Cordless Batteries.

[recipio]

Just wondering what experiences people on here have with cordless batteries. I have bought four generic Makita 5 amp batteries ( not genuine Makita ) . One was a dud and Amazon sent a replacement, no problem. I put two on charge yesterday and found one overheating with leakage of electrolyte. I had left it about two hours but it should have stopped charging when full. Needless to say it's now a write off.
Now I hear that the batteries of E- bikes are exploding with loss of life in the UK. Once they ignite they go up like a firework.
There is a huge difference in price between genuine Makita ( about £70 compared to £30 ) but I would be very reluctant to buy the generic batteries again. Has anyone else had any experience of this ?

 

[Distinterior]

In recent years, I've only ever bought genuine OEM battery packs when I've needed a replacement........But, many years ago, I did have some 18v Atlas Copco NiCad battery packs re-celled with Panasonic batteries. They lasted just as long as the originals but have since died as well.

It was quite a saving over the cost of OEM replacements at the time, but I believe there are still companies out there that will rebuild your original battery packs......It may be worth you looking into...?

Edit. Could it possibly be your charger that is at fault rather than the " Generic" batteries themselves...?

 

[Kev.k]

OEM batteries all the way. Cheap ones are a false economy.

Or try corded batteries

 

[recipio]

Edit. Could it possibly be your charger that is at fault rather than the " Generic" batteries themselves...?

Thanks. It's a twin charger and the other battery charged up no problem. What annoys me is that the batteries had very little use - I have used them in gardening tools a few times only. The electrolyte was quite corrosive as well, melting the plastic charger case a little. It looks like there is no option but to plump for OEM batteries - hopefully they would carry the European CE mark. ?

 

[Spectric]

Like everything things are often cheap for a reason and with Lithium batteries you do not want to take any chances so just pay up and buy OEM. If you look inside some of the cheap batteries it is often not the actual battery that is your problem but the associated control and monitoring circuitry where you find a lot less components, only the bare minimum are used. I must say that these parts are not expensive so why they don't fit is really strange, perhaps it is additional fittment cost.

 

[Sideways]

If you don't use them much, corded tools last decades longer ... Lithium batteries have a calendar lifespan even if you never use them so don't expect too much and better if you can buy a quality brand that shows date of manufacture.
A tradesman may wear his batteries out. Yours will age out.

Also useful to know that the ideal state of charge for lithium batteries that are going to be stored is around 2/3 full. They degrade less in storage than fully charged batteries. So get in the habit of charging them to 2 of 3, or 3 of four lights on the display and put a note in your calendar to pop them back on the charger every 6 months.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Corded doesn't tie you to a particular manufacturer, either, like battery tools do. 110v can give you even more choice - I bought a hardly used 110v DeWalt SDS drill for £20 last week. Transformers and extension leads second hand don't cost much.

 

[AJB Temple]

Phil I agree about 110v gear. I bought several Festool items from a trade guy who went battery a few years ago and they were really cheap. This included two domino machines (both sizes) and a Vecturo. If you are mainly operating in a workshop, corded is fine. Maybe better. Especialy so if you have to have a vac hose attached anyway (dominos must use extraction).

Re Makita batteries. I've tried the clones. Always rubbish. Just use originals now and pretend I don't mind paying double.

 

[SLM]

Yeah, genuine every time. And like others, I stick to corded for all but a drill and an impact driver. Though at some point, I will replace petrol a petrol hedge cutter and brush cutter with battery alternatives. I’ll stick with the same brand, Makita and probably buy bare units.

 

[recipio]

Re Makita batteries. I've tried the clones. Always rubbish. Just use originals now and pretend I don't mind paying double.

Yes but even the clones should be fit for purpose. I should have known better as I've given up buying any Chinese tools . I've posted before about going through about six Chinese verniers before buying a Mitutoyo.
I note that Amazon did not want the dud battery back but gave me a replacement 'as a special concession ' !! Lesson learnt.

 

[clogs]

recipio,
amazon just didn't want to pay postage and labour to chuck into a skip....

I run a couple of old14.4 volt Makita drills....coz they are a bit smaller than the Milwauke and Hitchi 18v model I also have.....
I took a chance and bought repro batts for the Makita's....they are from*VANON* now around 3 yeras old and still good......

I need a couple of spare 5AH batts for my Milwauke 18v fuels.....it's more cost effective to buy another new drill than buy just the batteries....
comp mad.......the main reason is tho coz they want u hooked into their products.....

