargeables and plan on using them in tv remotes, bike light (takes 3 AA), flashlights, and ordinary household uses. I just bought some Ni-Zn's but doubt I'll like them long term due to problem of them becoming worn down if not careful about recharging. Just recently bought those because of the high current rating but that's before I seen how good Eneloops apparently are. My old non-lsd NIMH's underwhelm me due to how fast they discharge on their own. After researching nimh vs nizn vs li-on it appears Eneloops are the way to go for ordinary uses like remotes, flashlights etc. Someone correct me if this not the case, thanks!

ELO said:

Ok thanks for the help! I'll probably try 1111deals then and start out with 8 AA Enelopes. Was thinking about buying AccuPower IQ-328 charger for $25 shipped too (ebay). I just became interested in rechargeables and plan on using them in tv remotes, bike light (takes 3 AA), flashlights, and ordinary household uses. I just bought some Ni-Zn's but doubt I'll like them long term due to problem of them becoming worn down if not careful about recharging. Just recently bought those because of the high current rating but that's before I seen how good Eneloops apparently are. My old non-lsd NIMH's underwhelm me due to how fast they discharge on their own. After researching nimh vs nizn vs li-on it appears Eneloops are the way to go for ordinary uses like remotes, flashlights etc. Someone correct me if this not the case, thanks!

Click to expand...

I just opened up one of my two 8 AA packs of Eneloop Glitter Anniversary edition, which is stamped 09-2012, so 3 years old, plus 2 months. The 8 AA beauties were also microstamped: 09-2012--38 months old, as well. These are Generation 2, 1500 cycle versions, Made in Nippon! They're sexy, lol.

Out of the pack voltages:

1.292v

1.292v

1.292v

1.292v

1.292v

1.292v

1.292v

1.292v

Notice anything? Quite consistent on my decade old RatShack 22-805 DMM. A couple bounced one tick higher, but settled at 1.292v.

On my Maha C9000, discharged at 300mA, the results are:

1211mAh

1226mAh

1197mAh

1210mAh

1219mAh

1215mAh

1208mAh

1215mAh

Average is 1216.6mAh, extreme spread is 29mAh, so we're looking good there, as well. Internal resistance (I.R.) after discharge and upon 'break in' are for 1-4 above:

1.48v

1.43v

1.49v

1.46v

This is inline with newer battery numbers and they might even drop a bit after break in.

Remember, Eneloops aren't fully charged from the factory, but something like 70% using solar, as the rumors have it. Gen. 2s are marked 1900mAh minimum, like most generations and we can get from the mid 1900s to the lower 2000s depending on what charger we're using.

As you can see, even if they were fully charged from the factory and I use the 2000mAh typical number that we see, I'm still at 60% of that inflated number.

Now, whether they crap out on me sooner, rather than later, I can't say. My first quad is still breaking in on the Maha, but I expect things to be consistent with pretty new stock.

I've posted about the Utah Eneloop sellers on Ebay above and the one fellow states that the freshest batch of FDK (maker of Eneloops) made AA 'Eneloops' in America is June of 2015, FWIW.

He's a big buyer of Fujitsu labeled batteries and Panasonic Eneloops (FDK is a subsidiary of Fujitsu and owns the patents/factory that produces Eneloops.)

Buy any known FDK made cell and you should be fine. I've recently bought 8 Gen. 4 (2100 cycles) Fujitsu AAs and I got 4 Fujitsu 2450mAh (Eneloop Pros/Duracell Ion Core) AAs with a Fujitsu power bank.

Chris

ChrisGarrett said:

I just opened up one of my two 8 AA packs of Eneloop Glitter Anniversary edition, which is stamped 09-2112, so 3 years old, plus 2 months. The 8 AA beauties were also microstamped: 09-2112

Click to expand...

So the batteries are pre-dated by 97 years? Normally they should read 2012, not 2112.

Kurt_Woloch said:

So the batteries are pre-dated by 97 years? Normally they should read 2012, not 2112.

Click to expand...

Corrected, thanks.

Chris