Canada customs stole my battery!!

[Polonium210]

On 11/27/2011 I ordered an RF660-200mW-FWT from Rayfoss.com. It arrived today 12/09/2011, in a big brown truck(UPS) in the usual UPS Express bag. Inside was the brown bubble envelope from China that had been ripped open and had a sticker on it that said "opened by customs". I opened the package the rest of the way to find everything but the 18650 battery. On the outside of the Ups package where the packing slip should have been was an MSDS sheet about the LiPo battery and a sheet marked "Declaration for the transportation of lithium-ion cells/batteries", which I'm assuming came from Rayfoss.
Why would they confiscate the battery and not the laser too?
I want my damn battery back customs!!:tsk:

 

[GBD]

Had that happen once to me before.
Lithiums fall under dangerous goods IIRC, I guess it is a hit and miss though, sometimes I had undeclared lithiums arive to me, other times they have been confiscated (I don't care too much, they are usually of a cheap brand anyways).

I often ask the seller to keep the batteries for themselves, main reason is I don't want customs to be able to power the thing if they got curious, so often it probably just passes by as some flashlight or other toy rather then laser. But if they got it, the chances of you getting anything back from them is next to none.

 

[Seoul_lasers]

Most likely you had the parcel come in by air. Li-ion cells are prohibited from air transport as I too have found out. ALL Li-ion batteries must be ground transported.
BTW, are you in need of some 18650 cells? They are extremely cheap here in R.O.K. I also know how to get them into Canada via Korean EPS service without a problem.

PM if interested.

 

[swartzy123]

Really!!!!

Aww that actually sucks, they did that to my spartan that was, " supposed," to arrive this summer. Damn guys

 

[Polonium210]

I did Purchase some Ultrafire 18650's fro eBay. They were not advertised as being protected but they are a good 5mm longer than unmarked ones that came with some of my other lasers. So they are either protected or fake Ultrafire cells. I can't use them because they are too long. That's why I was hoping to get this laser WITH the battery.

Now I'm looking for some good quality batteries that fit and won't Explode as in another post I read.

On a side thought, this got me thinking what Customs does with all there confiscated items?
I smell money being made on our misfortune.
Government surplus auctions anyone?

 

[Isoleucine]

I should reiterate that most Ultrafire 18650's are approximately 1,600mAh 2,000mAh and If you're lucky, 2.4Ah. Dealextreme sells a large market share of the cheap Ultrafire 18650s. You may want to buy from them, but the problem is that they ARE from China, and that may subject you to customs. I personally buy them, as I am not that hardcore in the laser enthusiast business, and I don't have other uses for them except for high powered flashlights

Ultrafire 18650s vary greatly, as QC checks are not so... 'kickass' in China and other manufacturers.

Some Ultrafire's do come protected... what is the length of the 'oversized' ultrafire 18650?

 

[Polonium210]

So far I have 3 different size 18650 batteries.

Sanyo from my Arctic and unmarked purple one from Rayfoss = 64.8mm

Ultrafire, purchased from eBay and sold as "protected" = 66.5mm
(case is a dark red)

Ultrafire, also purchased from eBay but not specified as "protected" = 69mm
(case is a lighter red and the silver around the lettering seems to scratch off)

From left to right: Ultrafire 66.5mm protected, Ultrafire 69mm (cheaper version), Wicked Lasers Sanyo, and Rayfoss battery.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbyron/6494713903/in/photostream/lightbox/

Notice the big difference in length.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbyron/6494713887/in/photostream/lightbox/

Notice the cheap print on the battery on the left scratches off. The one on the right looks of higher quality.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robbyron/6494713931/in/photostream/lightbox/

 

[LarryDFW]

Polonium210;

The Sanyo is a new design and the only "brand-name.

Did that cell come with Arctic ?

LarryDFW

 

[Polonium210]

Polonium210;

The Sanyo is a new design and the only "brand-name.

Did that cell come with Arctic ?

LarryDFW

Yes, The Sanyo came with the Arctic purchased last year.

 

[rangedunits]

I had to pay an additional ~20$ last time i bought 4x 18650