Here's the list of batteries reviewed. More details in the video description. Thank you! Authentic DeWalt: amzn.to/3yXhmHP Authentic Milwaukee: amzn.to/3VaroNw Authentic Makita: amzn.to/4bN5pmS Milwaukee M18 TOP-OFF 175W Power Supply: amzn.to/45aD3As
Be careful Todd, anyone can sell on any listing on Amazon marketplace. They can even FBA fake batteries to Amazon for fulfillment. The newer fake M18 batteries are literally identical on the outside. I suggest only buying from big box stores when it comes to batteries. All these stores usually run deals on batteries which will be cheaper than the possibly fake Amazon ones.
Thanks for all the hard work doing the thorough testing and getting us all this awesome information! And for posting links to genuine batteries. Other than getting the info you posted here, how does one know youre getting genuine batteries when purchasing online? Is it price? It seems like once the counterfeitters catch on to that, all they would have to do is raise the price to normal levels and you'd never know.
Hopefully someone from Amazon sees this and can put systems in place to stop the sale of counterfeits on their store. Should be the responsibility of Amazon to vet products they sell, damage of property, injury due to fire will fall upon Amazon.
It’s insane! If they put the effort, money and resources they used in making the battery look like OEM into making the battery good they could probably make a battery that is just as good at a cheaper price.
Wow, this was a great video. Many years ago, I had a Bosch 7.2V drill. I left the battery on the charger in my garage and it caught on fire. I lost my garage and my house had damage from the fire. The firemen thought the fire started from the gas hot water heater, but the most damaged area was where the charger was. A few years later, I was in my store when I smelled something burning. I also heard a crackling noise and it smelled like melted plastic. I followed the sound and found the battery smoking while it was in the charger. I pulled it off the charger and it melted in my hand (and burned my skin). I pulled the plug from the wall and watched it to make sure the battery didn't catch fire. Needless to say, the entire Bosch kit went into the trash! If I'm not mistaken, it was a NiCad battery - the original was purchased around 1993 and the replacement in 1997. Since that happened, I don't leave my chargers plugged in with a battery. As soon as the charge light is on, I pull the battery pack off. I haven't bought an online battery yet and after watching your video, I won't. Having been though a house fire, it's not worth the small savings to put myself and family at risk. A deepest thank you for doing this video. The shorting of the battery pack was very important and informative!
Almost 2 years ago I took a 48 volt Ebike battery pack apart ,like 50 or so, separated the cells into packs of 6, and put them in ziplock bags. laid the bags in a box and put it in the shed. Then about an hour later I noticed my shed pouring smoke out the vent. knew right away what it had to be. I almost ripped the door off trying pull the thing out with a garden hoe. After getting it out and far enough away, I covered it with a few shovels full of dirt I was able to save most of them though, except a dozen or so batteries, but who knows what would have happened if I hadn't seen it myself, because the shed has 3/4 plywood floor that did get burned, and its right under two trees that have branches covering the whole top of it. So I was lucky
Most of the scams are easy to pick up on , the batteries are a brand name like Gooey Chong or something. I would never buy batteries on line expecting them to be genuine. It just doesn't happen
Hello again, Project Farm Thank you for another Great Video 👍 Question for you, if buy your batteries from either Home Depot or Lowes the batteries should be good. 😊
@@georgeferlazzo7936how is that a question ? Also you’re replying to a user, not the channel. But alas, I totally agree with you. Buy from a billing box retailer and you can be certain that you’re buying legit. Amazon simply doesn’t care enough to put real effort into verifying the quality of its vendors. However, for all other things, Amazon’s return-policy process is the only reason I shop with them too.
Manufacturing in China is not like it is in other countries. Those batteries may consist of parts made from several different manufacturers. The scammers are buying excess parts or older parts that the original manufacturer has upgraded or simply changed somehow. The scammers may even work in the actual factory where the original product is manufactured and they are assembling the counterfeit batteries with a mix of original components and cheaper parts they bought for little to nothing. The circuit board and quality Samsung cells are what cost the original manufacturer the most money so that’s the main things these scammers change. All we can do is report them if we find out about them and stop buying the product. But it’s almost impossible to stop them.
I got scammed by a "reputable" on-line dealer. Both the battery pack and the charger I purchased were fake and potentially lethal. I now only buy direct from the manufacturer websites. This video really reinforces how careful you need to be. Thanks!
Amazon just dumps everything from all the sellers into a single bin. Seller could be legit but amazon mixes the products as long as they are the same model number.
I managed to buy some genuine ones but it took a looooot of research to spot the fakes and that info gets outdated quickly. You can't trust brick & mortar, either. You're right to buy direct from the company.
Those sellers should be arrested for fraud. OR BETTER YET, make a claim with your credit card company, and not pay a single cent, then the seller loses.
That's why it's important to make sure to buy batteries from an authorized retailer that only uses the traditional supply chain to get their products. You'll notice many of these kind of UA-cam videos will readily show a certain auction website where you can get counterfeits, but when those channels use affiliate links for a certain retailer named after a rainforest, they'll typically avoid discussing the co-mingled inventory issues on that affiliate website that allows these fakes into their supply chain. Even when "sold by [company]," you can end up with a fake, as said company will take inventory intake from third parties directly, and/or through their return system. It's a huge problem, but it allows them to always have stock available, and have low prices. Meanwhile, your local brick and mortar has to order their supply from the manufacturer for the full, regular wholesale price, and they have to wait for shipments to restock, etc. Consumers are impatient and want to save some money, which creates this entire cottage industry in China. And, it's not batteries. This affects most consumer products. So long as people prefer to save some money up front, and "get it next day," these Chinese companies will keep making fakes. It's kind of unfortunate. I get that those affiliate links probably drive good revenue for often great channels (like this one), but they're kind of part of the problem; channels don't want to openly talk about the issue because they depend on that revenue.
I had two counterfeit batteries by accident, Lowe’s had an open package on clearance that was returned with no problems reported. When I got home they would not charge so I returned them, Luckily they grabbed an unopened package and swapped them for me plus the guy informed me that I got to pick a free tool! I told him I had bought these on clearance and therefore didn’t think I qualified and he winked and said well the promotion doesn’t say otherwise so I picked up a free cordless angle grinder after getting $200 worth of batteries for $75.00
I have 18 different Dewalt battery packs in my garage at various watt hours and I never even thought of some of them being counterfeit. Turns out 4 of them are. I will definitely not be using those anymore. Thanks for the video!
Out of curiosity if they are paid for already and still work properly why would you not just use them up and discard them? Are you fearful of a safety issue charging them? I have counterfeits but I will use them till they start to degrade and be more careful in my future purchases.
@@scottshawn70 correct, I'd prefer not to use the ones that don't have the safety features built in like the genuine ones do. I've had a battery pack catch fire on me before and it was not fun. If there's even a slightly higher chance of that happening then no thanks. Plus, I already have far more batteries than I need from them coming with tools I purchased, people gifting them to me, it won't make a bit of a difference if I stop using 4 of the 18.
Have you been living under a rock?? Counterfeits are prevalent in every market now. This is the result of globalization. People of that country making all this junk have every incentive to cheat us.
Sir, the federal government/ Consumer Protection Agency should subsidize you, provide you a product testing lab or put you on their payroll for all of your product reporting that has been serving the American public with very helpful information! Thanks for what you do!
The agencies are aware about most of these scams/counterfeits, but lack the legal authority and lawyers to do as much about it as they should. Plus, politicians are continually writing in loopholes for companies at the low cost of a few campaign contributions.
I am guessing the serial was copied from a genuine battery and the website only checks to see if it is valid - it doesn't verify if it's been registered before.
I only have one battery for an impact wrench I use on my car and I registered it on the Dewalt website when I got it, very cheap on ebay by the way. I just unscrewed the cover to check and the batteries look brown in color but they are encased and dont want to take it apart any more. The board looks legit, not just a bunch of wires. So now i just dont know. The battery seems to work great, im always impressed with how long it lasts and hardly ever having to charge it. Dewalt shows i still have a year left on the warranty.
@@CraigNethEven if it did check it's very possible that number was simply not registered before but I wouldn't be shocked to hear they don't both validating this.
I purchased a food saver food sealer from Costco. when I went to register it on food saver web site, I was able to. But it did state it wasn't made to their specs. was made cheaper using Costco specs. Buying a name brand anywhere but from the manufacturer, you will probably get a knock-off. if it has the brand name stamp, ever who sells it are leasing the names brand from them.
@@theplayernkc Report these listings as scams. Report the sellers to ebay - it DOES work. They will get banned. Sure it's whack-a-mole but why not whack a few of them? Just to make things difficult for these Chinese fraudsters.
can do what everyone else does, go to tractor supply and just steal them, when i worked there we would find endless battery packs open and stolen and the management didn't care. it was like 1% of our sales, so like 600-900k a year, boots and batteries #1 theft... but we were not alot to do anything about it... but when it came at the end of the month for bonuses it was "we didn't make this month" yeah cause you let 100k walk out the door...
@@quickplaya they dont care.... no one does. i had a guy walk in and take like 3 pairs of boots. no police where called, no one even checked the cams. said "the guy comes in every few months" and no one tries to stop em... so when a manager tells you that. as far as im concerned i dont care either at that point. i worked there for 4 months, honestly super easy job and sorta fun when the customers are chill. but we also had a dude come in every month and shit everywhere in the mens room and smear it... and they expected me to clean it, like i knew who did it. i just left one day when he showed up. they would always only staff 2 people 3-4 if you where lucky, and expect me to go clean shit + do cashier and customer help... and i was just like, naw dawg i aint paid enough to deal with all this BS
Camara don't stop stealing, you have to identify the person. Most people doing this are mostly near homeless selling to contractor $10 a battery and left over McDonald's.
Big respect for not covering up the eBay sellers' profiles. Can't take action against garbage slingers if you don't know who's slinging the garbage, even if that action is limited to just not buying their garbage. Hopefully you'll get your money back!
@@bribbripnairbnab7301 100% money back after melting. Just get Ebay to step in, mention counterfeit being sold on their platform, and they slam the counterfeiter immediately and give you a refund.
@@bribbripnairbnab7301 That's probably the card that eBay would probably end up playing, but it still doesn't change the fact that the item is not as described, and if Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, etc were so inclined, would definitely go against eBay's VERO if they chose to participate in it, even if these counterfeitters were just slightly more honest and said "Milwaukee-compatible" or something along those lines.
