Faulty Cordless Leaf Blower - bought and not unboxed for 13 months

swanny65

My FIL bought a Mountfield MVS 20 Li Kit Blower Shreader last year from our local Screw Fix store. He unboxed it yesterday, put it together and charged the batteries. It will not start.

He visited Screw Fix yesterday and was told they could not do anything as the warranty had expired.

A quick google brought me to Martins Consumer Rights pages. Really helpful as it would appears  SAD FART is what he and Screw Fix should be considering ?

He has established on putting the leaf blower together the purchase it is faulty and the warranty period is irrelevant as they have sold him a product that is not fit for purpose. Therefore as he can prove the fault was present at the time of purchase - some of the leaf blower is still in its original packaging, its spotlessly clean and he has not yet fixed the handle to the blower, Screw Fix should replace the blower, which is all he wants. I could not see where it says the time limit for checking whether the leafd blower or any item is faulty.

Is my understanding correct ?

Many thanks

Keep_pedalling

It is quite possible that because he left it so long before charging the batteries that they have discharged to a level that they can no longer take a charge. If that is the case then he has lucked out and will have to purchase new batteries.

Otherwise if it is the unit itself that is faulty has is going to have to get proof that it was faulty when he purchased it. 

Grumpy_chap

I was going to say exactly the same as @Keep_pedalling but I was beaten to it

greyteam1959

It might be better to contact Mountfield direct for advice.
I am sure if you approach them correctly they will be able to help you. 

eskbanker

swanny65 said:

...he can prove the fault was present at the time of purchase - some of the leaf blower is still in its original packaging, its spotlessly clean and he has not yet fixed the handle to the blower...

That doesn't in itself prove that the fault was present at the time of purchase, it just shows that it hasn't been used, which is a different test.

born_again

swanny65 said:

My FIL bought a Mountfield MVS 20 Li Kit Blower Shreader last year from our local Screw Fix store. He unboxed it yesterday, put it together and charged the batteries. It will not start.

He visited Screw Fix yesterday and was told they could not do anything as the warranty had expired.

A quick google brought me to Martins Consumer Rights pages. Really helpful as it would appears  SAD FART is what he and Screw Fix should be considering ?

He has established on putting the leaf blower together the purchase it is faulty and the warranty period is irrelevant as they have sold him a product that is not fit for purpose. Therefore as he can prove the fault was present at the time of purchase - some of the leaf blower is still in its original packaging, its spotlessly clean and he has not yet fixed the handle to the blower, Screw Fix should replace the blower, which is all he wants. I could not see where it says the time limit for checking whether the leafd blower or any item is faulty.

Is my understanding correct ?

Many thanks

SAD FART needs to get a independent report as it is over 6 months old.
Fact it was only put together yesterday, means nothing. It is time from purchase.

PHK

Agreed, and storing the batteries for over a year (especially somewhere unheated) has likely ruined them. 

MattMattMattUK

Lithium batteries are damaged by being completely discharged, the longer they are left in that state the worse they get, 3-6 months in a fully discharged state is often enough to completely kill them. The maximum state of charge batteries can be shipped with is 30%, most will be charged to 25-29% before they leave the factory, if made in China then a month at the port, eight weeks at sea, another two being unloaded and taken to the UK distribution point and then time to shop and for the sale, it can easily be six months before they reach a consumer. With a self-discharge rate of 1-3% (it gets lower with lower charge levels) they could have easily been down to they can be in the low teens by the time they get to consumers, thirteen months after that one would have to expect them to have long gone flat and if not killed then capacity will be significantly impacted. 

Alderbank

MattMattMattUK said:

Lithium batteries are damaged by being completely discharged, the longer they are left in that state the worse they get, 3-6 months in a fully discharged state is often enough to completely kill them. The maximum state of charge batteries can be shipped with is 30%, most will be charged to 25-29% before they leave the factory, if made in China then a month at the port, eight weeks at sea, another two being unloaded and taken to the UK distribution point and then time to shop and for the sale, it can easily be six months before they reach a consumer. With a self-discharge rate of 1-3% (it gets lower with lower charge levels) they could have easily been down to they can be in the low teens by the time they get to consumers, thirteen months after that one would have to expect them to have long gone flat and if not killed then capacity will be significantly impacted. 

The above is very interesting and is no doubt why Mountfield's instructions for this tool include the following:

6. STORAGE

If the battery is not used for a long period of time, remove it from the charger.

IMPORTANT If unused for any length of time, recharge the battery every two months to prolong its working life.

https://pop.stiga.com/RESTAdapter/cc_rest_dms_get/?document_code=171506796/4_28LANG

On that basis it should have been charged at least 6 times while in the OP's possession. On the OP's admission, they didn't even charge it once.
I suspect that ScrewFix will say that on balance of probabilities the damage was caused after purchase because the buyer failed to follow the instructions for safe use, particularly the bit marked 'IMPORTANT'.

The actual leaf blower is probably fine and just needs a new battery

swanny65

Thanks for your replies. Damaged batteries / dead cell(s) was also my concern. 

However having charged both batteries, both have 4 green (max number) of LEDs alight when pressed. 

My concern is these LEDs turn off when left alone for about 3 seconds or sooner if the blower is switched on. 

I couldn’t find anything in the instructions that might explain what this meant 
Have contacted Screw Fix by WhatsApp and am getting a callback tomorrow 

MattMattMattUK

swanny65 said:

Thanks for your replies. Damaged batteries / dead cell(s) was also my concern. 

However having charged both batteries, both have 4 green (max number) of LEDs alight when pressed. 

My concern is these LEDs turn off when left alone for about 3 seconds or sooner if the blower is switched on. 

I couldn’t find anything in the instructions that might explain what this meant 
Have contacted Screw Fix by WhatsApp and am getting a callback tomorrow 

The LED thing is not a measure of much, there is no actual way to measure the state of charge of a lithium chemistry battery, it is an educated guess based on output voltage (and a few other variables, depending on how smart the device controller is). Even with an almost entirely failed battery the voltage can be in the right window to show full on the LEDs, then drop instantly when a draw is placed on the battery.

The test would be to use a different/replacement battery and see if the blower works correctly.