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Generic Milwaukee Batteries

mitch504

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
5,776
Location
Andrews SC
Have any of you guys that use Milwaukee tools ever tried the chinese batteries on fleabay?

I was looking at the 8.0 batteries, and you can get 4 for the price of one. I am thinking they may be worth a try, it would seem you are doing good if worth half what the real ones are. (We gotta get the little shrugging smiley back. That is my most common emotion.)
 

Ronsii

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Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
3,464
Location
Western Washington
Occupation
s/e Heavy equipment operator
Have any of you guys that use Milwaukee tools ever tried the chinese batteries on fleabay?

I was looking at the 8.0 batteries, and you can get 4 for the price of one. I am thinking they may be worth a try, it would seem you are doing good if worth half what the real ones are. (We gotta get the little shrugging smiley back. That is my most common emotion.)
When I first got some m18 tools I bought a couple knockoff Batts... Basically you get what you pay for... I'll stick with the genuine Batts for now.... Although 4 for one doesn't sound too bad...

On another note... I have at least one of my 9 amp Batts going bad... And I think they're only a bit over a year old :( most of my Milwaukee stuff has been bought online at reputable dealers so not sure how their warranty works??? I did have to take an impact wrench with a problem in to a certified repair center In town last year.
 

bam1968

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2014
Messages
528
Location
IA
Occupation
Excavating Contractor
About 6 months ago I bought an 18 volt Milwaukee grease gun off of Ebay. It was brand new and came with 2 of the small batteries (3 amp I believe). I have a handful of M18 tools that have worked flawlessly. 'Long story short' about a month went by before I put the small batteries that came with the grease gun on the charger. The first one charged up just fine but the second battery wouldn't take a charge at all. I took the battery to a local farm and ranch type store that handles alot of Millwaukee tools. I thought they would just verify that it was a defective battery and swap it out for another one. Well no such luck. They told me that I had to send the battery off to Millwaukee's headquarters along with a copy of my sales reciept and pay shipping both ways. I was not impressed at all. From now on I am only buying the higher amp batteries. That way if I get a bad one it will be worth my while to send it off for replacement.
 

Ronsii

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
3,464
Location
Western Washington
Occupation
s/e Heavy equipment operator
I wonder how your supposed to freight it??? since you cant send lithium batts as they are a hazard....


I loved my old dewalts with the nicd's got a decent service life out of them too... then makita came out with their lithium's everybody was hyping them!!! so I bought the little metal cutting circular saw - with 2 batts and a free extra batt direct from mak :) first batt went TU in about a month... second two were a month or two behind... that soured me on this new 'green' batt crap.... for a while.... then out comes milwaukee with their new and improved 'green crap' it's better has protection to make the batts last a lonnnnnnggggggggggg time :) so I drop a few K on this new miracle stuff.... don't get me wrong now... I like the tools for the most part... although there are quite a few things they didn't do that dewalt has got down pat! in making the tools user friendly and useful ;) but if these batts start dropping like flies in the first year when they come with a 3 year warranty that costs you a good percentage of the batt then it's just another 'green' marketing crap scheme that doesn't work in the real world :(
 

Steve Frazier

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Staff member
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Oct 30, 2003
Messages
6,599
Location
LaGrangeville, N.Y.
I've had the same learning experience as most who have commented. I've bought DeWalt 18V knockoffs that have lasted less than a year with moderate use and Milwauki M12 knockoff that had the retaining tabs break off within a week. It was noticeably lighter in weight than the OEM too. I'll look for the best deal on OEM from now on.
 

MarshallPowerGen

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
442
Location
Northwestern USA
Occupation
Generator Technician & Equipment Mechanic
I bought one of the standard M12 knock offs just for the case. Tabs broke off of some of the old ones (which then I melted together with a soldering iron). The genuine Milwaukee guts dropped right in. Saved the knock off batteries since they fit in a HF led light I have at work, but they're crap batteries that only last an hour if I'm lucky.