Shortly after Milwaukee released the M12 5.0 and 2.5 HO batteries they appeared on Amazon. The M12 5.0 was 60 something. I ordered one and compared it to the one Home Depot sold me. They were identical, the best I could tell. The laser print was there and good. Koon Trucking has a weekly video with a Matco dealer. Matco man did a warranty swap for a Milwaukee battery. Milwaukee contacted him and said it was a counterfeit battery. Matco Corp put on a class on how to identify a counterfeit. Unless you know what to look for you would be hard pressed to identify the knock off, it's that good. If the price is a great deal, considerably cheaper than what a authorized dealer charges then the odds are good its a fake. My cheaper 5.0 will not last as long and seems to offer less power. Thanks for another great video brother.
this makes sense, quite possible they set up shop and sold real batteries for a bit to ensure good reviews, then start shoveling trash after a month or 50 positive reviews.
@@Dreddy72 They are extremely good at counterfeiting. It has the proper color, texture, paperwork, packaging, everything. The reason Matco got involved was they carry and warranty Milwaukee tools. If I remember correctly Milwaukee actually put the class on for all their dealers. Its a pretty good video, worth watching although he dosen't reveal how to spot a fake. Koon trucking Matco video back a few months ago now.
It isn't the FTC's job to test every product entering the country. Its the responsibility of the manufacturers to enforce their trademark and copyright rights. What it tells you is that these companies know about the counterfeits. They just don't care. It would cost them more to try to shut them down than they would make in additional sales.
@@spencers4121 I've heard that the way Amazon stores 3rd party seller goods ("sold by xxx, shipped by Amazon") makes it possible for fake 3rd party goods to intermingle with genuine Amazon goods. Once they're in Amazon's warehouse, they're coded as the product they're claiming to be. And Amazon's robots grab the nearest one regardless of which seller it "belongs" to.
They won’t. Counterfeiting is too far out of hand. For instance with rifle optics; I’ve stumbled upon VERY convincing fake $4,000 optics, to the point where if I hadn’t had experience with the models before I can promise I wouldn’t have even suspected it. Giveaways are usually the internals, and actual mechanics of the sights. It’s the same with all these fakes, they’re just extremely adept at simulating appearances and only put enough effort into the guts to make it passable until it’s too late to realize you were scammed.
Thank you for doing this video!!! I've had a counterfeit battery catch fire on me while it was in my toolbelt and I have a burn scar on my leg from it. I didn't even realize it was counterfeit at the time, I just thought it was a good deal on Amazon. We NEED to make more people aware of this! And there needs to be some kind of law about this!!! Someone needs to step in and put a stop to these or make them label them as "not genuine" so this kind of thing doesn't happen to others. It could've been alot worse, I was around saw dust that day and it could've set the whole worksite on fire! And who would you sue for something like that?!
I'm glad you are talking about counterfeiting. It's getting completely out of control, particularly on Amazon. It's getting hard to buy any brand names products without getting a counterfeit, because the number of counterfeits is overwhelming authentic products.
@@daniel22900 Amazon has a single bin they put "all the same model" into - so the counterfeits and the genuine batteries would end up all mixed together, even with different sellers. The only way to be sure is to buy them from your local tool shop. I also know these guys and nobody gets a better discount than the genuine sellers, so if you see a cheaper one online there is a reason.
@@daniel22900 that wont help if the stock is kept in Amazon's warehouse. They pool all the same stock together for different sellers. This means genuine stock gets mixed with the fakes.
Thanks for showing the dangers of counterfeits! As an electrical engineer, these things scare me. I remember all the flame outs with cheap cells in hover boards, and have seen a neighbor’s garage go up in flames from a DIY eBike battery pack from lithium cells of dubious origin.
I like the information on the differential weight of real vs. counterfeit. Seems like most counterfeiters don't feel the need to add some lead to make the weight match, at least, not yet. At least in big box stores, one can compare the heft of several battery packages and maybe avoid counterfeit returns.
OMG I just checked my 18V Milwaukee and it is a counterfeit! I have 2, bought one from AMZ along with a tire inflator and one off of ebay for half the price. The cheaper one will not slide into the inflator without forcing it, the other slides in like butter; Now I know why! I weighed both and had the same results as you showed. I have no recourse as it has been too long to return. But thank you for the video, I will pass this info on for sure!
One suggestion for a future video like this, keep the display of the items in question on the same side of the shot at all times. What I mean by this is if the counterfeit is on the left, keep all the counterfeits on the left and all the genuines on the right. It will help us as viewers to keep track of which one is which and to follow along more easily. Otherwise, great video and I look forward to more like it.
There are sooo many counterfeit products on Amazon and sites like eBay. Videos like this are a really valuable piece of information. Especially things that help identify counterfeit vs legit products. Some companies have a guide on counterfeits but not all and not for every product.
Assumed they would underperform but wanted more on how to avoid buying fakes. My only clue would be price and maybe misspellings or bad English if they're really bad. Not going to know details about where manufactured or open them to verify batteries
Great way to bring awareness to this! Gonna save a lot of us some trouble! Also, Video idea; kinda like the best and worst 10, what were the most requested items/brands that were suggested AFTER the video? Like the recovery rope video really got me wondering how good the Harbor Freight version is compared to the others. I think it would generate a fair bit of interest
You are a god amongst mere mortals PF, please keep up your video methodology no matter how much flack you cop (if any) you are giving important information / safety advice to us consumers, within the trades or otherwise. You are one of the real ones PF, never change!
The same can be said for autoparts. You think you are getting a genuine OEM part, but it is counterfeit. This is where the brick and mortar stores guarantee authentic and genuine parts. As the old adage goes, you can't judge a book by its cover. Thanks for the video Todd and have a great day!
The airline regulatory agencies uncovered similar problems with spare parts back in the 1990s, after fake parts (substandard bolts - Partnair Flight 394) resulted in a fatal crash. That resulted in stricter controls (and higher expense) for sourcing parts used for maintenance and repair. But it's still anyone's guess what percentage of the parts used are fake.
Auto parts? Counterfeits are a huge issue with airplane parts too. It's not like we can just pull over when something gives out, and believe me it's exciting when you blow a tire landing your Supercub.
I’ve long believed that Amazon was full of low quality and counterfeit products, so I’ve mostly avoided purchasing there. Thank you for this valuable community service!
I just bought a couple M12 batteries from amazon that were only about $20 less normal (rather than half the price) and upon weighing the one I've received so far, it weighs 370g whereas the one I got from home depot previously is 422g. Also the red plastic is a slightly darker color, as well as the red on the sticker on the side. Thanks for this video! I had no idea these were a thing! I will return it and leave a review to warn the next people
I recently left a seller review on Amazon: "Do not buy counterfeit 3M products from this seller." I then reported them to 3M's counterfeit reporting site, but I'm sure they're overwhelmed with the relentless deluge of fakes. It used to infuriate me to see blatant fakes of products, but I've started to numb and cynical about it, as it seems like the online retailers like Amazon couldn't care less unless it involves bad PR.
@@Dwigt_Rortugal Seems like Amazon/ebay/etc are just filled with fake Chinese / knock offs. I noticed many products say one thing but are just flat out lies. I bought something as simple as silverware and it was all fake even when the ad and reviews said other wise. Bought silicon gloves and after testing it at home found out it was made from some cheap/harmful plastics. You can not go by reviews today either.. Probably paid or bots. Check for repeat reviews. One issue to look out for is if they have zero products in their own Amazon store. Shipping from "California" can also be a warning. They often buy places in Cal and use as a warehouse. I honestly dislike online shopping. It is filled with fakes. Sad how the world is being pushed into online shopping only.
@@Dwigt_Rortugal Yep, Amazon literally doesn't give two shits and even the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commissions) is basically suicidality depressed at this point because they can only use their government power to force amazon to recall and remove certain products one at a time...like fake smoke alarms....
I purchased a pair of dewalt batteries thinking I was purchasing oem because they were more expensive than the knockoffs and claimed to be authentic. However, I noticed over the past few weeks they don’t seem to last even half the time as the ones that actually came with my dewalt tools. Wasn’t necessarily searching for any videos about my concerns but your video popped up in my feed as a suggestion. So, I watched it because of the relevance. Having done so, I’ve now put the batteries in a LIPO fire protection storage bag and will keep them outside in a spare gang box I have out behind my shop (not up against the shop) and I’ll only get em out when I need to do a project that requires doing so. I’ve always left them either on my power tools shelves in my shop or even in my garage. NEVER AGAIN! Todd, you very well could’ve just saved me a house or shop fire due to these subpar counterfeit batteries! For that my friend, I can’t thank you enough for what you do and for this video specifically! Keep on keeping on! We love ya Pal!👍
Panicked me for a few minutes... I have only recently bought a pair of 5Ah DeWalt batteries and misunderstood your identifiers of the new vs old case styles, so I took mine apart to confirm they have the circuit board inside. In case anyone else is unsure, the old style has the yellow strip below the release button (which the fake ones also have) whereas the new ones do not. The new ones are also slightly larger than the older ones. I have a pair of each (all genuine). After watching a previous video you did where you tested the capacity of fake/cheap ones vs genuine ones, I'm convinced the genuine ones are worth the expense. Thanks again for everything you do. This is top-tier consumer information.
Never buy power tool batteries off Amazon. I've been scammed 2 times. Once with DeWalt batteries and again with Craftsman. Amazon did refund my money both times even though I didn't realize they were fakes until about a year after purchase but it did take many hours on the phone to get the refund. I just buy at Lowe's or Home Depot.
@@RenoBusdriverthat's un-american! Help your billionaire Overlord by buying his Chinese products. But you're right - buying anything legit from Amazon is going to disappoint. For these batteries however, of you buy 'compatible' batteries, you get these batteries without the fake branding, for half of what these cost. Sure they're not as good as the original, but 4 of them for less than 1 original? I'll take the 20% lower power capacity. The real scam is the real company charging what they do for cheap cell batteries
@@MelodicTurtleMetal The aftermarket batteries definitely have their place. You don't need high capacity tough batteries to power a portable light or air blower or something for DIY use, so 80% of the capacity for 50% of the price is a fair trade in my opinion, just as long as the product is labelled as such. But of course for high current power tools (or if you're using them to earn an income) then you will want the real ones.
I do not believe you see the entire issue. Scammers don't buy them to use them. Scammers buy them so they can so they can be passed off for a refund - go to a store, buy a real one, and then return the counterfeit. If it is close enough the store will just take the return and put it on the shelf. If someone ends up buying it and gets SOME use out of it, they will probably never know. That is the scam, and how you can get authentic batteries for $50 or so to do whatever with (either to resell or use). Because of this there is a decent chance that at least some of the batteries on the shelf at your local store are also fake, depending on how bad the problem is in your area.
