Familiarize yourself with our website's terms of use and privacy statement.

Cookie Notification

This website uses functional cookies to enable the optimal website experience. The website also uses analytical and marketing cookies for statistical and marketing purposes. The information gathered by the selected cookies will be shared with our service partners. By accepting all cookies, we can ensure the best possible website experience for you. By disabling cookies, some of the website features may not work properly.

Click here for the cookie policy
OK

 

BATTERY HEALTH CHECK

For any tradesperson, a degraded battery can be costly – whether it be causing damage to tools, a reduction in performance causing delays on site, or even harming the user. In this blog, we look at why it’s beneficial for anyone using cordless tools and equipment to get their batteries regularly checked and where to get this service undertaken for free.

 

Why test batteries?

A degraded, or counterfeit battery can pose potential risks such as overheating, power loss, or even fire.

Let’s take a closer look:

Safety: Lithium-ion – the battery material that is used to power cordless power tools – can be volatile, so it is vital that the battery charge and discharge current, cell voltage, and temperature are all carefully controlled and adhere to stringent safety standards. A damaged or counterfeit, third party battery can potentially lead to the battery overheating, catching fire or, in the worst cases, exploding – harming the user and the tool.

Capacity and performance: Over time, or with misuse, battery performance can reduce, leading to lower run times and power output for your tools. Tools will therefore fail to perform as expected, making tasks take longer and potentially reducing the quality of results, meaning time spent on jobs isn’t efficient.

Battery misuse can occur in many ways – for example, overcharging the battery which happens when a battery is left on the charger long after it has reached 100%. Equally, deep discharging – running a battery down to zero – can be just as damaging to the long-term health of the unit.

Regular testing helps to identify any durability and safety issues BEFORE they become a problem, in turn, helping to maintain the efficiency and longevity of both the tools and the battery. Furthermore, understanding the health of batteries helps users to manage tool usage, kit rotation and financial planning to replace old batteries.

The tests can also identify whether a battery is counterfeit. These are often a poor quality, substandard product that can appear identical to those from the manufacturer and are likely to underperform in both output and runtime. Counterfeit batteries – often unknowingly purchased, also pose a safety threat as most lack the manufacturing safety checks which ensure a controlled engineering process and management of Lithium-ion. Counterfeit, third party batteries will also invalidate our tool warranties, so it is important to identify if you have inadvertently added these to your kit in order to avoid problems later down the line. Click here to read more about how to spot counterfeit products.

 

What’s included in a Makita battery test?

A battery test is quick and easy and takes only 2 minutes. Included in your battery health check report is useful information including how well the battery holds charge, the number of charging cycles, energy capacity, and battery performance. The test can be performed on any of our CXT, LXT, or XGT batteries.

The following list details the measurements and data you can expect from our battery health checks:

  • Date of manufacturing
  • Number of charges it has gone through
  • Overall state of health
  • Percentage of over-charging
  • Percentage of over-discharging
  • Battery temperature
  • Cell health
  • Chip & health error codes

 

Where to get battery test checks undertaken

Makita battery tests can be carried out, free of charge, at one of our Factory Service Centres (FSCs) located in Wigan, Glasgow, Feltham, and Milton Keynes, using our “Drop and Go” service. This service is designed as a convenient way to drop batteries and tools with Makita experts who will inspect and provide you with the relevant information about your equipment.

Alternatively, we have a wide network of Authorised Service Agents (ASA) located across the UK who are trained and authorised by Makita to service and repair our tools. These dealerships are able to carry out battery health checks as well as offer useful advice about correct use of batteries and tools. Find your local ASA or FSC. 

To learn more about how to preserve battery health, read our blog about extending battery life here.