Makita or not Makita ? Batteries that is

[West Cork Paul]

I have a range of Makita power tools, the 18V LXT ones, had them for over 20 years now and they’re faultless. Even the 3 original batteries are still good - well, 2 are, one’s deffo on the way out. I just bought a cordless ratchet wrench

and thought I ought to get a new battery to replace the doddery one. There are a host of batteries out there which are compatible with the 18V LXT tools, not Makita branded and therefore 1/2 the cost of the branded ones. Now afaik Makita don’t make batteries, thus the question is :

Q. Does anyone have first hand experience of non Makita branded batteries are they ok to buy or a waste of money and I’d be better sticking with the branded ones?

 

[NoGutsNoGlory]

I have a range of Makita power tools, the 18V LXT ones, had them for over 20 years now and they’re faultless. Even the 3 original batteries are still good - well, 2 are, one’s deffo on the way out. I just bought a cordless ratchet wrench

View attachment 141086

and thought I ought to get a new battery to replace the doddery one. There are a host of batteries out there which are compatible with the 18V LXT tools, not Makita branded and therefore 1/2 the cost of the branded ones. Now afaik Makita don’t make batteries, thus the question is :

Q. Does anyone have first hand experience of non Makita branded batteries are they ok to buy or a waste of money and I’d be better sticking with the branded ones?

I've not tried the non branded I just bought the Makita 5AH when they were on offer as I bought them through my business which was vat registered. Now I'm a poor pensioner I would consider the non branded.

 

[Exige]

I have a range of Makita power tools, the 18V LXT ones, had them for over 20 years now and they’re faultless. Even the 3 original batteries are still good - well, 2 are, one’s deffo on the way out. I just bought a cordless ratchet wrench

View attachment 141086

and thought I ought to get a new battery to replace the doddery one. There are a host of batteries out there which are compatible with the 18V LXT tools, not Makita branded and therefore 1/2 the cost of the branded ones. Now afaik Makita don’t make batteries, thus the question is :

Q. Does anyone have first hand experience of non Makita branded batteries are they ok to buy or a waste of money and I’d be better sticking with the branded ones?

It all depends on the quality of the cells - Makita will use Japanese made Brands I guess and the alternatives will use Chinese: some of which maybe combatable and some shite

ps, why not just use an electric drill / screwdriver = or your arms with T-Bars and save your money

 

[WAYNE]

I have a range of Makita power tools, the 18V LXT ones, had them for over 20 years now and they’re faultless. Even the 3 original batteries are still good - well, 2 are, one’s deffo on the way out. I just bought a cordless ratchet wrench

View attachment 141086

and thought I ought to get a new battery to replace the doddery one. There are a host of batteries out there which are compatible with the 18V LXT tools, not Makita branded and therefore 1/2 the cost of the branded ones. Now afaik Makita don’t make batteries, thus the question is :

Q. Does anyone have first hand experience of non Makita branded batteries are they ok to buy or a waste of money and I’d be better sticking with the branded ones?

With my time in the trade at Lawson H.I.S i would say go with the branded items, have a look on Lawson H.I.S website as they do an exstensive range of Makita goods. To go cheap on power tools is not a good road to go down, when i worked for them we had this idiot who wanted 10 cordless drills. We advised him to go Makita etc but he wanted Ryobi to save some money, a week later they all came back as returns, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and go for quality!!
PS: If you find a good quality cheaper make let me know!!

 

[Noobie]

@AirCon probably uses lots of battery tools, might even use some for work too

 

[Exige]

@AirCon probably uses lots of battery tools, might even use some for work too

 

[Fight the streets Fmd]

I have a range of Makita power tools, the 18V LXT ones, had them for over 20 years now and they’re faultless. Even the 3 original batteries are still good - well, 2 are, one’s deffo on the way out. I just bought a cordless ratchet wrench

View attachment 141086

and thought I ought to get a new battery to replace the doddery one. There are a host of batteries out there which are compatible with the 18V LXT tools, not Makita branded and therefore 1/2 the cost of the branded ones. Now afaik Makita don’t make batteries, thus the question is :

Q. Does anyone have first hand experience of non Makita branded batteries are they ok to buy or a waste of money and I’d be better sticking with the branded ones?

Get the branded ones Paul, the cheap ones are cheap for a reason , I tried some for my Paslode gun and they are crap, however if you spend some time online you can find some bargains for original ones, I recently bought a two pack for Makita way cheaper then usual , some crafty people split sets and sell power tools without their included batteries and then sell them cheap online separately

 

[The skitz]

Stay away from anything cheap with lithium ion on the side of it or at least store it under water in the gaf paul

 

[Loz]

Stay away from anything cheap with lithium ion on the side of it or at least store it under water in the gaf paul

Or keep it in the oven where it's customary to have high temperatures

 

[BobTheBounder]

I have two non branded makita 18v LXT 5ah, not cheapie ones, they have panasonic cells, had them a couple of years now, no issues at all, at the time they were 60% of the branded makita and manufactured in the same factory!
Mind I do use the pukka makita charger.