Shocked me! I had no idea there were counterfeit batteries that were sold to look 100% like the originals. I've seen batteries that mimic the OEM looks, but these knock-offs should be totally illegal. Where is the DOJ???? Why isn't the government doing their jobs???
I'm posting to let you know that I recently bought and applied the Sylvania headlight restoration kit based on your review and just as you depicted, the results were outstanding. We restored the headlights and fog lights on an older Mercedes E350 and they look like they are showroom new. Thanks for everything you do!
Give this guy a Medal!!! Side Note: please, add a parenthese in the graph saying notes like (slower the better) or (higher the better) to quickly identify winner and loser. Minor adjsumtent though. You're the best channel on UA-cam! ❤❤
@@sarihaddu I'm not sure how they lasted him so long, but it sure is impressive. On Makita batteries i noticed the cells were made in Japan. And they know how to make batteries.
@@ProjectFarmMy 10 yo De-Walt is that way and I've gotten water and transmission fluid in the tool a few times, kept on working. I bought it from Lowes in 2014, 2 batteries and a charger and a case, pricey but it's paid for itself in less than a years use.
I never had to buy spare batteries. And i never thought of counterfeit ones. But i know now. Just pay the extra money for the real deal. Thanks for exposing the fake ones! Great video!
I hate this idea it gives corporate greed an excuse to keep upping prices. They can say oh well we are the real deal so pay $500 thats 480% more then what it COST US to make it.since it cost them a whole 30 bucks per battery.
Thanks for putting this out. It might help others out. Unfortunately, two weeks ago, I purchased four batteries of De-Walt 5 amp. I could not tell they were counterfeit until I saw this video.
SD cards and other flash memory are also a huge problem. Fakes sold out there that are indistinguishable from the real thing, and they don’t deliver on the read/write speeds you would have expected.
@@sukhjhangri5048How do you find the genuine article? I typically buy direct from Amazon, (not sellers) but maybe micro SD cards have a better chance of being genuine from a brick and mortar store? I punish the cards to death on our dash cams.
I love your content, it is exactly what I’m looking for concerning reviews of general products. I’m hoping you might make a video on portable ac units. A lot of people like myself are in apartments where window units aren’t allowed, and so knowing what portable ac unit is the best bang for your buck would be quite helpful. Thank you for your content.
Earlier this week, I unknowingly bought and received counterfeit Milwaukee m18 batteries from eBay. Upon opening and trying to charge them, I realized they were not authentic. I was curious about the performance of these counterfeit ones, and your video clearly demonstrated my curiosity. Thank you for making this video. Very helpful.
My red flags to avoid are any seller using the same photo for multiple battery listings, any seller selling more than five of the same battery and any negative feedback with the word battery. I've seen 99.1% feedback sellers where that 0.9% is dozens of complaints of counterfeit batteries. I've had good luck buying used batteries from small sellers.
eBay and Amazon are STUFFED full of counterfeit auto parts too. Don't buy auto parts from either marketplace. You'll get knock offs. They are even making knock off spark plugs without the iridium and platinum tips that make modern plugs last so long and work so well.
Best fire extinguisher for the home is a 2.5 gallon water extinguisher. Dry chems don't work real well and make an incredible mess. Best extinguisher for the kitchen is a lid on the pan. There's not a really good extinguisher for car fires unless you can get the hood opened really fast. But a 5 A BC is as good as it'll get without lunking a huge extinguisher around.
Listening to @RealJeep may be detrimental to your life. First a water extinguisher should rarely be used unless it's solely combustible materials (wood, paper, grass, etc), never use on oils, fuels, grease, most plastics and never anything electrical. Yes the dry chem extinguishers make a mess but if used properly they work the best for most situations. I strongly recommend that if you have questions concerning fire extinguishers go to your local fire dept and ask for their help in the matter. Most fire dept's will actually come to your residence and suggest locations to keep them (or like the dept I retired from would even install them for you if you bought them). Same goes for smoke detectors and CO detectors.
@@johnh2880 Odd, The first guy off of an FDNY truck company is the can man. He can put out a lot of fire with a 2.5 gallon can. Second, dry chem extinguishers suck and hardly ever work. If they did fire engines would have big tanks of Purple K on them like ARFF truck do. No, you can't use a can on burning fuels or energized elect equipment but how many homes have those fires? No, busy fire departments will not come to your home for a fire extinguisher class, you must be a vollie.
How is it not illegal to label these batteries the same. I have bought cheaper or off brand batteries for both my Dewalt and milwaukee tools but knew what I was buying. Anyone could be going to store and trading these out so we the people are getting ripped off.
It is illegal just not worth the cost of fighting it. Most professionals (people who use tools for work) buy their tools from home Depot, Lowe's, acme, or similar legitimate source so the scamazon or fleabay sales don't matter.
So is accepting bribes ILLEGAL… But it does not matter when those whose job it is to stop the illegal practice, are themselves receiving “benefits” for looking the other way.
My son asked me what’s different today compared to 40 years ago , as for scams and thefts, crimes that affect everybody and we need to watch out for. Scams and thefts today are more organized and sophisticated , and very difficult to avoid. I do think that there is usually a bait, or a trap to watch out for. When a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is. Most people who shop online have been affected by scams, and some of us avoid sellers that not well known. The game is always changing, and much thanks to project farm for helping us out with this. I’m surprised Kousin Eddie wasn’t holding the metal salad tongs for the short circuit test, it’s the kind of thing he seems prone to doing !
After watching this videos I've got sketchy feeling and decides to disassembled all my batteries to check out if all have samsung cells in it. Thanks mate.
I have a makita impact driver that is over 25 years old. Never replaced the batteries in all this time and that drill has seen some heavy duty use. Amazing tool.
I’d like to see a comparison of fuel system cleaners such as Berryman, seafoam, Lucas etc. I’m not sure exactly how you could test them though haha. Keep up the good work!
Great content, as usual! I test and rebuild all my rechargeable batteries using known replacement cells. So far, I haven't found any battery packages that can't be disassembled and rebuilt, which has saved me a lot of money.
Great video and testing! I had no idea there are counterfeit batteries being sold as genuine! Quality and accountability have taken a deep dive in the last few years! It’s hard to trust any retailer at this point and that big jungle website especially! Thanks for your in-depth testing. You rock!
The thing with genuine batteries is, the big brands rip off the customers. Samsung, Panasonic, LG make 18650 with much bigger capacities but to save a few dollars they choose the 2400mah cells rather than 3600mah cells. So when the packs are done, always rebuild using the higher spec batteries, you'll love it!
+1 on how to identify fake battery packs BEFORE we buy them. I understand that purchasing online is a gamble and if the price is half what it should be, you know they are fake. I have bought knockoffs online, but I knew what I was getting into. I regret it, as they only lasted a couple months before they were trash.
@@kyfho47 I've always bought knockoffs (as in the cheap "compatible version") and for my use in terms of needing cheap extra amp hours to run a cheap electric leaf blower around a very large wooded yard, the cost worked out (and 4 years in they've actually outlived one of the legit batteries I bought as a tool bundle). I think really the only advice to avoid counterfeits would be to not buy except from a direct certified reseller from the manufacturer, even on a listing they could just put a picture of a real one somewhere else. And look out for any platforms that allow resellers and make sure that if you are buying from a major e-commerce source instead of a dedicated tool store (which immediately increases the risk), you are buying off a listing direct from that company.
I’m looking at all my Dewalt batteries and truthfully I don’t know if my batteries are counterfeit or not since I threw away the original batteries! How would we know! Surely the manufacturers should be able to warn us and place some labeling on their products that would alert us to the counterfeits! Thanks for alerting us to these counterfeits! Love your channel ❤️
@@RealJeep counterfeit protection markings are hard to create. Either they are so advanced that they become expensive or they are too simple to copy. A copyright code and a website to register it on is one way, but as shown in the video it has to be more secure than the one DeWalt uses as the fake battery was able to be registered. There is also the possibility of using custom security chips and make it so the tool won't work with a battery pack that doesn't have a working chip. But that's the stupid way we really wouldn't want them to use. Just look at the prices of ink cartridges for printers. Several manufacturers has a security chip in their ink cartridges and it makes their cartridges the only ones working with their printers. Sounds like a good idea until you see the prices they charge. There's also other idiotic things there like printers that can't print a black and white document because the yellow ink is empty. Now this ink isn't needed for the print as the user is concerned, but the safety codes printed on the document uses yellow dots. This code is meant to make the printout traceable so it can be linked to your printer. This was something developed to trace threats to government or organisations. It's not something the user has any control over what so ever. But if that ink is gone the printer will not work no matter what you try to print. Black can be full and yet the printer refuses to print even a single letter. Now batteries are important for different reassons. You don't get the capacity of the real battery pack, it might over heat and burn, it will most likely die quickly. Still I don't think using security chips to lock the tool to the original manufacturers packs is a good thing. There are alternative providers that doesn't fake the look of their batteries. If someone want to use an off brand battery I think that's fine. They know it's not original and have to take the chance by themselves. If it dies or catches fire it's up to them as they knew it was an off brand.
Fantastic video! It's scary how similar counterfeit batteries look to the real ones. Thank you for shedding light on this issue and teaching us how to spot the fakes.
@@ProjectFarm thanks for all you do including replying to comments. I use your videos often to make purchasing decisions where money is often tight. Your videos are also a great example to my son. He gets to learn so many life skills I didn’t think he’d learn because of how society has progressed and changed.
I see these things ALL over the place and it's absolutely insane how close they are. Even the rubber molding on the bottoms of the Milwaukee looks identical. Gotta weigh an authentic battery compared to the fake ones to really know for sure, otherwise there's not enough of a tell. Quality batteries are heavy.
Todd, you do such an amazing job with your videos! Thank you for doing them, and helping us regular guys make better informed decisions! You truly perform a service with your channel!
Thanks for another fantastic video! If there were only a way to be sure you're purchasing an original manufacturer battery BEFORE you buy it. Just as the originals change over time I'm sure the fake ones do too.
Wow imagine not knowing you bought a counterfeit, leaving your batteries in the truck and you comeback to find your new work truck is a smoldering heap. Dangerous!
Thanks for this. I was taken too. Bought a 2-pack of Dewalt's....no board, or Samsung batteries inside. Went to Home Depot, paid full price....they have the board and green Samsung's inside. Thanks for this heads-up!
