Are Knock-Off tool batteries worth it?This is a topic I love to look into once or twice a year. In my experience, I tried some knock-off batteries, thought I saved a lot of money, but the performance was so bad that I ended up returning them.
Although it might look like you are getting a great battery at a much reduced price (and who would be against that?) what I found out is that the knock-off batteries I bought had about half the run time of the original brand batteries. That might still be a good deal, but I also consider the warranty period of value to me.
Looking at the Amazon reviews, the negative reviews only, I found case after case where a person was unable to return a battery to the company for replacement after the Amazon 90-day return period but before the 1-year warranty on the battery had expired. Even though the seller advertises a 1-year warranty, good luck on getting a replacement after the Amazon return period has expired.
Essentially, you are getting a 90-day warranty on some of these knock-off batteries compared to the standard 3-year warranty backed by the original tool brand. An original $90 battery with a 3-year warranty backed by the tool company will cost you $30 per year. A $22 knock-off battery with only a 90-day Amazon return period to count on comes out to $88 per year. Which is the better deal. Again, read the negative comments on Amazon to see how many knock-off battery companies vanish within that first-year warranty period or will not replace a defective item.
There was a YouTube video just posted that tested the performance of some knock-off batteries and looks at how dangerous some of these knock-off batteries can be. If a Lii-ion battery shorts out on you, do you want to risk burning down your garage or house? One of these knock-off batteries had no protection and could have started a fire.
In all fairness to knock-off batteries, the tests in this video showed that none of the knock-off batteries had the capacity of the original. But at a much-reduced price, it might be worth it to you to get some knock-off batteries and save some money up front. For example, the runner up in the performance category of these knock-off batteries was the Labtech. You could buy 4 Labtech batteries for the price of one original battery. The combined run time of 4 Labtech batteries would give you 3X the run time of a single original battery. That Labtech battery was tested out as safe with overload protection that worked.
Most of my jobs with batteries do not run the battery all the way down. Maybe I lose a bar or two of battery run time on the job. I would rather have 4 Labtech knock-off batteries in 4 different tools than having to swap out one original battery on each and every tool.
Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to get info if a knock-off battery is safe and how much real wattage you can get out them. Dollar for dollar you might get a good deal on a knock-off battery - as long as that battery is safe. If you can find a company that honors the 1-year warranty if the battery becomes defective, then you might have good reason to try them out.
Dear Wife wanted me to get her a vacuum sealer for preserving our garden veggies. A friend of her's had one and said they were good. So, she wanted one, too. I was lucky to find a working Deni vacuum sealer at our Thrift Store for only $1.50. The first day we used it, Dear Wife was all excited about the vacuum sealing. The next day I noticed that she just put the veggies in freezer bags and did not use the vacuum sealer. I asked her why she was not using the vacuum sealer, and she basically said she thought it was not needed and took too much time and effort for her.
This might be just another instance of me buying something for the kitchen that Dear Wife loses interest in no time at all. I'm glad I only paid $1.50 for the sealer at the Thrift Store.
I am hoping that later this winter, Dear Wife will be able to test the taste differences between the vacuum sealed frozen food and the regular frozen food in baggies. That will be the real test to see if the vacuum sealer will ever be used over the long term. I hear great things about vacuum sealing, but it has to pass "is the extra time sealing the bags worth it" test.
True story, years ago, Dear Wife had a friend that insisted that she buy one of those electric chicken rotisseries because they cooked the chicken so well. She absolutely needed to get one for herself. It was all the rage. Well, I bought one for about $100, Dear Wife used it once, the chicken was not any better tasting, and it took too much time and effort cleaning the machine. It got packed up, put in the closet, and has been there for the past 30 years.
Having learned from getting burned in the past, I now try to buy kitchen stuff at the Thrift Store to try out. Dear Wife gets her newest gadget which, I guess, shows her how much I love her, but if she does not like the thing after using it, at least I have not spent a lot of money on it. Even better, our Thrift Store is run by a church group and a large portion of their money goes to local charities to help people in need. So, I consider any and all of my Thrift Store purchases as a donation to help those in need, whether or not I actually use the item. And, I have re-donated some items that just don't fit into our (Dear Wife's) lifestyle. It's all good to me and maybe someone else will find more value in that item.
