L-ion battery issue

[IJWS15]

Possibly should be in auto but….

Father (97) has a Volvo S90 and it has an assistance module fault so needs a battery. He ordered one on Amazon that claims to match - when I checked it was a Chinese seller. Battery arrived last week and I was asked to install it.

Original removed and looked the same as the replacement except original is labelled 8.0V 450mA 3.24Wh, replacement is labeled 3.8V charge limit 4.4V, nothing about capacity or rating.

He was all for fitting it but I dug my heels in and refused - visions of an S90 going up in flames when the new battery was connected to an 8v charging supply.

Have asked to return and ordered the proper voltage battery from a UK seller for half the price.

What would you have done?

 

[Wayners]

I would not fit it

 

[morqthana]

Unless he has a history of abusing the returns process, Amazon will probably refund with no problems/questions.

Enormous problem of course is that the genuine ones appear to be made in Israel. WTH I'd do if I needed one IHNI - hopefully find an OEM one which was actually the right spec.

 

[big-all]

you might think initially that its underpowered and iff it works ok it must be safe .... that is only part off the story and the highly dangerous bit is the charging circuit may turn it into a bomb as the charging rate will be around two to 3 times the level it can safely handle and the overcharging is where most fires start

 

[IJWS15]

Dug my multimeter out and the old one is showing 7.9v and the new one 8.2v. Buyer says that it was shipped with the wrong label further reinforcing the need to return, QC processes are really bad there even for China and I wouldn’t trust it.

The original is made in China, branded as Volvo and with a manufacturer name and address

Peeled the label off the pack and it was shipped as a camera cable valued at £5 so the package had none of the warning labels it needed being a battery and they are deliberately avoiding import taxes.

 

[morqthana]

Was there any element involved of choosing this one instead of a genuine Volvo part because it was cheaper?

 

[IJWS15]

He didn’t say other than that from Volvo it is something like £130!

He did find videos online showing how to change it and they don’t use the “Volvo” part.

 

[morqthana]

Is there no middle ground between that and the cheap-as-chips Chinese carp flogged on Amazon?

 

[blup]

Dug my multimeter out and the old one is showing 7.9v and the new one 8.2v. Buyer says that it was shipped with the wrong label further reinforcing the need to return, QC processes are really bad there even for China and I wouldn’t trust it.

The original is made in China, branded as Volvo and with a manufacturer name and address

Peeled the label off the pack and it was shipped as a camera cable valued at £5 so the package had none of the warning labels it needed being a battery and they are deliberately avoiding import taxes.

That is a revenue scam that should be reported

 

[HayMaker]

Firstly I'd go to a dedicated Auto battery centre; they will probably have a range of batteries that would be suitable. Secondly I'd definitely report the seller, but Amazon will probably do nothing. I've reported about 3 cases in the past where counterfeit or unsafe goods were being sold as genuine, and Amazon didn't even reply.

For something as important as a car battery, which you don't have to buy very often, it's false economy to go too cheap. I'm afraid older people generally do not know how bad chinese stuff can be; both the product, the QC and the level of trading ethics

 

[IJWS15]

I ordered one for him from a UK based battery supplier which is listed as suitable, supplier quotes same voltage, and greater capacity (both storage and output.

The original Volvo battery is made in China so not all Chinese stuff is bad, you just have to stand over them - ask Mattel what happens when you don’t.

 

[big-all]

I ordered one for him from a UK based battery supplier which is listed as suitable, supplier quotes same voltage, and greater capacity (both storage and output.

The original Volvo battery is made in China so not all Chinese stuff is bad, you just have to stand over them - ask Mattel what happens when you don’t.

there are zero problems with Chinese made stuff if they are made from the same materials with the same quality control standard applied

in other words it make zero difference where something is made if to the same standard

 

[morqthana]

Secondly I'd definitely report the seller, but Amazon will probably do nothing.

There's no "probably" about it.

 

[morqthana]

there are zero problems with Chinese made stuff if they are made from the same materials with the same quality control standard applied

in other words it make zero difference where something is made if to the same standard

Those "if"s are doing a lot of heavy lifting.

 

[big-all]

my ryobi ' dewalt and bosch powertools and batteries are made in prc'china'singapore''malaysaia'mexico'japan'and include many other sources all genuine but often hidden away from where people think things are made
for example dewalt 18v router sperrymore and germany is very prominent with the reference to made in china within the battery slide on area so not visible in use
the actual18v8anp battery actually says cells sourced from china and assembled in china'