Almost 2 years ago I brought in 3 Milwaukee 18V NiCd battery packs to get re-celled. They had to order the cells because they did not stock that size/capacity, so I had to wait several weeks for them. The cost was ~$45 each, which is about $10 cheaper than brand new factory batteries.
When they were done, I brought them home to use. All three of them failed nearly right away - they just stopped working and charging - a connection inside broke. I brought them back and was told that their spot welder was not operating correctly so they re-welded all three.
One failed again almost right away, so when I brought it back in, the guy handed me a brand new after market replacement battery, since it was the 2nd time back since getting re-celled. That was nice but that battery fits one drill extremely tightly and very snugly on another drill. It was a brand new battery, thought, and it has given no problems over the last year and a half.
The other two batteries, on the other hand, have been back in at least twice each. Each time, they were taken in and repaired at no charge, even though the 1 year mark had passed. I asked about it and was told the cells were warrantied for a year but that their work had a lifetime warranty.
This last time, at nearly the two year mark, I brought those two in again, along with a drill and a charger. One would not operate the drill or charge, indicating that one of the welds inside was broken again. The other one would still operate the drill but it would not charge on the charger.
I went to pick it all up yesterday. He said they fixed the batteries but that my charger was bad (even thought I used it the night before I brought everything in to charge the previously replaced battery, and it worked fine again when I got it home...).
He also said that it was normal for welds to wear out eventually but that's clearly bull. I've never seen or hear of a factory battery failing with a broken weld. Batteries Plus' spot welding technique and/or machine is the issue.
When I was about to walk out, he started to ring me up. I didn't see the amount because he never gave me the paper but it looked like it may have been $89. I complained that I'd never been charged before and was not told when I brought them in that there'd be a charge. He stepped in the back to make a call. When he came back, he said that the batteries and work were only warrantied for a year. Mine were out and although I should be charged he was going to let me go.
Long story short: having my cordless tool batteries re-celled has not been worth the effort, aggravation, lost time, or lower cost in comparison to brand new factory batteries. read more