What ships in a toothbrush pack
A toothbrush battery pack is a small assembly: one lithium cell at 3.7 V and 800-1,400 mAh, a protection board, and leads or contacts that mate with the handle PCB. The cell is either an 18650 cylindrical format or a polymer pouch cut to the bay; polymer wins where the handle is slim, 18650 where cost and availability lead. Dry-cell handles that run on AAA batteries carry none of this - no pack, no lithium paperwork - which is part of why they stay popular with marketplace sellers; the trade-offs sit in the battery versus rechargeable comparison.
The six parts on the card
The waveform sketch sits over a charge cycle, but a pack is quoted by the rows below. The paperwork row is fixed rather than customisable: every lithium shipment carries it, and the desk checks it before anything ships.
| Part | What decides quality | Typical options |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Pack and casing | Bay fit, weld quality, insulation | Heat-shrink wrap or PET frame, nickel-strip welds |
| 2 Cells | Capacity, cycle life, consistency | 18650 cylindrical or polymer, 3.7 V, 800-1,400 mAh |
| 3 Protection board | Over-charge, over-discharge, short circuit | PCM matched to cell and load |
| 4 Connector and leads | Contact reliability in a vibrating handle | Wire leads, blade contacts, spring pads |
| 5 Charge management | Charge rate, termination, dock pairing | Charge IC set for USB, Type-C or dock input |
| 6 Documentation and labels | Transport and market compliance | UN 38.3 summary, IEC 62133-2, watt-hour labels |
Capacity, runtime and weight
The 800-1,400 mAh band maps to how a handle is used. At two two-minute sessions a day, typical spec sheets land in the 14-30 day runtime band, with the larger cells at the top of the range and extra grams in the hand. Capacity beyond the band buys little for a toothbrush: the handle gains weight and the charge time stretches without changing the user story. Capacity and runtime figures print from the model's own test report; how to weigh them is in battery life explained and battery cells explained.
Protection board and charge management
The protection board is the safety core of the pack: it opens the circuit on over-charge, over-discharge and short circuit, and its quality shows up years later in whether handles still hold charge. Charge management sits beside it - the IC that sets charge rate and termination for USB, Type-C or a wireless dock, and that decides how the handle behaves when a user leaves it on the dock overnight. Most charging complaints trace back to these two parts rather than the cell itself; the failure chain is in not charging causes, and swelling causes and handling are in the swelling note.
UN 38.3 and IEC 62133-2 paperwork
Two document families travel with the pack. UN 38.3 covers transport: the test series a lithium cell and pack must pass before they fly or sail, refreshed per cell model, with a summary and watt-hour labels on the carton. IEC 62133-2 covers the battery's safety requirements for the destination market and is the document buyers' labs ask for first. A fresh UN 38.3 run adds roughly 2-3 weeks to the schedule when a new cell model enters a program, so the desk checks early whether the chosen cell already carries current reports. The certifications guide lines these up by market, and the UN 38.3 piece explains the tests in order.
Ordering packs as components
Packs are quoted per thousand pieces, matched to the host handle specification: bay size, contact type, charge route and the mode firmware's draw profile. Shipments move under lithium rules - air freight with IATA compliance on top of UN 38.3, sea freight for the bulk of most programs - and the desk coordinates the papers with the forwarder before booking. The logistics picture is in logistics and shipping, and the shipping rules themselves are in shipping toothbrushes.
Checks before a pack lot is approved
- Capacity and voltage on sampled packs against the plant's test report.
- Protection board behaviour: over-charge, over-discharge and short-circuit trips on samples.
- Weld and insulation inspection on opened samples from the lot.
- Charge and termination behaviour on the agreed charger, dock or cable.
- UN 38.3 summary, IEC 62133-2 report and lot traceability against the order file.
- Watt-hour marks and warning labels on the carton against the transport checklist.
The checks are written per program and confirmed before the first batch; see quality control. Reference quantities and timing sit on the MOQ and lead time page, and the quote form opens the pack conversation.