If weight is the only factor that's obvious when looking at a counterfeit before opening the package, all they have to do is add a weight and they'll be near impossible to distinguish if they keep making them look visually similar.
This happens all the time with other tech like micro SD cards. the main problem is even legitimate sellers can get screwed with taking the fakes as a return and reselling them. or, in the case of Amazon, one seller can poison the supply for everyone, since amazon comingles (mixes) the supply from 3rd party sellers together and ships whatever is closest to the buyer regardless of what seller sent that item in. So even if you buy from a legit seller, you could receive the counterfeit that another seller sent in.
@@ProjectFarm What I would like to know is, how detrimental to the sewage system are things like automatic dishwasher detergent and bleach in clothes washers and cleaning solutions since the system is based on bacterial action and those things kill bacteria.
I noticed the counterfeit Milwaukee says "Cells made in Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore with further processing in China" and the real one says "Professionally made in Mexico by Milwaukee Tool." The Makitas are different too, the real one says "Makita Corporation, Anjo, Aichi Japan" and the fake says "Makita USA, Inc" Edit: As others have said, even this can't be a sure way to tell whether they are real or not, as some of the genuine Milwaukee batteries say either of those things
That seems really strange to me….they’ll go through the effort to make the pack look as much like the real one as possible, but they don’t follow through on this one detail? They’re already doing a fraud, no reason not to lie about the manufacturing origins.
I wonder how errors like those get introduced, like from different product runs in different markets at different times? I can see things like typos and that thing you see where letters get mixed up with other similar looking letters (due to people copying things in a language they can't read) but if you're going through cloning a battery and have an example it seems easy enough to just... copy the information
Very interesting that you were able to register the counterfeit Dewalts. The image on the Dewalt's registration website even matches the counterfeit batteries (shorter label).
They have a higher threshold for thermal runaway allowing for longer heavy power draws , It's not bad thing it's actually good and if it started on fire than it would have been an issue
@@gamersplaygroundliquidm3th526It didn't start a fire because the shorting bar is too large to burn through. I would imagine an external shorting cable would get hot enough after 14 seconds to cause a fire. Imo, holding on for that long is not really a good short circuit protection idea, especially when the board is damaged instead of an internal fuse.
Maybe Milwaukee is just trusting their device's internal fuse, but after seeing this, I really can't recommend using their power inverter. 200A for 14 seconds is easily enough to melt any standard household cable.
@@blarfroer8066 To be fair, it's not going to do 200A at 120V. Unfortunately, the amps it will do at that voltage is still more than twice what the average 120v cable is rated for.
The final irony ( literally ) : He used the best one of the C-Clamp lineup in his video he made a while back. Only that he did not perform short circuit bech testing - until now.
The scary part that was briefly mentioned is how unscrupulous people can buy these fake ones for cheap and buy a real one at the store and then switch them back up so the fake one is now on the shelf at HD or Lowe’s. Curious how they prevent such things.
unfortunately they don't prevent such things. Short reality of it is, people are there just for the job, very few are there because they have an OCD interest in all the products that are sold in that store. If it looks right (aka close enough) it must be right.
@@alexb.1320worse than that, as an employee for big box, most of the time we simply don't have the tools or time to check for counterfeit returns. It's not the employees. The company doesn't care and doesn't want to invest the money. To that point, we do have a lot of training for Apple counterfeits, because Apple enforces that training for it's designated retailers.
They do track anomalies in sales and returns as these scam rings are never going to be limited to just one store in a chain. But these scammers know all the tricks and formulations, i.e. they space out their activities knowing that the numbers get smoothed out in the data analytics and go all over random places so that any type of potential criminal investigation becomes impractical. And with these days with all the increases in such, the eyes/resources mostly focused on traditional thieves walking out with unpaid product and not this type of sophisticated crime.
Here's the list of batteries reviewed. More details in the video description. Thank you!
Authentic DeWalt: amzn.to/3yXhmHP
Authentic Milwaukee: amzn.to/3VaroNw
Authentic Makita: amzn.to/4bN5pmS
Milwaukee M18 TOP-OFF 175W Power Supply: amzn.to/45aD3As
Be careful Todd, anyone can sell on any listing on Amazon marketplace. They can even FBA fake batteries to Amazon for fulfillment. The newer fake M18 batteries are literally identical on the outside. I suggest only buying from big box stores when it comes to batteries. All these stores usually run deals on batteries which will be cheaper than the possibly fake Amazon ones.
Thanks for all the hard work doing the thorough testing and getting us all this awesome information! And for posting links to genuine batteries.
Other than getting the info you posted here, how does one know youre getting genuine batteries when purchasing online? Is it price? It seems like once the counterfeitters catch on to that, all they would have to do is raise the price to normal levels and you'd never know.
20v on the counterfeit dewalt is the wrong font and so is the xr
It's so annoying searching for batteries on Amazon. 90% of The top results are counterfeit ones.
Buy from only verified stores on there, so DeWalt Store etc
Thank you!
@@mindlessftw how ifs eBay more protective?
Hopefully someone from Amazon sees this and can put systems in place to stop the sale of counterfeits on their store. Should be the responsibility of Amazon to vet products they sell, damage of property, injury due to fire will fall upon Amazon.
Yeah he does just like 98% of the rest of the US @@mindlessftw
It's one thing to sell aftermarket batteries that are "compatible" with the tools. It's an entirely different thing to sell fake ones as genuine.
It’s insane! If they put the effort, money and resources they used in making the battery look like OEM into making the battery good they could probably make a battery that is just as good at a cheaper price.
Just China being China.
Steal, Counterfeit, and Fraud is their way of life.
No kidding. If they just built their own battery they could likely be competitive for cheaper.
i use aftermarket chinese ryobi-compatibles, they seem fine.
Great point!
These counterfeits look extremely professional and hard to spot without opening them up… thanks for raising awareness
Yeah I didn't know counterfeits were so good now. I normally only see the 3rd party knockoffs and with those you kind of can tell what you will get.
You are welcome!
Yeah, if they found room for some lead weights they'd be even more convincing.
100% I’ve seen aftermarket DeWalt batteries but they’re marketed as such; they’re not trying to trick you. I had no idea these counterfeits existed.
Only a small percentage of buyers realise and if at all is after they left review. That's why it's so prevalent
Wow, this was a great video. Many years ago, I had a Bosch 7.2V drill. I left the battery on the charger in my garage and it caught on fire. I lost my garage and my house had damage from the fire. The firemen thought the fire started from the gas hot water heater, but the most damaged area was where the charger was.
A few years later, I was in my store when I smelled something burning. I also heard a crackling noise and it smelled like melted plastic. I followed the sound and found the battery smoking while it was in the charger. I pulled it off the charger and it melted in my hand (and burned my skin). I pulled the plug from the wall and watched it to make sure the battery didn't catch fire. Needless to say, the entire Bosch kit went into the trash! If I'm not mistaken, it was a NiCad battery - the original was purchased around 1993 and the replacement in 1997.
Since that happened, I don't leave my chargers plugged in with a battery. As soon as the charge light is on, I pull the battery pack off.
I haven't bought an online battery yet and after watching your video, I won't. Having been though a house fire, it's not worth the small savings to put myself and family at risk.
A deepest thank you for doing this video. The shorting of the battery pack was very important and informative!
You are welcome! Thanks for sharing.
Using a plug timer is also good practice - in case the mind wanders...
@@Time2Go-in9uiThat's a really good idea! I'm going to do that.
Almost 2 years ago I took a 48 volt Ebike battery pack apart ,like 50 or so, separated the cells into packs of 6, and put them in ziplock bags.
laid the bags in a box and put it in the shed. Then about an hour later I noticed my shed pouring smoke out the vent.
knew right away what it had to be. I almost ripped the door off trying pull the thing out with a garden hoe.
After getting it out and far enough away, I covered it with a few shovels full of dirt
I was able to save most of them though, except a dozen or so batteries, but who knows what would have happened if I hadn't seen it myself, because the shed has 3/4 plywood floor that did get burned, and its right under two trees that have branches covering the whole top of it.
So I was lucky
Most of the scams are easy to pick up on , the batteries are a brand name like Gooey Chong or something. I would never buy batteries on line expecting them to be genuine. It just doesn't happen
Todd is out here protecting every average Jo. Thanks sir. And we hope to have many more years of this incredible channel!
Hello again, Project Farm
Thank you for another Great Video 👍 Question for you, if buy your batteries from either Home Depot or Lowes the batteries should be good. 😊
@@georgeferlazzo7936how is that a question ? Also you’re replying to a user, not the channel. But alas, I totally agree with you. Buy from a billing box retailer and you can be certain that you’re buying legit. Amazon simply doesn’t care enough to put real effort into verifying the quality of its vendors. However, for all other things, Amazon’s return-policy process is the only reason I shop with them too.
Crazy how CLOSE the fake batteries look like the real ones.. A++ Video.
Thanks! Good Point!
In Chinese culture, it's considered an accomplishment to get as close as possible to the original. And yes I'm serious.
even the packaging is identical
Manufacturing in China is not like it is in other countries. Those batteries may consist of parts made from several different manufacturers. The scammers are buying excess parts or older parts that the original manufacturer has upgraded or simply changed somehow. The scammers may even work in the actual factory where the original product is manufactured and they are assembling the counterfeit batteries with a mix of original components and cheaper parts they bought for little to nothing. The circuit board and quality Samsung cells are what cost the original manufacturer the most money so that’s the main things these scammers change. All we can do is report them if we find out about them and stop buying the product. But it’s almost impossible to stop them.
"A++" was that a pun for an Ebay review? 🤣
I got scammed by a "reputable" on-line dealer. Both the battery pack and the charger I purchased were fake and potentially lethal. I now only buy direct from the manufacturer websites. This video really reinforces how careful you need to be. Thanks!
Amazon just dumps everything from all the sellers into a single bin. Seller could be legit but amazon mixes the products as long as they are the same model number.
@@Spoonboy79 yup, it's surprising how few people know this.
I managed to buy some genuine ones but it took a looooot of research to spot the fakes and that info gets outdated quickly. You can't trust brick & mortar, either. You're right to buy direct from the company.
Why on earth are you protecting them by not naming?
Direct from manufacturer website. Good idea
This video is already being shared in the Fire Investigation groups. Another thing to have to look for. Great information.
Thanks!
Those sellers should be arrested for fraud. OR BETTER YET, make a claim with your credit card company, and not pay a single cent, then the seller loses.
