New powerstack batteries with an old manufacturing date (2 years)

[Vvv1vvv]

I purchased 2 new Dewalt powerstack 5ah batteries (DCBP518H2) from a reputable online seller. The manufacturing date is Apr/2022. Should I worry about long term performance, since the batteries are manufactured more than 2 years ago at the time of purchase (Aug/2024)? I can return/exchange them within 14 days if this is an issue, the batteries were not discounted and many other retailers have similar prices. 

 

Any thoughts? 

[Eric - TIA]

From my understanding, it's not the date, as much as it is the recharge cycles.  A new battery is set to go into "sleep" mode until the first charge so I would first make sure the battery can be charged and will take a full charge.  Second, make sure it's a real Dewalt battery and not a knockoff with the Dewalt outside but cheap cells or a cheap circuit board inside.  If it's a real Dewalt and it recharges, I would think you would be fine.  I would register the battery as you should have a 3-year warranty, I think it's from the date of purchase, but check as it might be from the manufacture date.  I think if you register the battery, it's from the date of purchase but if you do not register and try warranty work, then it's from the date of manufacturer.

[Vvv1vvv]

Thanks Eric,

 

I haven't charged the batteries yet because I'm still deciding whether I should return them for an exchange or buy them from another store. Dewalt does allow registration for these batteries, even though they were manufactured two years ago, and they offer a 3-year warranty starting from the date of purchase.

 

I don't suspect the retailer (Screwfix-UK) of selling knockoff batteries; it's more likely that I just ended up with older stock. Given that they're not inexpensive, I think I'll return them and check if they have newer ones available.

In the meantime, I found this article which suggests that prolonged storage can indeed affect battery performance:

 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/2.0411609jes

[Eric - TIA]

That sounds like a good move and thanks for the link.  I will read through that.