I’ve been wondering for a while now and can’t get a clear answer.
What exactly do the different manufacturers mean by warranty, how would they handle warranty claims?
Most of the more popular brands Pylon, Blue Nova, Freedom Won have warranties around 10 years, but what exactly do they do if your battery goes pear shaped after say 5 years of use within specification?
Highly unlikely, do they give you a brand new replacement? Do they give you a second hand replacement which is more or less 5 years / X amount of cycles old which they then warrant for a further 5 years? Or do they pull the tyre manufacturer stunt and only give you some discount on the next purchase of one of their batteries?
I can’t speak for the specifics of each brand, but warranties are often structures in multiple tiers.
They’ll guarantee workmanship/quality, which means if the device outright fails, breaks, burns out (and has not been abused) they replace it. This is usually the shortest part of the warranty.
Then they’ll have a performance warranty. If the device degrades past a certain point within a certain time, they will compensate you for the loss. For example, they might say that if the battery loses more than 40% of its capacity in ten years, then that fails the performance warranty. If it loses 39%… you’re out of luck
Depending on the small print, a performance warranty may also compensate you only for the remainder. This is typical on car tyres, where a warranty might say "you had 50% useable tread left, so we compensate you for half a tyre ).
I have no idea what the actual warranty texts say because I have never bothered to read them.
Edit: Slightly off-topic, but some warranty items can be fairly useless. We have a Samsung microwave-oven with a big sticker on the front proclaiming a 10-year warranty. The warranty is on the ceramic coating, not on the items that normally fail (magnetron, transformer, etc). We have a Bosch washing machine with a 10-year warranty… on the electrical motor. Only 3 years on the rest of it…
You need to understand exactly what the warranty is covering! And besides the ‘small print’ get hold of the supplier and ask them.
The standard appliance warranty (one year typically) is that the item is repaired or replaced.
Extended warranties can be provided by 3rd parties (not the agents) and they will attempt a repair first and then credit you the original purchase price if they can’t.
Me, I have NO faith in like 10 year warranties. None.
Duratherm changed their warranty terms in the 9.5 years I had the geyser, When I wanted to submit a claim because it leaked, I was told by the supplier, that if I really wanted to, I would need to go to court …
Warranties like i.e. Victron’s 5 years, I have NO issue with, as the company has been around for decades.
For me it is about how long the company has been around, and how others have experienced warranty claims.
