Was wondering....

Anyone know who produces the batteries used on ASUS's notebooks?

Was looking through the serial # and all, googled a bit, nothing.

Just was curious.....*cough*

 

could be asus themselves....

but let's hope its not sony..

 

I was wondering the same thing. I had recently heard that Sony uses Asus to produce parts for some of their electronics, and was hoping that Asus wasn't the manufacturers of all of the horrible batteries.

As much as I think about crying if my shiny A8Jm exploded, I think I'd cry even more if my house burned down because I wasn't home at the time.

 

I don't know if ALL of the batteries are identical, but I certainly know Asus uses the best parts available and they stick with them whenever possible. I've physically broken apart used and failed batteries that we have around and all of them have used green Sony SF US18650GR / T G7113NE24N Li-Ion cells.

The new batteries in all of the new models since the Core Duo was released may very well be different, but the 4800mAh 8 cells should pretty much all use the same cells.

 

My Z63A has Sony batteries.

 

Physically, without you breaking apart your battery, there actually isn't a way to find out that I'm aware of, but I can say with little doubt that all 4800mAh 8 cell batteries sold at least in 2005 were made with Sony cells. I'd imagine their relationship goes back to the begining and continues today. As most know, Asus physically builds a majority of what Sony sells, outside of their large tv's.... and in terms of lithium cell makers, Sony has proven the best over the years and is probably the number one provider in the world for them.

To date though, the only batteries Asus has ever had a problem with were the Z71 batteries and only ones physically made in April of 2005. I think one of the big misconceptions with notebooks to start with is "heat" and what should be considered "hot" and how to measure it. The batteries in question are physically giving people 2nd and 3rd degree burns and that's really the main issue......

I think in the end, Sony is going to end up paying off all of these companies..... But, when it comes to all electronics, I've yet to find better lithium-ion cells. From phones to cameras to notebooks.

 

I had a failed batery replaced by Asus (excellent service, by the way), and there was a bar-code sticker on top of the grey bigger sticker, and the barcode sticker says "W3A-2B BATT MODULE(4S2...), and underneath that it says "Sony". I'm not sure if they just forgot to take off that barcode, or if it is on all Z63A batteries.

So, yes, it is a Sony.

 

No, those usually aren't on the batteries anywhere, but Asus is physically making the battery packaging.... they're just getting the cells from from Sony as the OEM of the cells. It's a tough call... I haven't seen physical Sony model numbers of problem cells, but that information is very unlikely to get out. I think if someone with a recalled Dell or Apple battery actually broke theirs apart instead of sending it in for a replacement, the chances of finding out if they're the same cells as the actual ones causing the problem is unclear. Asus' batteries have more numbers on them than any other part of their systems and that is likely to increase even more so after this problem. Asus has said in the past that they can only track the battery back to the notebook's physical production date which is after the battery was assembled and far after the cells were made and shipped to Asus. So, I think to prevent future problems, a way to track exactly which batch the cells came out of may help locate problem cells with a little more accuracy. Problem cells in the Z71 didn't stretch to other models, but they did stretch across a few Z71 production runs... so Asus couldn't just give a serial number range with a known problem. As you said Greg, you needed to get your battery replaced and although we don't see battery replacements often, it is a fact of life and the technology that these things could last 4 years or malfunction in a matter of months....... the key is the replacement, which is usually quite easy to do with Asus and I'm glad you at least gave others your insight there. In regards to the Z63 batteries, other cells from LG or Fujitsu may have been used say on the W3 or other models with the same chassis. Given that the W3 was the best selling ensemble of the last year and half..... I can pretty much guarentee that more than one company made the batteries for different production runs........ same obviously goes for the LCD screens, optical drives and hard drives.....

 

on my battery back from ASUS that I got recently it says "W5A_IBATT_6_CELL/SONY"
similarly on my 9 cell...I just hope that they don't recall the batteries...b/c can't live without them...but a new "free" battery wouldn't hurt also...

 

I can't see Asus doing anything on a large scale until very public problems occur. I don't know for a fact, but I can almost guarentee that both Apple and Dell have been sued on multiple occasions over physical injuries due to battery problems...... Although their recalls seem voluntary and not issued by the FTC or FCC (whoever handles those things), there was most deffinately pressure by a class action suit which would have made things even worse, especially if it dragged on and new cases popped up. It would be my understanding that just getting sent a new battery would be no where in the picture as the batteries in question may continue to be used and perhaps could cause problems and litigation in the future.

Now, we're talking about Dell and Apple here as I think Asus has a reason to recall their batteries until either Sony buckles for some reason if infact it was a widespread issue they ignored, or we see Asus' name on cable news lighting a man on fire.... Asus doesn't sell enough systems of their own in the US to cover a recall of every battery they've issues over the last 4-5 years.... I'd guarentee they'd pull their brand here before they shelled out the cost for that. It's not that they wouldn't care, but their margins are so tight to start with..... They'd easily have over $1M in battery replacements themselves..... I think they'd rather handle single battery issues at a time, if they should occur.

Between Dell and Apple - there's something more behind the scenes that the rest of us aren't aware of.... you don't have the #1 and #2 largest recalls in electronics history within a week of other if there wasn't a HUGE reason for it...... and like I sort of said above, a handful of systems getting so hot they catch fire isn't a reason to create a recall worth hundreds of millions, if not billions at the very least..... I think more will come out down the road.....