Battery Date Code

Anonymous user · ‎2021-06-29

Hello,

I recently purchased a BE750G UPS from Office Depot. I received it in the mail yesterday and saw that it had passed its QC check on 10/13/12. I was surprised to see that it had been sitting in a box for about 10 months!

I know that leaving a battery sitting for a long time will cause it to discharge and possibly cause permanent damage...so I decided to attempt to determine the age of the battery.
Unfortunately I am unable to decipher the date code on top of the battery to figure out when exactly it was manufactured.

I was able to hold the battery at an angle and noticed that there appears to be a large "...NG" behind the APC label. (not visible in picture bellow)

Along with the little bits of yellow that stick out on either side of the battery label, I believe I have determined that this battery is made by Kung Long (www.klb.com.tw/en/)

It looks like this is the specific battery in there to me: http://www.klb.com.tw/dbf/WP1236W.pdf

Could anyone help me decipher the date code of: LI08HB

I already attempted to chat with APC CS but I was told that it is not possible to determine the date of manufacture and that they don't have that information. I have been able to determine the date code on all previous SLA batteries by going to the manufacturers website...but this one does not have that.

Thanks in advance!

BillP · ‎2021-06-29

While I don't think many of us here in support know how to decipher the date code for the battery vendors, my educated guess it is that it is close to around the manufacture date of the UPS because we use batteries immediately upon receiving them due to the number of batteries we use as a company per year. Our suppliers can barely keep up with demand so they don't sit around for long.

Beyond that, maybe the battery vendor could help if you wanted to research further.

See Answer In Context

Anonymous user · ‎2021-06-29

Angela, thank you for the quick response!

I would like to be sure that it is a Kung Long battery before i contact them. Could you please confirm that Kung Long is a vender that APC purchases batteries from? I would take the label off the battery but I have a feeling that would void my warranty.

Thanks

See Answer In Context

BillP · ‎2021-06-29

Yes, we do purchase from Kung Long.

See Answer In Context

Anonymous user · ‎2021-06-29

Angela,

I believe a friend on a different forum just cracked the code...at least the majority of it.

I wanted to post it here in case anyone else is as curious as me in the future.

I have a BE750G with a QC date of 10/13/12 and a battery with a date code of LI08HB

He has a BE750G with a QC date of 05/02/13 and a battery with a date code of MC05DB

- the 1st char of the code is the year (So L = 12 and M =13)

- the 2nd char is the month (so I = 09 and C = 03)

- the 3rd and 4th characters are probably the date

- the 5th char....???Factory made in???

- the last char B is for the color, BLACK.

My date code would be 09/08/12, or about 1 month before the QC date.

His date code would be 03/05/13, or about 2 months before the QC date.

Goes along with what you said about the battery dates being close to the manufacture dates!

See Answer In Context

Anonymous user · ‎2021-06-29

Hello,

I recently purchased a BE750G UPS from Office Depot. I received it in the mail yesterday and saw that it had passed its QC check on 10/13/12. I was surprised to see that it had been sitting in a box for about 10 months!

I know that leaving a battery sitting for a long time will cause it to discharge and possibly cause permanent damage...so I decided to attempt to determine the age of the battery.
Unfortunately I am unable to decipher the date code on top of the battery to figure out when exactly it was manufactured.

I was able to hold the battery at an angle and noticed that there appears to be a large "...NG" behind the APC label. (not visible in picture bellow)

Along with the little bits of yellow that stick out on either side of the battery label, I believe I have determined that this battery is made by Kung Long (www.klb.com.tw/en/)

It looks like this is the specific battery in there to me: http://www.klb.com.tw/dbf/WP1236W.pdf

Could anyone help me decipher the date code of: LI08HB

I already attempted to chat with APC CS but I was told that it is not possible to determine the date of manufacture and that they don't have that information. I have been able to determine the date code on all previous SLA batteries by going to the manufacturers website...but this one does not have that.

Thanks in advance!

BillP · ‎2021-06-29

While I don't think many of us here in support know how to decipher the date code for the battery vendors, my educated guess it is that it is close to around the manufacture date of the UPS because we use batteries immediately upon receiving them due to the number of batteries we use as a company per year. Our suppliers can barely keep up with demand so they don't sit around for long.

Beyond that, maybe the battery vendor could help if you wanted to research further.

Anonymous user · ‎2021-06-29

Angela, thank you for the quick response!

I would like to be sure that it is a Kung Long battery before i contact them. Could you please confirm that Kung Long is a vender that APC purchases batteries from? I would take the label off the battery but I have a feeling that would void my warranty.

Thanks

BillP · ‎2021-06-29

Yes, we do purchase from Kung Long.

Anonymous user · ‎2021-06-29

Angela,

I believe a friend on a different forum just cracked the code...at least the majority of it.

I wanted to post it here in case anyone else is as curious as me in the future.

I have a BE750G with a QC date of 10/13/12 and a battery with a date code of LI08HB

He has a BE750G with a QC date of 05/02/13 and a battery with a date code of MC05DB

- the 1st char of the code is the year (So L = 12 and M =13)

- the 2nd char is the month (so I = 09 and C = 03)

- the 3rd and 4th characters are probably the date

- the 5th char....???Factory made in???

- the last char B is for the color, BLACK.

My date code would be 09/08/12, or about 1 month before the QC date.

His date code would be 03/05/13, or about 2 months before the QC date.

Goes along with what you said about the battery dates being close to the manufacture dates!

BillP · ‎2021-06-29

Thanks for sharing what you've found. Feels good when that detective work produces a result that makes sense

I will share with my team.