So here's the thing with Lithium based batteries.
Lithium cells come in a number of chemistries but all are made by a handful of companies due to the expense and danger of production. Sony & Toshiba are two that have suffered major fires destroying their faclities. Everyone buys from the handful of vendors and assembles the packs themselves. Generally manufactureres grade the cells once they are produced so you may get "b" or "c" cells in your pack. There is no way to know and a lower grade cell may = a reduced run time even if it rated the same as the oem.
All charging control is done by the micro processor in the pack. You won't hurt your device by using a non-oem pack so long as it is the proper voltage. It may not last in terms of runtime or overall life but you won't hurt the device.
The charging processor is programed to shut off the charge voltage once the cells reach a certain finish voltage. Charging shut-off is a function of comparison. The circuit charges the battery for a set time, shuts off the charge and looks at the pack voltage. If the measured voltage is below the pre-programmed setpoint, the charger turns back on. It repeats this process until the pack voltage hits or is above the setpoint voltage at which time it terminates the charge cycle. Most circuits also have a"maximum" number of times the battery can be charged. Once that number is reached the charge circuit will no longer charge the battery regardless of its condition - good, bad, or indifferent. The charger circuit also monitors things like pack temperature and shuts down if the pack starts to overheat or if the input voltage is excessive or revered polarity. Sometimes the manufacturer will even put in code to communicate with the device and tell it if it is OEM, if not the device won't turn on. This can be circumvented by code in the non-oem pack (ala non Motorola packs in the '90s) or by doing things to the firmware of the device ala the GH13 hack
The quality of the housing and of the contacts may be lower but there is no real way of knowing. Most of the non-OEM product out of Asia is decent, they can't afford to make junk and stay in business.
The big safety issue is in over-charging but that would as a rule happen the first time although any in-pack circuit oem or non-oem can fail and cause overheating or ignition of the pack.
:violent5: Lithium cells can create a major fire hazzard which is why airlines want them as carryons and not checked in a bag that could catch fire in the hold and possible bring a plane down. Many a UPS/FED Ex truck has burned due to a Lithium based battery fire. All it takes is an internal short in the cell itself and the cell can go exothermic creating self ignition of that cell and the rest of the cells in the pack. I've seen it in the lab and it's pretty scary. The cell can actually look like a disposable lighter with a flame under pressure coming out of it. Talk about ruining you day... NEVER puncture a pack/cell or put it in a fire. Shorting out a cell can also create major problems if the short circuit/over heat protection in the cell itself fails. It can get ugly pretty quickly.
If you want to buy an aftermarket pack and save a few bucks but have some recourse if something happens, buy a pack from someone like Best Buy or Radio Shack. They are the same China packs as the no-names but at least they are US based retailers you can go after if you have a problem.
You may ask how I know these things; the answer is that I worked for AC Delco, Anton Bauer and a company known as DPP who OEM'd 10's of thousands of NiCD, NiMH & LiIon packs for Duracell, BJ's Wholesale, Sears & Walmart over a 9 year period.
BTW; I have used non-oem's since the '90's and have never had an issue beyond sometimes slightly poorer performance.
Lyle
Lithium cells come in a number of chemistries but all are made by a handful of companies due to the expense and danger of production. Sony & Toshiba are two that have suffered major fires destroying their faclities. Everyone buys from the handful of vendors and assembles the packs themselves. Generally manufactureres grade the cells once they are produced so you may get "b" or "c" cells in your pack. There is no way to know and a lower grade cell may = a reduced run time even if it rated the same as the oem.
All charging control is done by the micro processor in the pack. You won't hurt your device by using a non-oem pack so long as it is the proper voltage. It may not last in terms of runtime or overall life but you won't hurt the device.
The charging processor is programed to shut off the charge voltage once the cells reach a certain finish voltage. Charging shut-off is a function of comparison. The circuit charges the battery for a set time, shuts off the charge and looks at the pack voltage. If the measured voltage is below the pre-programmed setpoint, the charger turns back on. It repeats this process until the pack voltage hits or is above the setpoint voltage at which time it terminates the charge cycle. Most circuits also have a"maximum" number of times the battery can be charged. Once that number is reached the charge circuit will no longer charge the battery regardless of its condition - good, bad, or indifferent. The charger circuit also monitors things like pack temperature and shuts down if the pack starts to overheat or if the input voltage is excessive or revered polarity. Sometimes the manufacturer will even put in code to communicate with the device and tell it if it is OEM, if not the device won't turn on. This can be circumvented by code in the non-oem pack (ala non Motorola packs in the '90s) or by doing things to the firmware of the device ala the GH13 hack
The quality of the housing and of the contacts may be lower but there is no real way of knowing. Most of the non-OEM product out of Asia is decent, they can't afford to make junk and stay in business.
The big safety issue is in over-charging but that would as a rule happen the first time although any in-pack circuit oem or non-oem can fail and cause overheating or ignition of the pack.
:violent5: Lithium cells can create a major fire hazzard which is why airlines want them as carryons and not checked in a bag that could catch fire in the hold and possible bring a plane down. Many a UPS/FED Ex truck has burned due to a Lithium based battery fire. All it takes is an internal short in the cell itself and the cell can go exothermic creating self ignition of that cell and the rest of the cells in the pack. I've seen it in the lab and it's pretty scary. The cell can actually look like a disposable lighter with a flame under pressure coming out of it. Talk about ruining you day... NEVER puncture a pack/cell or put it in a fire. Shorting out a cell can also create major problems if the short circuit/over heat protection in the cell itself fails. It can get ugly pretty quickly.
If you want to buy an aftermarket pack and save a few bucks but have some recourse if something happens, buy a pack from someone like Best Buy or Radio Shack. They are the same China packs as the no-names but at least they are US based retailers you can go after if you have a problem.
You may ask how I know these things; the answer is that I worked for AC Delco, Anton Bauer and a company known as DPP who OEM'd 10's of thousands of NiCD, NiMH & LiIon packs for Duracell, BJ's Wholesale, Sears & Walmart over a 9 year period.
BTW; I have used non-oem's since the '90's and have never had an issue beyond sometimes slightly poorer performance.
Lyle
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