Great point!
am sure china will assist with this... /s
Just the counterfeits or also the genuine ones for charging you 90$ for less than 90wh of battery capacity?
Amazon should he held to account as well.
@@Tyiriel What an asinine comment.
You know what's the worst? Paying for the price of a genuine battery but getting the fake one! ☠️
Good Point!
That’s Amazon for you. I don’t but anything from them anymore. It’s all Chinese garbage.
That's why it's important to make sure to buy batteries from an authorized retailer that only uses the traditional supply chain to get their products.
You'll notice many of these kind of UA-cam videos will readily show a certain auction website where you can get counterfeits, but when those channels use affiliate links for a certain retailer named after a rainforest, they'll typically avoid discussing the co-mingled inventory issues on that affiliate website that allows these fakes into their supply chain. Even when "sold by [company]," you can end up with a fake, as said company will take inventory intake from third parties directly, and/or through their return system. It's a huge problem, but it allows them to always have stock available, and have low prices.
Meanwhile, your local brick and mortar has to order their supply from the manufacturer for the full, regular wholesale price, and they have to wait for shipments to restock, etc. Consumers are impatient and want to save some money, which creates this entire cottage industry in China. And, it's not batteries. This affects most consumer products. So long as people prefer to save some money up front, and "get it next day," these Chinese companies will keep making fakes.
It's kind of unfortunate. I get that those affiliate links probably drive good revenue for often great channels (like this one), but they're kind of part of the problem; channels don't want to openly talk about the issue because they depend on that revenue.
Gives me night terrors 🤬
Even worst than that is voting for a real president and getting a fake one.
I had two counterfeit batteries by accident, Lowe’s had an open package on clearance that was returned with no problems reported. When I got home they would not charge so I returned them, Luckily they grabbed an unopened package and swapped them for me plus the guy informed me that I got to pick a free tool! I told him I had bought these on clearance and therefore didn’t think I qualified and he winked and said well the promotion doesn’t say otherwise so I picked up a free cordless angle grinder after getting $200 worth of batteries for $75.00
Gr8 4 U😊.
Home d. Ripped me off on
Their Ridgid guarantee, so
I buy on line now😮
Sweet deal!
Ken: very good of you to disclose your clearance purchase... you can sleep with a clear conscience. ...just not with the angle grinder, ok?🤣
That's amazing... Wow... :)
What a bro. Good for him.
I have 18 different Dewalt battery packs in my garage at various watt hours and I never even thought of some of them being counterfeit. Turns out 4 of them are. I will definitely not be using those anymore. Thanks for the video!
You are welcome Thanks for sharing.
Out of curiosity if they are paid for already and still work properly why would you not just use them up and discard them? Are you fearful of a safety issue charging them? I have counterfeits but I will use them till they start to degrade and be more careful in my future purchases.
@@scottshawn70 correct, I'd prefer not to use the ones that don't have the safety features built in like the genuine ones do. I've had a battery pack catch fire on me before and it was not fun. If there's even a slightly higher chance of that happening then no thanks. Plus, I already have far more batteries than I need from them coming with tools I purchased, people gifting them to me, it won't make a bit of a difference if I stop using 4 of the 18.
You are now doing more than the FTC did in years about these problems!
Thanks!
@@ProjectFarmno Todd, THANK YOU! he was just stating the facts ♥️
The real hero we need 😭💕
They have no reason to exist if they don't shut these counterfeits down
@@interstellarconundrum4774 I don't think you know what the FTC does if you're saying that
I have no idea counterfeit tool batteries were so prevalent. Thank you for raising awareness.
Auto parts on e-bay is nothing but... the package is counterfeit. The parts are genuine POS.
Have you been living under a rock??
Counterfeits are prevalent in every market now. This is the result of globalization.
People of that country making all this junk have every incentive to cheat us.
Just don’t buy power tools on Amazon or sites like it. Try to stick with manufacture and Lowe’s and Home Depot style stores.
95% of products sold on Amazon are counterfeits of counterfeits.
@@zachbruner481their just as bad as Amazon. Local hardware stores for me only
Sir, the federal government/ Consumer Protection Agency should subsidize you, provide you a product testing lab or put you on their payroll for all of your product reporting that has been serving the American public with very helpful information! Thanks for what you do!
Just close da goobermint office,
Save the $$$😊
The federal government is incentivizing these scammers.
Then he'd be bound by gov chains. He's better as a free man.
I really don't think they care. It's the government.
The agencies are aware about most of these scams/counterfeits, but lack the legal authority and lawyers to do as much about it as they should. Plus, politicians are continually writing in loopholes for companies at the low cost of a few campaign contributions.
It was very surprising when you were allowed to register a counterfeit battery on the company website. This is alarming!
Thanks for the feedback.
I am guessing the serial was copied from a genuine battery and the website only checks to see if it is valid - it doesn't verify if it's been registered before.
I only have one battery for an impact wrench I use on my car and I registered it on the Dewalt website when I got it, very cheap on ebay by the way. I just unscrewed the cover to check and the batteries look brown in color but they are encased and dont want to take it apart any more. The board looks legit, not just a bunch of wires. So now i just dont know. The battery seems to work great, im always impressed with how long it lasts and hardly ever having to charge it. Dewalt shows i still have a year left on the warranty.
@@CraigNethEven if it did check it's very possible that number was simply not registered before but I wouldn't be shocked to hear they don't both validating this.
I purchased a food saver food sealer from Costco. when I went to register it on food saver web site, I was able to. But it did state it wasn't made to their specs. was made cheaper using Costco specs. Buying a name brand anywhere but from the manufacturer, you will probably get a knock-off. if it has the brand name stamp, ever who sells it are leasing the names brand from them.
Thanks for not blurring out the seller's name that are selling the counterfeit batteries.
Where are they not blurred? I've been looking when I came across your comment.
@@kirkwoodcashonlyhomie 1:33 and 1:41 and 2:35 and 3:54 the seller names are not blurred out.
@@theplayernkc Report these listings as scams. Report the sellers to ebay - it DOES work. They will get banned. Sure it's whack-a-mole but why not whack a few of them? Just to make things difficult for these Chinese fraudsters.
Too bad the US government doesn't pressure China to end flagrant copyright abuses.
Doesn't matter. They change user names at about the same rate they change brand names.
Buying batteries online is borderline gambling.
Thanks for sharing!
can do what everyone else does, go to tractor supply and just steal them, when i worked there we would find endless battery packs open and stolen and the management didn't care. it was like 1% of our sales, so like 600-900k a year, boots and batteries #1 theft... but we were not alot to do anything about it... but when it came at the end of the month for bonuses it was "we didn't make this month" yeah cause you let 100k walk out the door...
They gave cameras at tractor supply what are you talking about?
@@quickplaya they dont care.... no one does. i had a guy walk in and take like 3 pairs of boots. no police where called, no one even checked the cams. said "the guy comes in every few months" and no one tries to stop em... so when a manager tells you that. as far as im concerned i dont care either at that point. i worked there for 4 months, honestly super easy job and sorta fun when the customers are chill. but we also had a dude come in every month and shit everywhere in the mens room and smear it... and they expected me to clean it, like i knew who did it. i just left one day when he showed up. they would always only staff 2 people 3-4 if you where lucky, and expect me to go clean shit + do cashier and customer help... and i was just like, naw dawg i aint paid enough to deal with all this BS
Camara don't stop stealing, you have to identify the person. Most people doing this are mostly near homeless selling to contractor $10 a battery and left over McDonald's.
Big respect for not covering up the eBay sellers' profiles. Can't take action against garbage slingers if you don't know who's slinging the garbage, even if that action is limited to just not buying their garbage. Hopefully you'll get your money back!
"Hopefully you'll get your money back!" Not after melting them he won't!
@@bribbripnairbnab7301 100% money back after melting. Just get Ebay to step in, mention counterfeit being sold on their platform, and they slam the counterfeiter immediately and give you a refund.
@@bribbripnairbnab7301 That's probably the card that eBay would probably end up playing, but it still doesn't change the fact that the item is not as described, and if Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita, etc were so inclined, would definitely go against eBay's VERO if they chose to participate in it, even if these counterfeitters were just slightly more honest and said "Milwaukee-compatible" or something along those lines.
Wow! I had no idea, this information is pure GOLD and life saving. Thank you!!
You are welcome!
Shortly after Milwaukee released the M12 5.0 and 2.5 HO batteries they appeared on Amazon. The M12 5.0 was 60 something. I ordered one and compared it to the one Home Depot sold me. They were identical, the best I could tell. The laser print was there and good.
Koon Trucking has a weekly video with a Matco dealer. Matco man did a warranty swap for a Milwaukee battery. Milwaukee contacted him and said it was a counterfeit battery.
Matco Corp put on a class on how to identify a counterfeit. Unless you know what to look for you would be hard pressed to identify the knock off, it's that good.
If the price is a great deal, considerably cheaper than what a authorized dealer charges then the odds are good its a fake.
My cheaper 5.0 will not last as long and seems to offer less power.
Thanks for another great video brother.
Amazon has a lot of counterfeit batteries eBay has some more genuine batteries but you still have to be careful
this makes sense, quite possible they set up shop and sold real batteries for a bit to ensure good reviews, then start shoveling trash after a month or 50 positive reviews.
Cool story bra
@@Dreddy72
They are extremely good at counterfeiting. It has the proper color, texture, paperwork, packaging, everything. The reason Matco got involved was they carry and warranty Milwaukee tools. If I remember correctly Milwaukee actually put the class on for all their dealers. Its a pretty good video, worth watching although he dosen't reveal how to spot a fake.
Koon trucking Matco video back a few months ago now.
@@Dreddy72
I just looked for the video.
It was 8 month ago. The caption says "ratchet winner" and Milwaukee real or fake battery.
This video is platinum-level public service. Thank you!
You are welcome!
This is genuinely shocking how real the counterfeits look. Really hope the FTC does something about this.
It's being sold and shipped from China, Amazon is mostly 3rd party sellers at this point.
It isn't the FTC's job to test every product entering the country. Its the responsibility of the manufacturers to enforce their trademark and copyright rights. What it tells you is that these companies know about the counterfeits. They just don't care. It would cost them more to try to shut them down than they would make in additional sales.
@@spencers4121 I've heard that the way Amazon stores 3rd party seller goods ("sold by xxx, shipped by Amazon") makes it possible for fake 3rd party goods to intermingle with genuine Amazon goods. Once they're in Amazon's warehouse, they're coded as the product they're claiming to be. And Amazon's robots grab the nearest one regardless of which seller it "belongs" to.
