Battery Junction and Efest cells; poor QC, CS, and misleading descriptions

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
1

Just putting this out there as a PSA of sorts.

A month or so ago, I ordered ten Efest LI cells from Battery Junction. The four 18650 cells were in spec and I’m using them ATM. The four 14500s and two 16340s all suffered from inaccurate product descriptions relating to their size and the 16340s in particular had some very real quality control issues.

The 14500s were all more than 3mm longer than BJ’s website claimed.


That’s 2.097”, which converts to 5.3.2mm when it should be 50mm (according to what a 14500 should be in theory) or 49.11mm if we go by what BJ claims. I won’t bore you with the photos, but all four cells were within a thousandth of an inch of this one.

Now, the 16340s were a much as 4 mm longer than they should be, again, according to BJ. Worse yet, the 16340s were not even the same size relative to each other.



The top cell measures 1.434” and the bottom one measures 1.502” which converts to 36.4mm and 38.2mm. Again, technically, given that a 16340 should be 34mm and BJ says these cells are 33.98mm long, something isn’t correct.

It goes without saying that protected cells are generally longer than the unprotected variety and that there will be some small variance in the manufacturing process, but these are way off from what they claim to be or should, in fact, be. Worse yet, BJ has had a month plus to correct the product description and has not done so, thus leaving more people open to disappointment and frustration.

Moreover, while they did take them back, they charged me a 15% restocking fee. I understand the need for this generally, and it is their stated policy, so I wasn’t shocked or surprised. However, I think when I receive something that is other than what was described to me when I made the purchase, the error is their’s and not mine so the restocking fee, in all fairness, should have been waived.

I’ll say too, that as someone who has dealt with BJ multiple times a year for multiple years to the tune of plenty of money, I was disappointed that when I plead my case in this regard, I was basically blown off. We’ll see just how displeased I am the next time I need cr123a in bulk.

I’ve also posted reviews for these cells at BJ more than a week ago. Well within BJ’s rules. As of today, they are not posted, which leads me to believe BJ isn’t interested it honest reviews.

So, make of all of that what you will. I’m a little disappointed with Battery Junction and very disappointed with Efest.

2

i am going to avoid Battery Junction from now on.

thank you for sharing your honesty.

3

The 14500 and 16340 are standard name and protected batteries will usual be longer than the name imply (There are exceptions). This is the same for all protected batteries and also for button top batteries, i.e. if a buyer buys a protected 14500, they cannot assume it is 50 mm long.

But there is no excuse for listing the wrong length in the specifications and demanding restocking fee for taking a "faulty" (Specifications and product do not match) product return.

4

HKJ, I totally get that the protected cells will, in general be longer because the protection is, for lake of a better phrase, a bolted on after thought in most cases. As I’m sure you know, AW’s protected 14500 is as close to a true 14500 in terms of size because the cell was built short to begin with so that the protection didn’t take it too much farther than the 50mm spec.

So, ya, I’m not upset with the fact that the cells I received were longer than 50mm in the case of the 14500, but that the advertised spec on BJ’s site was way off. I went looking specifically for something as close to possible to 50mm, and since I don’t have your vast knowledge and expertise, I somewhat foolishly relied on BJ/Efest’s info.

And it goes without saying that a little more time going through your body of work would have saved me some time, money, aggravation.

All of that said, the two 16340s that were different sizes is not only harder to explain away because of my naivety since that is clear a QC issue.

5

Thanks for posting, this doesn’t make me happy. Having specs wrong is sometimes excusable if you correct them when notified and make amends. Clearly that’s not what’s happened here. This will give me pause before doing business with Battery Junction.

Who are their direct competitors? Any experience with whoever that is?

6

That’s another big issue. BJ has not changed the specs on the product page and it has been way over a month at this point. Furthermore, they still have not put up my reviews, which, again, were very diplomatic and within there stated rules for content.

I don’t have a lot of experience dealing with other suppliers of cells as, like I eluded to in the OP, I’ve been a consistent and loyal BJ customer. In the aftermath of this episode, I purchased six AW 14500s from a place called ALTsmoke. They are a US based e-cig/vaping company that also has B&M stores.

According to the owner of AW, they are an authorized dealer, so I think they are a solid source for non-counterfeit cells.

7

I’ve had good experience with BatteryJunction with lights, but not batteries. If these are genuine efest cells, I don’t fault them tbh though…

8

You don’t fault them for the continuing description related failures?

9

Or the refusal to post genuine negative feedback? If a business refuses to display negative feedback, its hard to imagine what use to a consumer positive feedback on the site is worth.

10

a 14500 weights 55G? a protected 18650 is about 55gramms. no way 14500 and 18650 weigh the same.

11

BG Micro still have genuine Panasonics for dirt cheap… but not quite as dirt cheap as when they were on sale and you bought 10+ of them.

http://www.bgmicro.com/cr123a-battery-by-panasonic.aspx

12

these
are what i have been buying.
good company.

13

TexasP and Snake, thanks for those leads. I’ll definitely keep those companies in mind. Have you used those house brand cells, Snake?

14

They just approve reviews manually and don’t do it often. I imagine the review will go up eventually.

15

I bet the four boonie hats I ordered five months ago from LAPG and still haven’t shipped will show up before my reviews get posted.

16

yes and they do fine.u.s made too

17

Yeah, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect battery sellers to take precise measurements of all their batteries. I would imagine most sellers just repost the official spec sheet and I’m fine with that.

18

Thanks for the heads up. Lately I’ve been getting my batteries from Illumination Supply and I’ve been really pleased with them.

19

It’s one thing to be unknowingly wrong and cause harms/problems. It’s another thing to knowingly be wrong and cause harms/problems. That’s the case here: upon informed of being wrong they charged a restocking fee, failed to change the listing, etc.

Your tone makes it sound as if you have your feet dug in, maybe you feel that the BLF community is overly demanding/petty and feel that a stand should be taken in defense of vendors? I’m not trying to put words in your mouth, I’d just like to better understand what seems like a fairly strange stance. Considering what they are selling and the intended market I think it’s reasonable to expect very precise measurements. Both ecigs and flashlights are known to be very finicky about battery fitment. As a battery dealer it’s their business to be aware of that.

As a matter of fact, once a cell is 10% over spec in any dimension, that’s a fitment issue in most applications, even outside of vaping and flashights. Imagine a AA which was 15.4mm in diameter or 55mm long!

Is there a reason USA made disposable cells should inspire confidence? Especially generics? My knee-jerk reaction is to treat them like USA-made cheapy tools (which seem to be worse than many foreign cheap tools from what I’ve read). Experience trumps a lot of things, so if you’ve found the cells to be reliable and perform well that’s good.

20

iirc the oem that makes these makes the surefire,sanyo,and rayovac.
i would expect(and i have found)these to be a better product than china nonames.