No, Amazon/eBay knockoff batteries aren't as good as OEM

Farmall450 · Feb 10, 2020

Project farm had a nice endurance test using (4) of each battery, which rules out quite a bit of the speculation regarding getting a "dud."

TL;DR

Actual DeWalt powered the rig about 3x longer than the cheaper clone.

kctyphoon · Feb 10, 2020

Good video

I’d love to see someone do the m12 batteries.. those seem be popular in both OEM and aftermarket purchases.

jimmyin3D · Feb 10, 2020

Ive seen a bunch of the aftermarket Milwaukee batteries on Craigslist here in LA. I don’t know if ppl are still selling them but man they make them look super similar. And I’m sure they are using the cheapest Chinese made li-ion 18650’s and now there’s the proof.

M635_Guy · Feb 10, 2020

On top of that, most high-quality OEMs are also specifying a quality-level from their suppliers. Not all cells are created equal, even if the brand name is the same on the components. Guess where the ones that don't meet spec go?

Bigblue&Goldie · Feb 10, 2020

Farmall450 said:
Project farm had a nice endurance test using (4) of each battery, which rules out quite a bit of the speculation regarding getting a "dud."

TL;DR

Actual DeWalt powered the rig about 3x longer than the cheaper clone.

I made the mistake of watching one of those "Den of Tools" videos where that retard said he recommended buying the cheap aftermarket batteries as the genuine DeWalts weren't worth the price. I really don't understand how this guy manages to present himself as knowledgeable on tools?

mobiledynamics · Feb 10, 2020

spec or not spec....

many cells with -model/names- are fake on the market....
hence, when buying 18650/21700, etc, it is important getting them from reputable buyers.

Farmall450 · Feb 10, 2020

Bigblue&Goldie said:
I made the mistake of watching one of those "Den of Tools" videos where that retard said he recommended buying the cheap aftermarket batteries as the genuine DeWalts weren't worth the price. I really don't understand how this guy manages to present himself as knowledgeable on tools?

Yeah, I watched one of his videos that was linked here and that was more than enough for me. Now, if you're using them for a drill or something not very demanding sure. But I'd refrain unless you're paying pennies on the dollar...I'll take OEM on Marketplace/Craigslist over fake anyday for the same $ and slightly more effort

Farmall450 · Feb 10, 2020

kctyphoon said:
Good video

I’d love to see someone do the m12 batteries.. those seem be popular in both OEM and aftermarket purchases.

Comment (he reads and replies to all of them). Issue being Milwaukee doesn't make a power bank like that where he can plug and play. I'm sure he'd figure something out (inverter anyone?)

Skin · Feb 10, 2020

They don't all come from the same place. Though I agree these Chinses "clone" factories are generally making an inferior product as cheap as possible its not always true. If memory serves AVE cracked open a knock-off or two and at least one had Sony cells and actually beat the genuine thing in capacity. Where those particular ones lost out was circuit protection and battery housing quality.

Similarly the Audew jump starter that did so well on Project farm is 100% a Chinese company.

The problem with these unknown brands is even if they're making a great product today will it still be good in 5 years? Most of them are probably buying the cheapest container load of lithium cells available at that point and time. In effect its a lottery.

chaosracing · Feb 10, 2020

Very interesting video. I saw another one of his comparing penetrating oils. He is very thorough with his testing from the two I have now seen. I have seen those cheap DeWalt copies being sold before and never trusted them. His comment at the end about buying the cheap battery for his 18v drill is why I got rid of my 18v tools after the 20v litium ion tools came out. Sold them on Craigslist while I still had a few working batteries.

Farmall450 · Feb 10, 2020

chaosracing said:
Very interesting video. I saw another one of his comparing penetrating oils. He is very thorough with his testing from the two I have now seen. I have seen those cheap DeWalt copies being sold before and never trusted them. His comment at the end about buying the cheap battery for his 18v drill is why I got rid of my 18v tools after the 20v litium ion tools came out. Sold them on Craigslist while I still had a few working batteries.

I look forward to Mondays when he releases new videos.

sreeb · Feb 11, 2020

I have some 6ah m18 clones. One died and I opened it up.

Inside were 10 noname 18650 cells marked 2.0 ah. So it might, at best, actually be a 4ah battery.

Nineeightyone · Feb 11, 2020

In some cases, I'm all for cheap, sketchy nonsense. But electricity (and by extension batteries) are by far something I don't want to mess around with. OEM should have protections in place to prevent fires, and the extra couple bucks for confidence to leave a battery in a charger for an hour or so is worth it.

TailGunner3000 · Feb 12, 2020

In earlier times, when I was (by necessity) more frugal, I would often buy off brand batteries. They generally performed okay but had shorter lives than branded ones.

In more recent times, when I was (by choice) somewhat frugal, I found you could generally find deals on name brand batteries throughout the year. They last longer and have warranties. The value is better in the long run. This is particularly true in the Li ion era as the life expectancy of all Nicad batteries, whether real or cloned, just plain sucked.