Yes, let's rely on the government to protect us.
They won’t. Counterfeiting is too far out of hand. For instance with rifle optics; I’ve stumbled upon VERY convincing fake $4,000 optics, to the point where if I hadn’t had experience with the models before I can promise I wouldn’t have even suspected it. Giveaways are usually the internals, and actual mechanics of the sights. It’s the same with all these fakes, they’re just extremely adept at simulating appearances and only put enough effort into the guts to make it passable until it’s too late to realize you were scammed.
Thank you for doing this video!!! I've had a counterfeit battery catch fire on me while it was in my toolbelt and I have a burn scar on my leg from it. I didn't even realize it was counterfeit at the time, I just thought it was a good deal on Amazon. We NEED to make more people aware of this! And there needs to be some kind of law about this!!! Someone needs to step in and put a stop to these or make them label them as "not genuine" so this kind of thing doesn't happen to others. It could've been alot worse, I was around saw dust that day and it could've set the whole worksite on fire! And who would you sue for something like that?!
I'm glad you are talking about counterfeiting. It's getting completely out of control, particularly on Amazon. It's getting hard to buy any brand names products without getting a counterfeit, because the number of counterfeits is overwhelming authentic products.
Just make sure the seller on Amazon is the genuine brand and you'll be alright
And still we vote down any attempt to regulate the Internet. Go Figure!
@@daniel22900 Amazon has a single bin they put "all the same model" into - so the counterfeits and the genuine batteries would end up all mixed together, even with different sellers. The only way to be sure is to buy them from your local tool shop. I also know these guys and nobody gets a better discount than the genuine sellers, so if you see a cheaper one online there is a reason.
@@daniel22900 that wont help if the stock is kept in Amazon's warehouse. They pool all the same stock together for different sellers. This means genuine stock gets mixed with the fakes.
@@MrDavidBFoster Because that would lead to far more issues.
Thanks for showing the dangers of counterfeits! As an electrical engineer, these things scare me. I remember all the flame outs with cheap cells in hover boards, and have seen a neighbor’s garage go up in flames from a DIY eBike battery pack from lithium cells of dubious origin.
The packaging and exterior
Construction on the fakes is amazing, I would never be able to tell. Wow thank you for pointing this out
I like the information on the differential weight of real vs. counterfeit. Seems like most counterfeiters don't feel the need to add some lead to make the weight match, at least, not yet. At least in big box stores, one can compare the heft of several battery packages and maybe avoid counterfeit returns.
The exterior and packing I could never figure out which fakes were made; the construction is incredible. Whoa, I appreciate you bringing this up.
Thanks!
OMG I just checked my 18V Milwaukee and it is a counterfeit! I have 2, bought one from AMZ along with a tire inflator and one off of ebay for half the price. The cheaper one will not slide into the inflator without forcing it, the other slides in like butter; Now I know why! I weighed both and had the same results as you showed. I have no recourse as it has been too long to return. But thank you for the video, I will pass this info on for sure!
You are welcome! Sorry to hear!
You can leave negative review for the seller if they still exist on AMZ. Maybe even a complaint directly to AMZ.
@@whirledpeaz5758 I was not complaining about Amazon, they sent me the correct one
On Milwaukee hold the power indicator button to get the Diagnostics does the counterfeit have the Diagnostics
You got scammed, amazon should make good on it even past the return date. I'd make a stink with them about it.
One suggestion for a future video like this, keep the display of the items in question on the same side of the shot at all times. What I mean by this is if the counterfeit is on the left, keep all the counterfeits on the left and all the genuines on the right. It will help us as viewers to keep track of which one is which and to follow along more easily. Otherwise, great video and I look forward to more like it.
Or put a piece of pink tape or something like that on the counterfeits.
Can’t have any of those counterfeit batteries in inventory. Thanks mate.
Thank you!
The quality of this channel's content is staggering. Well done and informative, as always!!
Thanks!
Went out and checked my Mikita's and found one counterfeit out of six batteries. Thank you for this information.
There are sooo many counterfeit products on Amazon and sites like eBay. Videos like this are a really valuable piece of information. Especially things that help identify counterfeit vs legit products. Some companies have a guide on counterfeits but not all and not for every product.
Sadly I wouldn't be surprised to many bricks and mortar stores are passing the fakes off over the counter too.
That is just one of the many reason's I don't buy from Amazon.
Thanks!
This is the kind of stuff I'd like to see more of. The tool counterfeiting market is kind of wild. Thanks for the info.
You are welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.
Assumed they would underperform but wanted more on how to avoid buying fakes. My only clue would be price and maybe misspellings or bad English if they're really bad. Not going to know details about where manufactured or open them to verify batteries
Great way to bring awareness to this! Gonna save a lot of us some trouble!
Also, Video idea; kinda like the best and worst 10, what were the most requested items/brands that were suggested AFTER the video? Like the recovery rope video really got me wondering how good the Harbor Freight version is compared to the others. I think it would generate a fair bit of interest
This one was one of your best. It's amazing how real those fakes look.
Thanks! Good Point!
I think this is one of your best videos yet. This one is going to save lives.
Thank you project farm !
You are an absolute service to humanity sir. I didn't even know counterfeit batteries where an issue!
Thanks! Thanks for the feedback.
I knew that there are counterfeit batteries for sale on Amazon, so I bought two Makita batteries from Walmart online instead...got counterfeits.
You are a god amongst mere mortals PF, please keep up your video methodology no matter how much flack you cop (if any) you are giving important information / safety advice to us consumers, within the trades or otherwise. You are one of the real ones PF, never change!
Thanks!
I literally had no idea this was even an issue. Thank you sir
The same can be said for autoparts. You think you are getting a genuine OEM part, but it is counterfeit. This is where the brick and mortar stores guarantee authentic and genuine parts. As the old adage goes, you can't judge a book by its cover. Thanks for the video Todd and have a great day!
Thanks and you are welcome!
Yea until someone returns a fake and that gets put on the shelf then you buy it
Some places wont even try to pretend it's an OE after advertising as such....they'll send it right in the generic brand box
The airline regulatory agencies uncovered similar problems with spare parts back in the 1990s, after fake parts (substandard bolts - Partnair Flight 394) resulted in a fatal crash. That resulted in stricter controls (and higher expense) for sourcing parts used for maintenance and repair. But it's still anyone's guess what percentage of the parts used are fake.
Auto parts? Counterfeits are a huge issue with airplane parts too.
It's not like we can just pull over when something gives out, and believe me it's exciting when you blow a tire landing your Supercub.
I’ve long believed that Amazon was full of low quality and counterfeit products, so I’ve mostly avoided purchasing there.
Thank you for this valuable community service!
Same with eBay.
Not just batteries; food, small appliances, tools, and clothing also.
Seller's reviews there are worthless.
at least you get it.
always has been bro
You are welcome!
I just bought a couple M12 batteries from amazon that were only about $20 less normal (rather than half the price) and upon weighing the one I've received so far, it weighs 370g whereas the one I got from home depot previously is 422g. Also the red plastic is a slightly darker color, as well as the red on the sticker on the side. Thanks for this video! I had no idea these were a thing! I will return it and leave a review to warn the next people
You are welcome! Thanks for the feedback.
I recently left a seller review on Amazon: "Do not buy counterfeit 3M products from this seller." I then reported them to 3M's counterfeit reporting site, but I'm sure they're overwhelmed with the relentless deluge of fakes. It used to infuriate me to see blatant fakes of products, but I've started to numb and cynical about it, as it seems like the online retailers like Amazon couldn't care less unless it involves bad PR.
@@Dwigt_Rortugal
Seems like Amazon/ebay/etc are just filled with fake Chinese / knock offs.
I noticed many products say one thing but are just flat out lies. I bought something as simple as silverware and it was all fake even when the ad and reviews said other wise. Bought silicon gloves and after testing it at home found out it was made from some cheap/harmful plastics. You can not go by reviews today either.. Probably paid or bots. Check for repeat reviews.
One issue to look out for is if they have zero products in their own Amazon store. Shipping from "California" can also be a warning. They often buy places in Cal and use as a warehouse.
I honestly dislike online shopping. It is filled with fakes. Sad how the world is being pushed into online shopping only.
@@Dwigt_Rortugal Yep, Amazon literally doesn't give two shits and even the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commissions) is basically suicidality depressed at this point because they can only use their government power to force amazon to recall and remove certain products one at a time...like fake smoke alarms....
I purchased a pair of dewalt batteries thinking I was purchasing oem because they were more expensive than the knockoffs and claimed to be authentic. However, I noticed over the past few weeks they don’t seem to last even half the time as the ones that actually came with my dewalt tools. Wasn’t necessarily searching for any videos about my concerns but your video popped up in my feed as a suggestion. So, I watched it because of the relevance.
Having done so, I’ve now put the batteries in a LIPO fire protection storage bag and will keep them outside in a spare gang box I have out behind my shop (not up against the shop) and I’ll only get em out when I need to do a project that requires doing so.
I’ve always left them either on my power tools shelves in my shop or even in my garage. NEVER AGAIN! Todd, you very well could’ve just saved me a house or shop fire due to these subpar counterfeit batteries! For that my friend, I can’t thank you enough for what you do and for this video specifically! Keep on keeping on! We love ya Pal!👍
Thanks, will do! Thanks for sharing.
Panicked me for a few minutes... I have only recently bought a pair of 5Ah DeWalt batteries and misunderstood your identifiers of the new vs old case styles, so I took mine apart to confirm they have the circuit board inside. In case anyone else is unsure, the old style has the yellow strip below the release button (which the fake ones also have) whereas the new ones do not. The new ones are also slightly larger than the older ones. I have a pair of each (all genuine).
After watching a previous video you did where you tested the capacity of fake/cheap ones vs genuine ones, I'm convinced the genuine ones are worth the expense. Thanks again for everything you do. This is top-tier consumer information.
You are welcome!
Never buy power tool batteries off Amazon. I've been scammed 2 times. Once with DeWalt batteries and again with Craftsman. Amazon did refund my money both times even though I didn't realize they were fakes until about a year after purchase but it did take many hours on the phone to get the refund. I just buy at Lowe's or Home Depot.
I try not to buy anything from or on Amazon.
@@RenoBusdriverthat's un-american! Help your billionaire Overlord by buying his Chinese products.
But you're right - buying anything legit from Amazon is going to disappoint. For these batteries however, of you buy 'compatible' batteries, you get these batteries without the fake branding, for half of what these cost.
