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Wades_76_cj7

Wades_76_cj7

RZR guy, NO I am not gay..
Joined
Jun 13, 2020
Member Number
1987
Messages
1,134
Loc
KC MO
Anyone have any luck with the off brand Amazon batteries? I ordered a compact Dewalt 20v impact to carry in the RZR box. It was tool only since I have other batteries and chargers. for <$60 for two 6.0 Ah batteries I'd give them a shot. batteries
 
I've got a pair of 5Ah knockoffs that seem to be holding up fine. Looks like the same ones you linked, just a different name on 'em.

Don't have a lot of use on them, but they haven't given me any issues. I have my doubts as to the validity of the 5Ah rating, but for the price I'm not going to complain.
 
They’ll probably run out of juice twice as fast, and have less umph in them earlier. For something going in the toys for recovery I’ve not understood going cheap. Leave the cheap ones at home when you can walk over and grab another. Not when you’re in need of one and don’t have it.
 
My ancient 18v shit came with ~3ah batteries. The ~5ah knockoffs I have were cheaper per battery and out perform the 3s in every way when new and have aged better except one that's a POS. I'd still come out ahead in terms of $$ if I just threw the shit one away. The charge indicator light on them lies and shows full green all the time but the OEM ones don't have an indicator at all so whatever. :laughing:
 
Up until a month ago when all of my tools were stolen :mad3: , I was using off brand Dewalt batteries almost exclusively for the last 5 years or so. Had batteries ranging from 2.5-6ah. I work in construction and gave them quite a beating and they lasted plenty long enough and I never had any issues with any of them.

Are they as good as the real ones? Maybe not. But not enough for me to make up for the price difference.
 
I tried some chinese knockoff 18v milwaukee batteries. They worked pretty good (lesser lifespan per charge, but acceptable) until the first winter. They would not charge when cold and I was never able to get them sorted back out when things warmed up again. This seemed to match other online discussions that the knockoffs tended to brick if frozen. I ended up pitching them out. Not opposed to trying them again, but I would definitely consider temps during usage. IE, stow them in heated storage during winter and just use brand batteries then.
 
I bought 4 off brand Milwaukee batteries, two have died about at about 12\18 months old, and they certainly don't hold charge as long as the genuine ones.
I thought it was worth a shot, but i'll be going back to genuine.
 
5 years ago I bought several Dewalt 18v an Paslode batteries, I have no complaints with any of them.
 
CarterKraft said:
If that show had some bikini clad assistant I can't imagine the volume of cash it would make.
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As much as I want to watch him I can’t. He does decent comparisons but his cadence and tone of his voice I cannot stand.

He needs a ugly dog to help him.
 
ive tried a few of the off brand m18's looked well reviewed on amazon, they were all junk. worked but the savings wasn't worth the lack of performance.

though i probably wouldn't have noticed it as much if i didn't use the hell out of m18 tools daily. i've got some 5.0 batteries that have been in use for at least 7yrs, knockoff wont touch that value. i try to buy around Christmas time, seems to be the best deals to be had.
 
RunningProblem said:
They’ll probably run out of juice twice as fast, and have less umph in them earlier. For something going in the toys for recovery I’ve not understood going cheap. Leave the cheap ones at home when you can walk over and grab another. Not when you’re in need of one and don’t have it.
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I get your point, but it's not like he needs the impact, can always just grab a 1/2" ratchet :laughing:

But on the other hand, he may have a grinder and sawzall in there. I'd probably throw 1 name brand battery in just incase.



I had 2 9.0 M18 batteries that seemed fine. It's been years, but I don't remember a huge difference between them and my Milwaukee 9.0.

I also got a set of ~5-6.0 chicoms for Xmas and they literally didn't work at all :laughing: so the answer is "it depends" :flipoff2:
 
The M18 and M12 knockoffs I've bought didn't last long. 2 didn't even make it a year.
The real M18s, I have 2 or 3 that are from 2013, still work fine.
 
Last time I tried to buy knock off batteries they were Makita 12v NI-MH and almost got an ass whooping from the field guys for it:lmao: Lesson learned.

Lithium cells are industrial lego so if it costs less than they are using lower quality or lower capacity cells. If you are not using your batteries up to the edge of their capacity / discharge limit you will probably be fine. If you are making money with the tools it's a no brainer for me though.
 
You could replace the cells if your handy. Usually, the part number, voltage, manufacturer and milli-amps of the cell are stamped on the cells themselves. Just take it apart and buy new matching cells based on the part number and data you find on the old cells. You will need to spot weld or solder the contacts back to the pack and should clean the board and contacts with contact cleaner. If the board has other issues, this won't fix those... some vids:



 
On irate And pirate I've seen enough shop fires caused by power tool batteries on chargers, that i already don't leave chargers unattended, I'd be real cautious charging those
 
subybaja said:
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The issue is knowing which off-brand batteries to buy. Both the ones he tested were about half the cost of DeWalt and within a couple bucks of each other, but fairly different results. My other question is consistency. Ok, so the Waitley performed reasonably well, but the Vanon performed significantly worse. Will that be the same case in a month? My guess is that the DeWalt will be more consistent if you buy them today, next month, or next year.

Keep an eye on Slickdeals (or similar) and you can find some pretty decent deals on the name brand batteries. Judging from his charts, dropping the price 15~25% on name brand would eliminate a lot of the advantage of the cheaper batteries.
 
Projectjunkie said:
On irate And pirate I've seen enough shop fires caused by power tool batteries on chargers, that i already don't leave chargers unattended, I'd be real cautious charging those
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werd
chargers get left in the middle of the concrete floor if they're plugged in overnight
like the trash can after welding
 
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