Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Dewalt). This thread is read-only.
I purchased 2 new Dewalt powerstack 5ah batteries (DCBP518H2) from a reputable online seller. The manufacturing date is Apr/2022. Should I worry about long term performance, since the batteries are manufactured more than 2 years ago at the time of purchase (Aug/2024)? I can return/exchange them within 14 days if this is an issue, the batteries were not discounted and many other retailers have similar prices.
Any thoughts?
From my understanding, it’s not the date, as much as it is the recharge cycles. A new battery is set to go into “sleep” mode until the first charge so I would first make sure the battery can be charged and will take a full charge. Second, make sure it’s a real Dewalt battery and not a knockoff with the Dewalt outside but cheap cells or a cheap circuit board inside. If it’s a real Dewalt and it recharges, I would think you would be fine. I would register the battery as you should have a 3-year warranty, I think it’s from the date of purchase, but check as it might be from the manufacture date. I think if you register the battery, it’s from the date of purchase but if you do not register and try warranty work, then it’s from the date of manufacturer.
Thanks Eric,
I haven’t charged the batteries yet because I’m still deciding whether I should return them for an exchange or buy them from another store. Dewalt does allow registration for these batteries, even though they were manufactured two years ago, and they offer a 3-year warranty starting from the date of purchase.
I don’t suspect the retailer (Screwfix-UK) of selling knockoff batteries; it’s more likely that I just ended up with older stock. Given that they’re not inexpensive, I think I’ll return them and check if they have newer ones available.
In the meantime, I found this article which suggests that prolonged storage can indeed affect battery performance:
That sounds like a good move and thanks for the link. I will read through that.