Lasu · Feb 12, 2020

Also the battery capacity is never correct + poor quality cells. So the price / quality is really bad.

Parrothead · Feb 12, 2020

Bigblue&Goldie said:
I made the mistake of watching one of those "Den of Tools" videos where that retard said he recommended buying the cheap aftermarket batteries as the genuine DeWalts weren't worth the price. I really don't understand how this guy manages to present himself as knowledgeable on tools?

I’ve had good luck so far with the Biswaye batteries I’ve purchased from Amazon. My purchase was a 5.0Ah battery for the refurbished Black & Decker string trimmer I use on my residential 1/4 wooded lot. I charge it on my Craftsman Bolt On charger that was cheaper than then Black & Decker fast changer (I don’t even own any Bolt On). It was $29.99.

As an example, the 1.5Ah battery 2 pack at Lowe’s is $79. I can buy quite a few aftermarket batteries even if they don’t have the same run time.

The real difference between knockoff batteries is quite simply the supplier of the battery cells. Some are better than others. Figuring out who uses decent batteries is the key, even if they’re not Panasonic or Samsung. Honestly, anyone can make a functional case and connector.

The Den of Tools HATES DeWalt for whatever reason. He’s a Harbor Freight shill at heart. He’s entertaining to me and occasionally he’ll have good points, but it’s good to know what he is representing. He’ll defend Harbor Freights 90 day warranty to no end, even when the exact same product is available with a longer warranty.

DFB · Feb 12, 2020

I've purchased PowerAxis NiCad batteries to replace my Makita NiMH both 12v and 18V and never looked back to OEM Makita branded batteries ever again.

Maybe the Lithium Ion are all together different based on construction quality but who knows. :headscrat

But what I do know

is there is absolutely no reason for ME to buy any knockoff batteries for my Milwaukee Red Lithium tools.

The quality is there is and over 6 years haven't had any issues with any of them at all. And with the current pricing structure and promos that brand offers it keep in more batteries than I even need some days :lol:

Personally that little test didn't impress me much

Parrothead · Feb 12, 2020

Farmall450 said:
Actual DeWalt powered the rig about 3x longer than the cheaper clone.

What I took from that test was the watt hours per dollar. The 2nd cheapest clone was 3 watt hours per dollar while the DeWalt was 1.5. With the prices as tested you can get 2 of the better clone batteries to the 1 DeWalt and still have change left over. To me that says buy the clone. If I’m out in the field and having multiple batteries is an issue I might feel differently.

SK-Mike · Feb 12, 2020

you get what you pay for.

Farmall450 · Feb 12, 2020

Parrothead said:
What I took from that test was the watt hours per dollar. The 2nd cheapest clone was 3 watt hours per dollar while the DeWalt was 1.5. With the prices as tested you can get 2 of the better clone batteries to the 1 DeWalt and still have change left over. To me that says buy the clone. If I’m out in the field and having multiple batteries is an issue I might feel differently.

Problem being that fake one will degrade much faster. You can also find the real deal well under list at a variety of places.

PugetDude · Feb 12, 2020

kctyphoon said:
Good video

I’d love to see someone do the m12 batteries.. those seem be popular in both OEM and aftermarket purchases.

Avoid "VANON" branded M12 Red Lithium batteries. I don't do videos, but unfortunately I did do a real-world comparison against Milwaukee-branded batteries. No comparison, the Vanon's didn't last 6 months; total garbage.

Farmall450 · Feb 23, 2020

Audew said:
That's a helpful video!

His are always pretty darn good.

seber · Feb 24, 2020

The part that scares me is the possible lack of protection. It doesn't matter how good the deal is if it burns your house down.

mobiledynamics · Feb 24, 2020

Seber beat me to the punch.....

Maybe I'm being overly cautious about batteries these days !

ChrisLS8 · Feb 24, 2020

The issue with the M12 knockoffs is the clips snap off. I have 2 Amazon ones for misc things and they lost clips after about 3 months

acer66 · Feb 28, 2020

Buddy just went through this, bought some knock off dewalt batteries and after not even a month they are more or less dead, now he is back to oem.

greg13 · Feb 28, 2020

Bought a 2 pack 20v dewalt type. 1 lasted 2 weeks the other is still going strong, so I guess it's a 50/50 chance.

Higgins · Feb 28, 2020

I purchased some Dewalt aftermarket batteries around 5 yrs ago. They are still working fine. Fast forward to last yr. purchase 3 more last yr. same supplier, batteries look identical. One lasted a month, the others around 2 months. Back to OEM !!!

As a side note, one of the last 2 got really HOT while charging !!!

Farmall450 · Feb 28, 2020

Higgins said:
I purchased some Dewalt aftermarket batteries around 5 yrs ago. They are still working fine. Fast forward to last yr. purchase 3 more last yr. same supplier, batteries look identical. One lasted a month, the others around 2 months. Back to OEM !!!

As a side note, one of the last 2 got really HOT while charging !!!

I would never leave the knockoffs unattended on a charger (or in a hot attic). :beer:

No, Amazon/eBay knockoff batteries aren't as good as OEM

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