rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

My personal experience has been that batteries tend to swell while charging, so I inspect them after each charge and toss any that swell. That has worked for me so far.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Below is a link to an article on what causes the swelling.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/18/lithium-ion-battery-swelling-why/#

gwilliams6

Exactly, thanks for sharing.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

They were in the camera NOT charger. Never again buy them. I'm just relaying my experience with them and almost ruining a eclipse trip.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

It was swollen to the point I had to use a butter knife down the sides to help me get it out.
It was less than a year old.
Enjoy the cash you saved

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I was just saying that I have never ever had a battery swell with the device.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

Just giving you a FURST hand report

JD750 Loc: SoCal

What are you talking about?

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I am not an electronics engineer or scientist but I am a pretty good electrician/technician etc. My father was a radio and television tech/repair guy and as a kid, I spent many hours in his shop. I learned to use the test equipment, diagnosed minor issues, solder, replace components and deal safely with high voltage. For a while, I worked part-time in a Speedlight factory/repair shop. Later on, in addition to my commercial photography business, I partnered with a company that specialized in custom-built electronic flash gear. I still dabble in amateur radio.

This is waht I can tell about batteries and other similar electronic components. There are, by reputation, many grades of all components- the good the bad, and the ugly. In the olden days, someof the manufacturers outsource the acquisitions to factories in Asia, and some of the stuff was terrible. Nowadays that is not necesserally the case. At one time our company purchased surplus mil/spec parts, especially connectors and these were insudtricatble. The best capacitors (for electronic flash) from Germany were made by Siemens, and certain batteries were made by Sonnenschein but those were also known to fail under certain conditions or poor maintenance. A defective component in a camera or flash unit can damage a battery but will still function but the battery will discharge prematurely.

Some third-party batteries may have the same voltage and amp/hr. specs as the OEM models but MAY harbor lesser tolerances or quality control. The integrity of the outer casings may be somewhat inferior and may be susceptible to leakage, swelling, or rupture. The key words here are "MAYBE". Lately, the better and more popular aftermarket brands are fine as per most users I have communicated with.

One thing I can swear to, having worked in strob repairs, there are many bad boys and girls who don't take proper care of their batteries and try weird substitutions, and tamper with the guts of the gear. We had to tell them that we do repars, not autopsies! You'd be surprised how much damage one can do to a 12-vold Gel-Cell by shortening it out with a screwdriver to see if it is charged. These are same dudes who test a 9-vold battery with their tongue and blow out their taste buds! Like old guys who used to lick the contact on flash bulbs and get lead poisoning. I tell them to stop licking their battery contacts- spit will cause corrosion in time!

Batteries are rated in ampere-hours so you may have some idea as to waht each charging cycle will yield, however, your camera, strobe, or trigger unts have no such published rating. Everyone does not use the same cameras and employ the same electronic-driven features and duty cycles, work under the same weather or environmental conditions, and/or ain't maintained in exactly the same way. Your camera will "tell you" when the batteries are weak, your speedlight might begin to recycle slower as the battery power diminishes or it will just suddenly drop dead. None of these "appliances" have the sophisticated test equipment to precisely analyze current as you use them. A the end of the day, one photographer can have some no-name battery outperform a top-of-the-line brand while another reports lousy performance from their expensive OEM cells but who knows EXACTLY how they use them and waht exactly is going in their cameras and strobes and how they are maintaining their equipment?

All a busy photogher can do to maximize and finally analyze battery performance and reliability is stick to the charging and storage protocols that are recommended by the manufacturers or the gear or the batteries. Many dedicated chargers will automatically switch to trickle-charge when the battery is fully charged.

Personally, I have had no trouble with OEM batteries from Nikon or Canon. As for portable strobes,monolights, and speed lights that oper on Gel-Cells or similar batteries the Sonnenschein models seriously outlast the ones made in China. If any of y'all want to learn about battery performance and specifications, go to sonnenschein.org Whether you run a nuclear power plant or just take pictures, they have a battery for you with all the specifications that are way above my pay grade.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

Obviously your one bad experience has had a permanent affect upon you.
I got hit by a car once. I was a pedestrian. It threw me several feet through the air. I shook for hours and was concussed according to the hospital. It was 40 years ago but I still remember it. I am still a pedestrian. I'm just relaying my experience with walking along the side of a road and almost ruining my life !

JD750 Loc: SoCal

AS IF there is any correlation with different manufacturing processes (there is no correlation).

FYI I am sorry for your traumatic experience. That would tend to stick with one. I hope you were able to fully recover and I hope the the errant driver did the right thing and stopped to help.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

My point was that one little minor bad experience does not have to make the whole rest of your life a difficult one. I have never had a swollen battery in a camera but I have had them in other devices. I have also never had a camera battery only last for 6 months. I have had a few just not work after the first or second use but this was down to me not doing my homework first and selecting known good 3rd party batteries. A lot of dishonest Chinese manufacturers and some really thick importers out there.
Thank you for the comments re the accident. I was okay the next day apart from the memory. Driver was a hit and run but apparently was a known student on his way home and found the next day. No idea what happened to him. Others took me to the hospital.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

The only after market battery that I owned swelled in the camera after 2 years. Very lucky to get it out. 18 years of Nikon OEM batteries with never a problem.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Ok well we are working with very limited statistics, but users reports still count. As you have testified, batteries swell and you also note that manufacturing processes can make a difference. Seems like we are all in violent agreement.

I am glad to know you did not suffer broken bones or internal injuries. And I'm glad you had immediate help from others on the street. I'm sorry for the memories. You still walk on the street, that took courage. A tip of the the hat to you for that.

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

I can guarantee you you are more careful now after that accident so you learned from it.
It was a trip to a solar eclipse that was planned for a year, computer programmed sequence over 4 hours 1500 photos Shipping was $500 for equipment. 25 or more practice runs and one bad battery could have ruined the sequence