Drill batteries-cheapies or genuine?

[vic008]

Splashed out on a Milwaukee drill to get the main up. They were saying I need to be carefull to buy only genuine Milwaukee batteries that they sell for a price, vs far cheaper products off the net. Cheap batteries will damage the drill. Same warning for car chargers. My budget ryobi battery is the best. Never heard this before. Any truth?

[Rucksta]

I have some cheap Makita replacements.
Amp hour rating is greater than genuine yet the package is smaller.
Charge life is close to half genuine and the voltage drops off at about 2/3rds charge.
Batteries get hotter in use and charging than genuine.

OK for garden tools.
Save the genuine for the boat.

[Statistical]

The cheapos could be made anywhere to any standard. They are more likely to start a fire while charging.

Personally not the place I am looking to save $100 especially not on a boat. Fire on a boat is a bad thing.

[CharlieJ]

The only fires caused by lithium batteries that I am aware of (22 years as a marine electrician) were caused by lithium (NOT LFP) batteries for tools and toys.

[Kd9truck]

Originally Posted by Statistical

The cheapos could be made anywhere to any standard. They are more likely to start a fire while charging.

Personally not the place I am looking to save $100 especially not on a boat. Fire on a boat is a bad thing.

YES!! And thank you.
Knock off chargers are an *issue as well.
NYC Has experienced and continues to fight a great many fires started buy the “replacement” batteries and chargers in everything from E-motorcycles to children’s toys.

Cheers

[flyingw]

A GC friend bought a bunch of Makita knock-off cheap batteries for his 19V tools. All garbage.

[Calif.Ted]

I bought a cheap knock-off version of the Milwaukee battery and it started smoking and burned out first time I used it.

[NorthCoastJoe]

I have a collection of Milwaukee battery powered tools. From my experience I found that the heavy draw tools, chainsaw, leaf blower, weed wacker cooked the Milwaukee 12 Ah batteries I was using. The plastic around the terminals melted. I have not seen these batteries in stores for awhile now. They have new re-branded batteries and none are 12 Ah. All my low draw or not continuous use tools do ok with the 12 Ah battery.

So if you're going to do a long constant run with your new drill check the battery for getting too hot as you work.

As an addition to this my Ryobi collection of tools is over 20 years old with no issues. I worked them hard. Batteries go dead with time but no melted terminals.

I would never consider the after market batteries safe.

[Chotu]

i use LiFePO4 batteries (and a cord) for all my tools

[smac999]

I would not be worried about using them in the drill. I would be worried about charging them with nobody supervising

[Wotname]

I can't speak for Milwaukee batteries or cheap Milwaukee knockoff batteries but my experience with Makita batteries and knockoff batteries is to avoid the knockoff products.

The performance of Makita knockoff batteries were terrible. Initially OK but then went downhill fast. Waste of money!

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Wotname

I can't speak for Milwaukee batteries or cheap Milwaukee knockoff batteries but my experience with Makita batteries and knockoff batteries is to avoid the knockoff products.

The performance of Makita knockoff batteries were terrible. Initially OK but then went downhill fast. Waste of money!

My experience also, however when I had trouble finding the batteries I needed I stumbled across a business here in Aus that specialises in repacking battery modules utilising Japanese Panasonic cells and in some cases can supply new cases as well, their offerings have proven to be the same weight as the originals, have the same or greater duration as the originals, are not prone to overheating while being slightly cheaper than brand name products. All up a win in my opinion.

[gnetwerker]

Originally Posted by Chotu

i use LiFePO4 batteries (and a cord) for all my tools

Via an inverter I assume. I'm not aware of any commercial power tools with LiFePO4 batteries.

[Miyalk]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

My experience also, however when I had trouble finding the batteries I needed I stumbled across a business here in Aus that specialises in repacking battery modules utilising Japanese Panasonic cells and in some cases can supply new cases as well, their offerings have proven to be the same weight as the originals, have the same or greater duration as the originals, are not prone to overheating while being slightly cheaper than brand name products. All up a win in my opinion.

Interesting, would you mind sharing a link? I tried cheap ebay ones and they failed first charge! Utterly useless!

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Miyalk

Interesting, would you mind sharing a link? I tried cheap ebay ones and they failed first charge! Utterly useless!

https://www.batterydoctor.com.au/store/
Note that this is in Australia, sadly not much use if you're further afield.