Sure they're not as good as the original, but 4 of them for less than 1 original? I'll take the 20% lower power capacity. The real scam is the real company charging what they do for cheap cell batteries
@@MelodicTurtleMetalThose knock offs don’t last for what it cost to buy the real one. You gotta pay to play
@@MelodicTurtleMetal The aftermarket batteries definitely have their place. You don't need high capacity tough batteries to power a portable light or air blower or something for DIY use, so 80% of the capacity for 50% of the price is a fair trade in my opinion, just as long as the product is labelled as such. But of course for high current power tools (or if you're using them to earn an income) then you will want the real ones.
I do not believe you see the entire issue. Scammers don't buy them to use them. Scammers buy them so they can so they can be passed off for a refund - go to a store, buy a real one, and then return the counterfeit. If it is close enough the store will just take the return and put it on the shelf. If someone ends up buying it and gets SOME use out of it, they will probably never know. That is the scam, and how you can get authentic batteries for $50 or so to do whatever with (either to resell or use).
Because of this there is a decent chance that at least some of the batteries on the shelf at your local store are also fake, depending on how bad the problem is in your area.
Shocked me! I had no idea there were counterfeit batteries that were sold to look 100% like the originals. I've seen batteries that mimic the OEM looks, but these knock-offs should be totally illegal. Where is the DOJ???? Why isn't the government doing their jobs???
I'm posting to let you know that I recently bought and applied the Sylvania headlight restoration kit based on your review and just as you depicted, the results were outstanding. We restored the headlights and fog lights on an older Mercedes E350 and they look like they are showroom new. Thanks for everything you do!
Give this guy a Medal!!!
Side Note: please, add a parenthese in the graph saying notes like (slower the better) or (higher the better) to quickly identify winner and loser. Minor adjsumtent though. You're the best channel on UA-cam! ❤❤
A journeyman at my work has had Makita lithium batteries for over 9 years still going strong!
How is it possible for rechargeable batteries to last so long?
Great point on the authentic batteries!
@@sarihaddu I'm not sure how they lasted him so long, but it sure is impressive. On Makita batteries i noticed the cells were made in Japan. And they know how to make batteries.
@@ProjectFarmMy 10 yo De-Walt is that way and I've gotten water and transmission fluid in the tool a few times, kept on working. I bought it from Lowes in 2014, 2 batteries and a charger and a case, pricey but it's paid for itself in less than a years use.
I have some Hitachi batteries at least 10 years old that are still at approximately 80%.
Cant say how valuable all of your videos are. Thanks so much for all you do and how thorough you are!
You are so welcome!
I never had to buy spare batteries. And i never thought of counterfeit ones. But i know now. Just pay the extra money for the real deal. Thanks for exposing the fake ones! Great video!
Thanks!
I hate this idea it gives corporate greed an excuse to keep upping prices. They can say oh well we are the real deal so pay $500 thats 480% more then what it COST US to make it.since it cost them a whole 30 bucks per battery.
@@JS-rv3et I agree. But I've been burnt so many times buying aftermarket stuff.
Thank you for sharing, I was not aware of how close the counterfeit look side by side
You are so welcome!
Nerd dude shouting next to a wooden table, doing the most honest and thorough tests of tech. Love your work mate, keep doing this! ❤❤❤
Thanks for putting this out. It might help others out. Unfortunately, two weeks ago, I purchased four batteries of De-Walt 5 amp. I could not tell they were counterfeit until I saw this video.
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention! I would have never known!
SD cards and other flash memory are also a huge problem. Fakes sold out there that are indistinguishable from the real thing, and they don’t deliver on the read/write speeds you would have expected.
@@sukhjhangri5048 I would love to see project farm test out SD card performance!!! Let's see how they hold up to cousin Eddie 🤣
You are welcome!
@@sukhjhangri5048How do you find the genuine article? I typically buy direct from Amazon, (not sellers) but maybe micro SD cards have a better chance of being genuine from a brick and mortar store? I punish the cards to death on our dash cams.
Send me your old batteries I repurpose them
Well dang. Thanks for looking out for us!
My pleasure!
Old boy brought out the flow meter and a pitot tube to data log flow from the leaf blower tests, awesome !
Thanks for sharing.
I love your content, it is exactly what I’m looking for concerning reviews of general products.
I’m hoping you might make a video on portable ac units. A lot of people like myself are in apartments where window units aren’t allowed, and so knowing what portable ac unit is the best bang for your buck would be quite helpful.
Thank you for your content.
You are welcome! Thanks for the suggestion.
Earlier this week, I unknowingly bought and received counterfeit Milwaukee m18 batteries from eBay. Upon opening and trying to charge them, I realized they were not authentic. I was curious about the performance of these counterfeit ones, and your video clearly demonstrated my curiosity. Thank you for making this video. Very helpful.
You are welcome! Thanks for sharing.
My red flags to avoid are any seller using the same photo for multiple battery listings, any seller selling more than five of the same battery and any negative feedback with the word battery. I've seen 99.1% feedback sellers where that 0.9% is dozens of complaints of counterfeit batteries. I've had good luck buying used batteries from small sellers.
eBay and Amazon are STUFFED full of counterfeit auto parts too.
Don't buy auto parts from either marketplace. You'll get knock offs. They are even making knock off spark plugs without the iridium and platinum tips that make modern plugs last so long and work so well.
Idea for a future video: fire extinguishers? I was shopping the other day and there were more options than I was expecting. Some big and some small.
Thanks for the video idea.
Best fire extinguisher for the home is a 2.5 gallon water extinguisher. Dry chems don't work real well and make an incredible mess. Best extinguisher for the kitchen is a lid on the pan. There's not a really good extinguisher for car fires unless you can get the hood opened really fast. But a 5 A BC is as good as it'll get without lunking a huge extinguisher around.
Consider a fire blanket rather than an extinguisher
Listening to @RealJeep may be detrimental to your life. First a water extinguisher should rarely be used unless it's solely combustible materials (wood, paper, grass, etc), never use on oils, fuels, grease, most plastics and never anything electrical. Yes the dry chem extinguishers make a mess but if used properly they work the best for most situations. I strongly recommend that if you have questions concerning fire extinguishers go to your local fire dept and ask for their help in the matter. Most fire dept's will actually come to your residence and suggest locations to keep them (or like the dept I retired from would even install them for you if you bought them). Same goes for smoke detectors and CO detectors.
@@johnh2880 Odd, The first guy off of an FDNY truck company is the can man. He can put out a lot of fire with a 2.5 gallon can. Second, dry chem extinguishers suck and hardly ever work. If they did fire engines would have big tanks of Purple K on them like ARFF truck do. No, you can't use a can on burning fuels or energized elect equipment but how many homes have those fires? No, busy fire departments will not come to your home for a fire extinguisher class, you must be a vollie.
This is extremely valuable information for tool owners and as always very clearly presented.
Thank you!
I bought counterfeit dewalt batteries, this video saved me, i returned them and bought real ones. Many thanks
You are welcome! Thanks for sharing.
How is it not illegal to label these batteries the same. I have bought cheaper or off brand batteries for both my Dewalt and milwaukee tools but knew what I was buying. Anyone could be going to store and trading these out so we the people are getting ripped off.
it IS illegal.
It is illegal just not worth the cost of fighting it. Most professionals (people who use tools for work) buy their tools from home Depot, Lowe's, acme, or similar legitimate source so the scamazon or fleabay sales don't matter.
They don't care about legality. It's illegal to make counterfeits and they still do
You think it's not illegal?
So is accepting bribes ILLEGAL…
But it does not matter when those whose job it is to stop the illegal practice, are themselves receiving “benefits” for looking the other way.
My son asked me what’s different today compared to 40 years ago , as for scams and thefts, crimes that affect everybody and we need to watch out for.
Scams and thefts today are more organized and sophisticated , and very difficult to avoid.
I do think that there is usually a bait, or a trap to watch out for. When a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Most people who shop online have been affected by scams, and some of us avoid sellers that not well known. The game is always changing, and much thanks to project farm for helping us out with this.
I’m surprised Kousin Eddie wasn’t holding the metal salad tongs for the short circuit test, it’s the kind of thing he seems prone to doing !
Thanks for sharing!
Lol 🤣🤣 cousin Eddie with the salad tongs!😅😅
After watching this videos I've got sketchy feeling and decides to disassembled all my batteries to check out if all have samsung cells in it.
Thanks mate.
You are welcome!
I have a makita impact driver that is over 25 years old. Never replaced the batteries in all this time and that drill has seen some heavy duty use. Amazing tool.
Thanks for the feedback.
I’d like to see a comparison of fuel system cleaners such as Berryman, seafoam, Lucas etc. I’m not sure exactly how you could test them though haha. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the suggestion. Thanks, will do!
@@ProjectFarm For sure use Chevron Techron Fuel Injection Cleaner, not their Fuel System Cleaner. I have actually seen the former work in real time.
Great content, as usual!
I test and rebuild all my rechargeable batteries using known replacement cells. So far, I haven't found any battery packages that can't be disassembled and rebuilt, which has saved me a lot of money.
Cool story bro
This has to be the best test channel by far.
Thanks!
Consumer Reports 2.0 that you can actually trust!
Great video and testing! I had no idea there are counterfeit batteries being sold as genuine! Quality and accountability have taken a deep dive in the last few years! It’s hard to trust any retailer at this point and that big jungle website especially! Thanks for your in-depth testing. You rock!
The thing with genuine batteries is, the big brands rip off the customers. Samsung, Panasonic, LG make 18650 with much bigger capacities but to save a few dollars they choose the 2400mah cells rather than 3600mah cells. So when the packs are done, always rebuild using the higher spec batteries, you'll love it!
This!!!
we have awareness now, but more help to identify the differences would be appreciated!
Thanks for the suggestion.
Price. Safest to buy at a Big Box store or a direct source from the Brand.
+1 on how to identify fake battery packs BEFORE we buy them.
I understand that purchasing online is a gamble and if the price is half what it should be, you know they are fake.
I have bought knockoffs online, but I knew what I was getting into. I regret it, as they only lasted a couple months before they were trash.
For DeWalt, they put up a guide on their website on how to tell genuine from fake batteries.
