Battery date codes - How to decode ?

[A10382]

Does anyone have the magic 'decoder ring' info to determine the date of manufacture from the Motorola battery date codes ?


My son's agency has gone into budget doo-doo and they have taken to just reissuing batteries that have been turned in (not holding a charge, won't charge, etc.).

The members started scratching their intials and a date into the batteries they were turning in and found that the agency's 'tech' was just putting them in a box and handing them out again with no action. It's gotten that anyone with a portable has to go out with 3 or 4 extra batteries to get thru a single shift.

I want to make a case for them to buy new batteries - something they should be doing every 2 years anyway. Nicads are known to not last very long in the typical '1 shift usage, 2 shifts of charge' regimen.

Thanks.
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[FireCpt809]

It was 0732 for example 07 year 32 week of manufactuer

I think Escomm would know for sure..

[escomm]

Battery date codes are usually three digits long. The first digit indicates the year and the last two digits indicate the week. So, 732 would indicate 32nd week of 2007. Many other accessories use a four digit date code, as noted by FireCpt809 the scheme is the same, except the year is given two digits as well as the week.

The date code exists for warranty purposes, being able to judge the age of an old battery is a bonus.

It should be noted that Motorola will future date their batteries so that they are able to keep stock current on the shelf, as well as dealers being able to keep stock current. For example, I just got fresh Saber R batteries in stock today that have a date code of 741. You may also find batteries with a second Motorola sticker with separate date code. This is used when the battery sits on the shelf at Motorola past its current date code.

[A10382]

Thanks a megacycle.

[ICEMANTIM]

Hello Just wondering if Motorola is still useing these? I got 3 batteries the firsy week of January and the code on them is 803. If you go by that the batteries would be from third week of 2008? That can not be right becuase i got them before that date. They must be useing soem other code now/. Any ideas???
Thanks Tim

[escomm]

It should be noted that Motorola will future date their batteries so that they are able to keep stock current on the shelf, as well as dealers being able to keep stock current.

[Rayjk110]

Escomm,

I recently had a friend of mine get an IMPRES Saber battery, and the date code (if that's what it was) was in the format of 123ABC1, which I thought was weird. Are they starting to follow suit in radio s/n nomenclature?

[ICEMANTIM]

Hello Thanks for the info. Thats not a real good way to date the batteries. How do i really now how old they are. They could make batteries today and date them for next year. When you get the battreies they would already be 1 year old. Is there anyway to tell how old the Minitor 5 pager batteries are i don't see any code on them.
Thanks

[akardam]

I recently had a friend of mine get an IMPRES Saber battery, and the date code (if that's what it was) was in the format of 123ABC1, which I thought was weird. Are they starting to follow suit in radio s/n nomenclature?

The two I have at the moment, purchased in the last month, have codes 749AUH8 and 803AUM8. First three digits would seem to echo the date code format. If we were to decode the letters as radio serial number date codes, we'd get 1994/2018 April and 1994/2018 June, neither of which would seem to make sense.

Thats not a real good way to date the batteries. How do i really now how old they are. They could make batteries today and date them for next year. When you get the battreies they would already be 1 year old.

Well, unless you want to pull apart the batteries and check the cells themselves, it's all the data you've got at your disposal. I think it works out pretty well. As was mentioned above the date codes are used for warranty status, so if you get a future-dated battery, you get an extended warranty of sorts for free. I wouldn't complain.

[RadioSouth]

It's just the first 3 #'s that count, even older batteries have additional characters like 943MK,etc.
Code is simply warranty start date, I've gotten a few with as much as 4 xtra months, works for me.
Getting back to the original post if he's working in a mission critical job a personally bought battery is cheap insurance and piece of mind, I resorted to that as well a few years ago.

[Wes]

All of the Minitor V batteries I have seen do have the same date code format on them. However, they are hard to read due to the ink they used to stamp them. If you hole the battery at the right angle, in the right light, you will see the code stamped just above the label.

Wes

[escomm]

Well I have a mic here with an oddball date code: 5132

I am assuming it means the 32nd week of 2015. Odd that we're still a couple months away from and they seem to have reversed the nomenclature for the year.

[jackhackett]

Well I have a mic here with an oddball date code: 5132

What you've got there is one of those "Common Core" microphones.

[Satelite]

Hello:
Or Motorola has hired a 6 year college graduate with a masters degree in math that cant arrange the numbers correctly for motorolas battery code dating scheme.
Sorry but its true many with degrees don't have the ability to perform in the real world but do fine on tests to pass .
Satelite

[RadioSouth]

I've noticed accessory items other than batteries are using some unknown code. For example I have a replacement housing on the desk coded
5462MAL-2

[RFguy]

There are a few different formats for 4-digit date codes.

The one I see commonly used for accessories adds the day of the week at the end of the standard 3-digit date code (YMM).

ESCOMM's Example date code of 5132. First digit is the last digit of the year. In this case 2015. Next 2 digits is the week of the year. In this case the 13th week. The last digit is the day of the week. In this case the 2nd day of the week.

[RFguy]

I've noticed accessory items other than batteries are using some unknown code. For example I have a replacement housing on the desk coded
5462MAL-2

Are you sure it's 5462, and not 5162?

[RadioSouth]

Yup, 5462