Hi OBs
I’ve recently bought some Black Friday Bosch Green tools that use the 18v Power For All batteries.
I’ve seen that there are some 3rd party batteries out there that are considerably cheaper than the offical Bosch batteries and have higher mAs / $. Some as much as 70% cheaper.
What are everyone’s experiences with using these 3rd party batteries? Any recommendations?
Cheers
'Some as much as 70% cheaper" …. There is a reason for that.
Your best bet to save money is to buy proper Bosch / warranty supported batteries, even though the initial outlay looks high.
Without wanting to be alarmist, this system (like many other battery based tool systems) uses lithum-ion based batteries - Sub-standard manufacturing or design flaws in the battery can increase fire risks when they are charging. I wouldn't want to risk that.
I personally use the Bosch Blue system (bought on discount or as part of kits, as per the above comment). Some of the original batteries (now over 5 years old) are still going and I've not had a single issue with any of them.
Can't comment on Bosch Green but have bought plenty of Makita batteries over the years. Every one of the cheap/no brand batteries I've purchased haven't even lasted 6 months and their capacity is usually lower than advertised mAh. Now I only buy genuine Makita and I advise you do the same.
Do you know whether Mac ever gave old mate his Makita back?
Don’t go cheap with batteries if you intend to work them. There’s a reason they are cheap. They all use factory seconds, second hand or otherwise lower quality cells.
I personally would never recommend getting third-party batteries.
Most of time they have fake mAh or don't last as long.
The best way to get batteries is to purchase 'kits' which comes with batteries.