• Is there such a thing as a battery pack assembler doing a bait and switch on the cell I was sold verses the cell actually placed in my case?   Yes! See pictures below.

• Is every battery pack assembler up-front with the details of the cells they are using or the cells I purchased?   No!

• An example of why we list exactly what we have sold you on your invoice:

•  Pictures of Anton Bauer battery packs previously recelled or refilled by other battery assemblers that were just shipped to us for rebuild.  There business is low end quality assembly, not rebuilding.
  • Never opened Anton Bauer 60WH batteries come standard with Sanyo N4000DRL cells enclosed in fiber tubes.  On the outside there is a Sanyo Label and part number for that pack.
  •  In these pictures You will see where the first rebuild vendor or assembler actually took the fiber sleeves from the original pack and slid them over their unmarked generic low end "economical" cells.  Then they placed the original Sanyo label back on the pack.

  • First the picture story.  Some pictures may be enlarged with a click for a cleaner picture.  Hoover 3 seconds to read picture text information.

     

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Each battery cell manufacturer, like Panasonic, Saft, and Sanyo, usually have more than one cell choice and each is different in quality and price.

Unlike a company, (that will never be mentioned), where I used to work for a short period in 1989, and two sub-contractors we used to use here years ago-1991/1992, for overflow orders, we do not build battery pack stock and leave them sitting on the shelf for long periods of time before they are sold or allowing them to "not" be rotated, or occasionally charged and discharged.  Also, the invoice and packing slip we send you has the "Exact" battery cell purchased and used listed in the specification or description of each item along with the C/1 Amp Hour rating and the watt hour rating per Ohm's Law.

My meaning:  In the company, (not to be mentioned, ever), where I worked for a brief period, the client would place an order for the best cell I or other sales people promoted and when the order went to assembly the owners would randomly pick orders and tell the technicians to use another cell of lower value and quality instead.  Your packing slip and invoice would show the part number and a vague description.  As an employee, I discovered them doing this when my clients were complaining to me of battery performance and I begin to discuss my client complaints with technicians who informed me of the random instructions given to them and they showed me what was happening. 

After opening my company, and being swamped with orders, I was approached by three different competitors who wanted to sub-contract for me.  After discussing this issue with each up front I still caught two of those following the same practice thinking I or someone here would not discover their actions.  The third simply never delivered at all.   We broke all those relations quickly. 

One of the above three sub-contractors we used for that short period in 1993/94 were or are from the Southeastern section of the United States and one in particular is the worst for cell switching that  I have ever personally seen.  From my personal experience with them,  it is my opinion and only my opinion, that they are criminal.  When I challenged them by advising that I had discovered they were sending bad cells, to cancel all outstanding orders and severed our relationship with them they sued me personally for what they called "outstanding invoices".  We already had the canceled checks from all their outstanding invoices back from our bank.  They contracted a Georgia attorney firm, used a loop hole in Georgia law, left my Tennessee corporate attorney's in a spin, and received a default judgment against me personally in the legalistic State of Georgia.  They actually owed and still owe me money that I will never collect and to this day continue to harass me through their attorney.  As a Georgia attorney that we know, with a cousin on the Georgia Supreme Court said, "This attorney firm is not people most attorneys would ever play golf with.  They are  real ( insert adjectives)".  

After you as a client hang up the phone with these people you feel greasy, dirty, and subconsciously want to take a shower.  Caveat Emptor on this one. 

•  Pictures of Anton Bauer battery packs previously recelled by other battery assemblers that were just shipped to us for rebuild. 
  • We have previously had a vary unpleasant experience with this particular vendor.  Even our previous "short-term" employer from over a decade ago, also guilty of this game, had a very unpleasant experience with this vendor.   Obviously we can never name names but they are used in a caveat above. 
  • Pictures being developed now.  Any and all vendor markings are being completely removed before posting the pictures.

A popular way for your battery company to avoid the details of your cell specifications is to build your packs with battery cells that do NOT have the manufacturers shrink sleeve on the cells.  Instead they may supply you with bare cells in generic shrink only, generic shrink inside the paper tubes, or bare cells inside paper tubes.  Also watch for contracts allowing the use of "other" comparable cells at the vendors discretion!

Battery assemblers have the choice of ordering cells with or without the manufacturers sleeve.  A cell with the manufacturers sleeve cost about 3 cents more per cell.  Our cells always have the manufacturers shrink or manufacturers shrink inside paper tubes.

If you were to question what cell was used in your pack, and your pack did not have the actual manufacturers shrink, you would have to know and understand the numbers printed on the bare cells in your packs, know what manufacturer to identify the numbers with, and then to search the correct cell manufacturers in-house part numbers in a cross reference for verification.  If you are receiving battery packs and you can see no manufacturers shrink immediately, or under the paper tubes, or through the generic shrink you should be suspicious.

Loosing at least 5 competitors in the last 5 years I am not aware whether any of them are even in business today.

Also Consider:

Through all of our own challenges we have kept our doors open faithfully for your business since 1989. Our FAQ sheets supply you with total detail on every item we assemble and specifications for every cell available as well as what to look for in a good vendor and a bad vendor.