@@kyfho47 I've always bought knockoffs (as in the cheap "compatible version") and for my use in terms of needing cheap extra amp hours to run a cheap electric leaf blower around a very large wooded yard, the cost worked out (and 4 years in they've actually outlived one of the legit batteries I bought as a tool bundle). I think really the only advice to avoid counterfeits would be to not buy except from a direct certified reseller from the manufacturer, even on a listing they could just put a picture of a real one somewhere else. And look out for any platforms that allow resellers and make sure that if you are buying from a major e-commerce source instead of a dedicated tool store (which immediately increases the risk), you are buying off a listing direct from that company.
I’m looking at all my Dewalt batteries and truthfully I don’t know if my batteries are counterfeit or not since I threw away the original batteries!
How would we know!
Surely the manufacturers should be able to warn us and place some labeling on their products that would alert us to the counterfeits!
Thanks for alerting us to these counterfeits! Love your channel ❤️
That was my question How would we know without taking them apart.
@@RealJeep counterfeit protection markings are hard to create. Either they are so advanced that they become expensive or they are too simple to copy. A copyright code and a website to register it on is one way, but as shown in the video it has to be more secure than the one DeWalt uses as the fake battery was able to be registered.
There is also the possibility of using custom security chips and make it so the tool won't work with a battery pack that doesn't have a working chip. But that's the stupid way we really wouldn't want them to use. Just look at the prices of ink cartridges for printers. Several manufacturers has a security chip in their ink cartridges and it makes their cartridges the only ones working with their printers. Sounds like a good idea until you see the prices they charge. There's also other idiotic things there like printers that can't print a black and white document because the yellow ink is empty. Now this ink isn't needed for the print as the user is concerned, but the safety codes printed on the document uses yellow dots. This code is meant to make the printout traceable so it can be linked to your printer. This was something developed to trace threats to government or organisations. It's not something the user has any control over what so ever. But if that ink is gone the printer will not work no matter what you try to print. Black can be full and yet the printer refuses to print even a single letter.
Now batteries are important for different reassons. You don't get the capacity of the real battery pack, it might over heat and burn, it will most likely die quickly. Still I don't think using security chips to lock the tool to the original manufacturers packs is a good thing. There are alternative providers that doesn't fake the look of their batteries. If someone want to use an off brand battery I think that's fine. They know it's not original and have to take the chance by themselves. If it dies or catches fire it's up to them as they knew it was an off brand.
@@RealJeep Weight measurement seems accurate enough, performance would be another, not to mention opening them up only takes like 4 screws.
@@twoiko Looking at them online there's no way to tell. If you open the package you can't send it back
Fantastic video! It's scary how similar counterfeit batteries look to the real ones. Thank you for shedding light on this issue and teaching us how to spot the fakes.
You are welcome!
Yes! Me and my 5 year old son wait every Sunday for your videos!
Thank you very much! This means a lot to me!!
@@ProjectFarm thanks for all you do including replying to comments. I use your videos often to make purchasing decisions where money is often tight. Your videos are also a great example to my son. He gets to learn so many life skills I didn’t think he’d learn because of how society has progressed and changed.
You KNOW your son might tell his kindergarten teacher, VERY IMPRESSIVE... or... WE'RE GOING TO TEST THAT. At our host's volume. Nice!!
I see these things ALL over the place and it's absolutely insane how close they are. Even the rubber molding on the bottoms of the Milwaukee looks identical. Gotta weigh an authentic battery compared to the fake ones to really know for sure, otherwise there's not enough of a tell. Quality batteries are heavy.
I'm surprised they don't add weights in them to match the authentic ones
They will now. Already done with other types of items.
Todd, you do such an amazing job with your videos! Thank you for doing them, and helping us regular guys make better informed decisions! You truly perform a service with your channel!
Thanks and you are welcome!
Thanks for another fantastic video! If there were only a way to be sure you're purchasing an original manufacturer battery BEFORE you buy it. Just as the originals change over time I'm sure the fake ones do too.
Wow imagine not knowing you bought a counterfeit, leaving your batteries in the truck and you comeback to find your new work truck is a smoldering heap. Dangerous!
Imagine buying a counterfeit and you go home to your smoldering foundation.
@@TMe-cs7kp haha good point!
Probably why there are so many reports of power tool battery fires.
Todd, you are the dad we wished we had to help with our science fair projects!
Thank you!
I've told my family that to learn about anything, watch Project Farm, But they choose to be ignorant, better them than I, Thanks Todd.👍🛠 🇺🇸
@@k1_w3 Are you the C. & P. police, or just someone that feels like they know everything?
@@josephpacchetti5997I bet he's fun at parties
I bet that they took the EXPERIMENTAL arm ticket despite you warning them about the dangers of that.
@@k1_w3 Shouldn't there be a period after LOL?
Ignorant people are not family. Good work Joe! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇵🇸
Still I cant believe why the original ones are so much expensive. Thanks for your deep research and in depth comparison.
You are welcome!
Thanks for this. I was taken too. Bought a 2-pack of Dewalt's....no board, or Samsung batteries inside. Went to Home Depot, paid full price....they have the board and green Samsung's inside. Thanks for this heads-up!
If weight is the only factor that's obvious when looking at a counterfeit before opening the package, all they have to do is add a weight and they'll be near impossible to distinguish if they keep making them look visually similar.
This happens all the time with other tech like micro SD cards. the main problem is even legitimate sellers can get screwed with taking the fakes as a return and reselling them. or, in the case of Amazon, one seller can poison the supply for everyone, since amazon comingles (mixes) the supply from 3rd party sellers together and ships whatever is closest to the buyer regardless of what seller sent that item in. So even if you buy from a legit seller, you could receive the counterfeit that another seller sent in.
Nobody should be selling returns as new anyways. That is also a kind of fraud.
@@billyhw5492 it is fraud. Thank you. That said, they are going to keep doing it.
Thanks for the feedback.
Excellent well done video, this could be an research essay in a consumer safety magazine! That's how detailed the testing is!
Thanks!
Can you please do a round two on torque wrenches? In particular id really like to see some of Gearwrench's offerings. Thanks for the awesome content.
Great suggestion! Thank you
Video suggestion:
Dishwasher detergent
Pack vs liquid vs powder etc
Thanks for the suggestion.
Technology Connections has a good series on dishwashers. TL:DR, dishwashers are designed for powder.
This has already been done by so many other channels.
@@ProjectFarm What I would like to know is, how detrimental to the sewage system are things like automatic dishwasher detergent and bleach in clothes washers and cleaning solutions since the system is based on bacterial action and those things kill bacteria.
@@bradfordsuby8064 yeah so have lots of things this channel tests yet here you are still
I noticed the counterfeit Milwaukee says "Cells made in Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore with further processing in China" and the real one says "Professionally made in Mexico by Milwaukee Tool."
The Makitas are different too, the real one says "Makita Corporation, Anjo, Aichi Japan" and the fake says "Makita USA, Inc"
Edit: As others have said, even this can't be a sure way to tell whether they are real or not, as some of the genuine Milwaukee batteries say either of those things
Thanks for the really useful tip.
Thanks for sharing.
The fakers will read this comment and update their fakes!
That seems really strange to me….they’ll go through the effort to make the pack look as much like the real one as possible, but they don’t follow through on this one detail? They’re already doing a fraud, no reason not to lie about the manufacturing origins.
I wonder how errors like those get introduced, like from different product runs in different markets at different times? I can see things like typos and that thing you see where letters get mixed up with other similar looking letters (due to people copying things in a language they can't read) but if you're going through cloning a battery and have an example it seems easy enough to just... copy the information
Very interesting that you were able to register the counterfeit Dewalts. The image on the Dewalt's registration website even matches the counterfeit batteries (shorter label).
Thanks for sharing.
would be helpful to know where PF sourced the counterfeits
The brief computer screen shot he showed looked like EBay.
Ebay is full of them.
We also learned to make sure not to short out the real Milwaukee batteries either. That was disappointing
Thanks for sharing.
They have a higher threshold for thermal runaway allowing for longer heavy power draws , It's not bad thing it's actually good and if it started on fire than it would have been an issue
@@gamersplaygroundliquidm3th526It didn't start a fire because the shorting bar is too large to burn through. I would imagine an external shorting cable would get hot enough after 14 seconds to cause a fire. Imo, holding on for that long is not really a good short circuit protection idea, especially when the board is damaged instead of an internal fuse.
Maybe Milwaukee is just trusting their device's internal fuse, but after seeing this, I really can't recommend using their power inverter. 200A for 14 seconds is easily enough to melt any standard household cable.
@@blarfroer8066 To be fair, it's not going to do 200A at 120V. Unfortunately, the amps it will do at that voltage is still more than twice what the average 120v cable is rated for.
Best off-grid power station
Thank you for the video idea!
Yes pls
And use a small air conditioner to suck all that power. 😉
Great video, another reason why I only purchase tools and batteries from my local (and trusted) vendors!
Thanks!
You have a sense for the dramatic Sir! Using a c-clamp to short a battery out - genius!
Thanks for sharing!
Truly a genius idea. This is a very good lesson on battery safety. Well done!
The final irony ( literally ) : He used the best one of the C-Clamp lineup in his video he made a while back. Only that he did not perform short circuit bech testing - until now.
The scary part that was briefly mentioned is how unscrupulous people can buy these fake ones for cheap and buy a real one at the store and then switch them back up so the fake one is now on the shelf at HD or Lowe’s. Curious how they prevent such things.
unfortunately they don't prevent such things. Short reality of it is, people are there just for the job, very few are there because they have an OCD interest in all the products that are sold in that store. If it looks right (aka close enough) it must be right.
@@alexb.1320worse than that, as an employee for big box, most of the time we simply don't have the tools or time to check for counterfeit returns. It's not the employees. The company doesn't care and doesn't want to invest the money.
To that point, we do have a lot of training for Apple counterfeits, because Apple enforces that training for it's designated retailers.
The big box stores and the legit manufacturers won’t do anything until it affects sales enough.
Thanks for the feedback.
They do track anomalies in sales and returns as these scam rings are never going to be limited to just one store in a chain. But these scammers know all the tricks and formulations, i.e. they space out their activities knowing that the numbers get smoothed out in the data analytics and go all over random places so that any type of potential criminal investigation becomes impractical. And with these days with all the increases in such, the eyes/resources mostly focused on traditional thieves walking out with unpaid product and not this type of sophisticated crime.
I always buy my batteries from the big box stores. Never had a problem. They're more expensive but worth it
EBay has genuine batteries for about half the price
Thanks for the feedback.
@@johnsxterra9020 No... That's the problem. Those are almost always the counterfeit ones.
@@johnsxterra9020Yes and the half price “genuine” batteries are in the video. They’re the counterfeit ones.
Easier to return on big box store.@@snaplash