 

[Bingy man]

Hypothetically speaking if let’s say a parachute cost £1.500 by a genuine manufacturer would you then buy a cloned copy of the original instead for £300 . Before anyone says otherwise yes the genuine parachute has been manufactured and tested and proved to be safe as long as it’s used correctly within the scope of what it was designed for. Back to the cloned battery’s etc they are cheap for a reason and would you put the lives of your family at risk of a house fire to save a few £££ you certainly wouldn’t buy the cloned parachute in my example. Anything which uses electricity or petrol / gas etc needs to be as safe as possible. I’ve seen a few cheap generic battery chargers go up in flames and it’s just not worth it . Buy cheap buy 2 , 3 , 4 times or you could be extremely unlikely and only ever buy 1 . Stay safe all ..

 

[ChaiLatte]

Back to the cloned battery’s etc they are cheap for a reason

Another aspect to consider is that a genuine 18v 5Ah battery from any of the major manufacturers is roughly the same price.

Is it plausible that they are all colluding to prop up the price of batteries? There are enough of them at the same level in the market (red, blue, teal, yellow, green) for it not to be a cartel. If one of them found a way to make an adequate quality battery for a lower cost, they would have a huge advantage over their competitors - everyone would buy their tools.

 

[Spectric]

A tradesman may wear his batteries out. Yours will age out.

For low use it is better to have lower A/hr batteries so you get a reasonable charge / discharge cycle and is why I still use 3 Ah Makita batteries and not the newer 5 Ah ones and they are cheaper.

 

[TheTiddles]

Quite often an un-branded item is almost identical to a more expensive, branded one, but not always.

I leave batteries to charge in the garage, overnight etc… if one were to fail dangerous I’d not know about it till too late. For that reason I pay 2 to 3 times the price for Makita batteries and I’ve not had a problem yet.

Based on your experience I feel I make the right choice there

 

[recipio]

Quite often an un-branded item is almost identical to a more expensive, branded one, but not always.

Interestingly all the batteries I bought have the CE logo on them. However it seems to be a bit of a lotto as to whether you get a dud or not. I will stick to branded batteries in the future and keep a close eye on the generic batteries when charging.

 

[niemeyjt]

CE - look at the spacing between the letters - it could stand for "China Export"

Another vote for branded here

 

[Doug71]

Years ago I bought a copy Festool battery which worked fine but that was back in the days when everything was NiCad plus it was made in Germany. I have heard too many horror stories about the unbranded Li-ion Makita copy ones to risk trying them despite the tempting price. I like the small 2ah batteries for my 18v Makita drills and they are often more expensive than the higher ah ones

A few weeks ago I was woken up in the middle of the night by a bang followed by an acrid smell, an unbranded phone charger/USB plug I got off Amazon had decided to give up in rather spectacular style. It left an impressively large black mark on the socket and wall, I won't be clicking "Buy it again" on that one.

 

[Ozi]

Personaly I always go for genuine although a friend of mine uses a lot of unbranded and is very happy with them, either way I always leave mine to charge in the middle of a concrete floor on the assumption they could catch fire, they never have yet but my workshop is part of my house and there is a lot of wood in there, don't want to bother the fire brigade. Also keep a fire extinguisher and first aid kit in the work shop - when did I turn into a boring old F - art!

 

[Sideways]

Be careful of CE logos.
There is a China Export logo deliberately designed to mimic the Conformité Européenne. The spacing of the C and E are very slightly different but unless side by side you'd never notice the difference. And sellers of replica products will replicate amazing looking documents that aren't worth tuppence.
Buy a reputable brand and buy it from a source you can trust.
There was a lot of coverage a few years ago about suppliers delivering products into Amazon who then pooled the same product from multiple sellers. When problems arose with quality, there was no traceability back down the supply chain. Trustworthy sellers couldn't guarantee that their customers wouldn't be shipped grey market / counterfeit versions sourced by someone else and mixed in among the good stuff in the warehouses.

That said, back in the day, the fake markets in Shanghai were awash with £30 replicas of £150 "Beats" bluetooth headphones. I bought a pair and thought them well worth the £30 but not £150. A detailed teardown I later read compared a genuine and a copy pair. It concluded there would only be about £1 difference in the estimated materials cost. The copies were remarkably close to the branded version.

Oh, and the packaging was top dollar. Every bit as good and complete as the original.