 

[Barry Hell]

I have two non branded makita 18v LXT 5ah, not cheapie ones, they have panasonic cells, had them a couple of years now, no issues at all, at the time they were 60% of the branded makita and manufactured in the same factory!
Mind I do use the pukka makita charger.

If you can confirm Panasonic cells then no issues

 

[BobTheBounder]

If you can confirm Panasonic cells then no issues

According to the blurb at the time, they used chinese produced panasonic cells, made in the same factories that all the top manufacturers use in China, the only difference was that the non branded ones, didn't have the big names charge counting circuitry, so theoretically last longer!

 

[AirCon]

@AirCon probably uses lots of battery tools, might even use some for work too

I use mainly Makita, with some Bosch and Milwaukie and big Hilti stuff.

 

[AirCon]

I have two non branded makita 18v LXT 5ah, not cheapie ones, they have panasonic cells, had them a couple of years now, no issues at all, at the time they were 60% of the branded makita and manufactured in the same factory!
Mind I do use the pukka makita charger.

I only use genuine cells as I have the factory tester to keep on top of the battery condition.

 

[Noobie]

Somethings just aren't worth cutting corners on if you rely on them

 

[BobTheBounder]

Somethings just aren't worth cutting corners on if you rely on them

Completely agree cocker, as I'm just a hobby spanner monkey, their use is light to medium, if I was in business then I would, as AC's post, purchase all the pukka gear vat back, written down over a couple of years for tax purposes then discarded to mates, gumtree or fbmarket for tokens

 

[WAYNE]

Completely agree cocker, as I'm just a hobby spanner monkey, their use is light to medium, if I was in business then I would, as AC's post, purchase all the pukka gear vat back, written down over a couple of years for tax purposes then discarded to mates, gumtree or fbmarket for tokens

I have cordless Ryobi one+ angle grinder, impact driver and drill for light use only!! When i used corded stuff i had to hang a extension lead out of the window down to my garage and i'm above the neighbours down stairs.

 

[BobTheBounder]

I have cordless Ryobi one+ angle grinder, impact driver and drill for light use only!! When i used corded stuff i had to hang a extension lead out of the window down to my garage and i'm above the neighbours down stairs.

Are they any good Wayne?

 

[BobTheBounder]

Are they any good Wayne?

And is it a hammer drill, sorry dude couldn't resist

 

[WAYNE]

Are they any good Wayne?

Yeah, well handy for the garage, the impact driver is the dogs, i use it to get the rear wheel nut off the 996. Well worth getting, i also have two chargers and batteries.

 

[WAYNE]

And is it a hammer drill, sorry dude couldn't resist

Yeah the drill does have hammer setting!!

 

[AirCon]

Completely agree cocker, as I'm just a hobby spanner monkey, their use is light to medium, if I was in business then I would, as AC's post, purchase all the pukka gear vat back, written down over a couple of years for tax purposes then discarded to mates, gumtree or fbmarket for tokens

Or hording... I've still got power / working battery drills from the 80's...

 

[AirCon]

When fault finding LTX batteries , genuine and copies... it isn't the actual cells failing, more mechanical joints and charge control pcbs. I even invested in a microwelder.

 

[West Cork Paul]

ps, why not just use an electric drill / screwdriver = or your arms with T-Bars and save you're money

When there’s 13 bolts to remove just to get the horizontal cam belt cover off a DVT engine (do t even mention the vertical cover ), and about 40 little bolts holding all the plastic fairing bits on, it all saves time to whizz them off with an automatic jobby and time is money - I spend far too long servicing bikes but that’s for a different thread

With my time in the trade at Lawson H.I.S i would say go with the branded items, have a look on Lawson H.I.S website as they do an exstensive range of Makita goods. To go cheap on power tools is not a good road to go down, when i worked for them we had this idiot who wanted 10 cordless drills. We advised him to go Makita etc but he wanted Ryobi to save some money, a week later they all came back as returns, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and go for quality!!
PS: If you find a good quality cheaper make let me know!!

I’ve got all the tools Wayne - Makita, I just need to replace some batteries hence the question. Looks like I’ll be going for the branded ones though, JIC.

 

[Exige]

When there’s 13 bolts to remove just to get the horizontal cam belt cover off a DVT engine (do t even mention the vertical cover ), and about 40 little bolts holding all the plastic fairing bits on, it all saves time to whizz them off with an automatic jobby and time is money - I spend far too long servicing bikes but that’s for a different thread

But it's the only exercise you get

 

[Noobie]

When there’s 13 bolts to remove just to get the horizontal cam belt cover off a DVT engine (do t even mention the vertical cover ), and about 40 little bolts holding all the plastic fairing bits on, it all saves time to whizz them off with an automatic jobby and time is money - I spend far too long servicing bikes but that’s for a different thread

Boltist

 

[West Cork Paul]

But it's the only exercise you get

Not strictly speaking true. I walk to and from my workshop 4x a day too (it’s all of 50mtrs but there are 10 steps to climb ).