Milwaukee warranty is easy. Fill out the info, print and ship, and get it back after they've checked it out. My mid-torque gun was gutless out of the box, they rebuilt it all on their dime and it's a whole different animal now.
 

kenh

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2010
Messages
264
Location
bonners ferry,id
I have good luck with the knockoff's from Amazon.
Drill and lights seem to have a decent run time, too early to rate longevity.
 

Oldcatpusher

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
161
Location
Arkansas
20200422_121453.jpg 20200408_163434.jpg I honestly go to the pawn shops. Get brand new Milwaukee high outputs for cheap. 100 for a 12ah the other day and I get the 6ah almost anytime lately for $40 or less a piece. I'm not gonna chance running a knock off battery in high dollar tools
 

Mike L

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
1,897
Location
Texas
Occupation
Self employed field mechanic
I tried some knock offs and didn’t have good luck. I had to sit them in the charger just right to get them to charge and the charge didn’t last nearly as long as the genuine Milwaukee batteries.
 
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Old Doug

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
4,484
Location
Mo
Has anyone had problems with there m18 impact batteries not locking in tight.
 

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
Joined
Oct 30, 2003
Messages
6,599
Location
LaGrangeville, N.Y.
Just an update: I bought these Aug. 5th just to see what would happen and they've been great. The only complaint was that the slide rails were a little tight until they wore in.

I'd be interested to see a six month update on this. The ones I purchased worked great out of the box but after 6 months had dropped to half the run time as when they were new.
 

Mike L

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
1,897
Location
Texas
Occupation
Self employed field mechanic
Has anyone had problems with there m18 impact batteries not locking in tight.

I’ve got one of my original batteries which are 3+ years old that doesn’t lock in tight anymore. I’ve designated it to my grease gun where gravity keeps it in place.
 

mitch504

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
5,776
Location
Andrews SC
I'd be interested to see a six month update on this. The ones I purchased worked great out of the box but after 6 months had dropped to half the run time as when they were new.

I know it's been more than 6 months, more like 3.3 years. It was cold and raining a few days ago, so I decided to test them. I kept one of the chinese "6.0"s as a reserve and seldom used it, and used the other one as one of my primary batteries. I also have a real 5.0 I got used with a sawzall I traded a friend for, and a real 5.0 I bought new about 6 months before I got the knock offs. I also have a bunch of other real batteries of various sizes.

I used my M18 vacuum as it uses about as much power as anything I have. From the start the chinesium "6.0"s were about equal to the real 5.0s, but not as good as real 6.0s. Now, 3.5 years later, the runtime on all 4 of these batteries were still within a minute of each other. It appears I won the chinesium lottery!
 

92U 3406

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Joined
Jan 3, 2017
Messages
3,098
Location
Western Canuckistan
Occupation
Wrench Bender
I've got a pair of Powertech M12 batteries for my heated hoody. Seem to get about 1.5 to 2 hours out of each battery with the heat on max.
 

Tyler d4c

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2016
Messages
1,750
Location
Salix Pa
When I first got some m18 tools I bought a couple knockoff Batts... Basically you get what you pay for... I'll stick with the genuine Batts for now.... Although 4 for one doesn't sound too bad...

On another note... I have at least one of my 9 amp Batts going bad... And I think they're only a bit over a year old :( most of my Milwaukee stuff has been bought online at reputable dealers so not sure how their warranty works??? I did have to take an impact wrench with a problem in to a certified repair center In town last year.
The warranty is easy make a account follow the on screen instructions print the papers put in the box drop it at FedEx (doller general hands this) if it warranty and ther serials are readable it gets fixed. Haven't turned me away yet of stuff that was still in.
 

JD955SC

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Messages
1,349
Location
The South
Supposedly the knockoffs don’t have the tool protection features the genuine articles do and thus can result in damage or fires.
 
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