Makita ‘alternative’ batteries.

Hi folks.
Can anyone recommend an aftermarket alternative to genuine 5ah Makita batteries? There seem to be loads about, but also loads of reveiws saying they don’t last long and have stoped charging. I would go for genuine Makita if it wasn’t for the fact they’re generally three times the cost and are just for my wife’s garden tools.

I got 3 cheapies, all from the same source, one lasted really well (actually still going I think), the other two failed pretty quickly. They were all also lower real capacity than the makitas, especially in high draw jobs. Basically I’ve found genuine ones to be better value just because of the lifespan. It’s not that aftermarket can’t be good, it just seems really difficult to find dependable ones.

Yeah, I wouldn’t bother.

I’ve bought most of mine (genuine) from Buyaparcel on eBay who have deals now and again.

False economy getting fakes imho plus some of them might be a little more likely to be explodey potentially.

57 quid here

Yes anyone I know who’s bought off-brand batteres for power tools has been disappointed – espicaully for anything with continuous load like strimmers and lawnmowers rather stop start stuff like drill driving. Never have the stated capacity (and sometimes claim ludicrous capacity) and prone to early failure.

It can often be the case that aftermarket batteries are made by cracking open dud battery packs, and harvesting the working cells and putting them in a new case. But that means its just a new package thats functional at point of sale but has old cells in and its a lottery as to how close to end of life each of those cells are. Thats why experience of longevity is so varied.

So if I bought a 3ah genuine Makita battery do you think it would last nearly as long as a ‘theoretically 5ah’ fake?

It would pr!obably last a lot longer, for a lot longer

Just to balance things: I use ‘Waitley’ branded makita clones with much success. Not quiet as good as the genuines but actually good. Project Farm (you tube channel) did a review of ‘clone’ batteries. Lots of them are crap but these ones faired well.

Oh- only buy them from amazon: I suspect people are faking them now

I just wouldnt.

Say you buy a couple and they stop working quite quickly. The money youve spent – gone, and you still need replacements. By the time you’ve bought those, and lets fact it after a bad job you’ll probably buy genuine.

What is it they say about throwing good money after bad.

Buy the genuine, and there wont be any problems.

.

If somethings going to go wrong, if its going to go up in flames while charging, or explode into a fireball burning anyone in proximity, it will always be the cheap replacements that will be the cause. try living with yourself should you harm the wife

Possibly relevant experience here, the handheld Dyson lost all stamina, I bought a non-genuine battery pack. All good to start with, but it went south quite quickly. So I popped it apart, and hey presto, one duff cell and no circuitry or wiring to balance the cells. Popped an old Dyson battery pack apart and there is the balance circuitry. So genuine all the way now, and only from a legit seller.
Still, the remaining good cells now live in parallel in my work radio, quintupling the capacity 🙂

So if I bought a 3ah genuine Makita battery do you think it would last nearly as long as a ‘theoretically 5ah’ fake?

You get less oomph with a lower ah battery which may be more of an issue with some high draw tools.

I’d always buy the genuine article if it is available. Better technology. Better QA. Just better than no name knock offs.

Oh- only buy them from amazon: I suspect people are faking them now

I think your faith in Amazon is misplaced