Dyson Vacuum: Replacing a Dead Battery

About 10 years have passed since I started using my Dyson vacuum cleaner. It has high suction power and is easy to clean with because it is cordless. It has been very convenient and I have used it every day, but for the past few months, the battery has been running out faster than before. I used to be able to clean both the first and second floors at once, but recently, if I clean the second floor, the battery dies while I am in the middle of cleaning the first floor. The vacuum would suddenly stop, and I would be unable to clean the first floor without recharging it (recharging doesn't finish immediately, so it is extremely inconvenient).

And then, the "moment" finally arrived. It was New Year's Eve, 2025. I took the Dyson vacuum off the wall-mounted charger as usual and pulled the power lever, but it wouldn't make a sound. Even though it had been charging for plenty of time, it wouldn't start at all. The battery had died.

An acquaintance of mine bought the same model around the same time and said they replaced the battery a little while ago, and it seems that the lifespan of a Dyson vacuum battery is about 10 years. By the way, they said it was delivered the day after ordering, and they were impressed by how efficient that was.

Purchasing a Replacement Battery

I was torn between buying a new vacuum or replacing the battery, but I chose to replace the battery this time. It becomes difficult to arrange for bulky waste collection during the New Year holidays, and even if I ordered a new model online, it seemed like it would take a while to arrive... but the deciding factor was the experience of the friend mentioned above. The fact that replacement parts are delivered quickly is very attractive. Even considering it is the New Year, I expected it would likely be delivered in a few days.

However... As my friend told me, I went to the Dyson Direct Shop and entered the parts section to search for the battery for my model, only to find it listed as "out of stock"...

What I felt was not so much disappointment as it was the fear that "maybe it's been discontinued?" For Japanese home appliances, there are quite a few cases where parts for older models are only kept for a few years (I had just heard from a Panasonic retailer when I went to buy an air conditioner recently that "while they explain at the time of purchase that parts are guaranteed for 10 years, in reality, they often disappear after a few years." This was their "excuse" that Panasonic keeps parts for many years, which is why they pass the cost on to the product price, making them more expensive).

If it is discontinued, I would have to buy a whole new set of Dyson vacuum cleaners. However, with the recent rise in prices, Dyson vacuums are quite expensive, and if I try to buy a new product during the New Year, I might be told it's "out of stock." It seemed like it would be a hassle, and I felt heavy-hearted.

That's when I thought of the (forbidden) "compatible battery." Since a genuine product is just under 10,000 yen, a compatible product should be a few thousand yen. Moreover, with Amazon's robotic automated warehouses, early delivery might be possible (even during the New Year). So, I decided to search for one. And they just kept appearing...

First, I searched for popular and cheap ones on Amazon. What caught my eye was a product for about 3,000 yen from a manufacturer I had never heard of called AWANFI. Delivery was in two days, and it had a rating of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 out of 5 stars). There were many purchase examples, and it was said to have obtained the PSE conformity mark.

I was also able to find several blog posts where people said they had installed an AWANFI compatible battery. They didn't write anything like "it's been 10 years since I replaced it and it's fine," but it is true that for some reason, seeing these makes me feel at ease.

Based on the simple "investigation" above, I didn't hesitate to press the "confirm order" button on Amazon, and the purchase of the AWANFI compatible battery was decided. Now I could rest easy. I thought I could finally escape from my dust-covered room... but what bothered me a little was the "recent lithium battery fire accidents." I wrote "forbidden compatible battery" above because I had heard rumors that there are poor-quality products mixed in with compatible ones, and that fire accidents are increasing. However, in my desperation to clean my dirty room, that "rumor" was unconsciously blocked.

Lithium-ion battery fire accidents

It was after I had placed the order. Canceling is a hassle. I tried to convince myself that "it will probably be fine." Moreover, it is a product that many people have already purchased. I thought it surely wouldn't cause a fire, but just "to be safe," I decided to do a quick search. Then, the Google AI report that appeared at the very beginning contained content that felt like a "reprimand" (for my attitude up to that point), and my stomach and intestines twisted. It said, "Recently, fire accidents involving compatible batteries for Dyson vacuum cleaners have become noticeable"...

Cold sweat ran down my back, and I began to read the references as if my life depended on it. First, there was an article in a web magazine called Nikkei XTECH that introduced an emergency notification from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry regarding fire accidents.

The photo of the recalled product in that article, which said "imported by Sumitomo Shoten... Orange Line DC60..." looked at first glance like the same AWANFI compatible battery (I had just completed the purchase procedure for it)... (If you look closely, you can see a difference in the notch pattern on the surface, but the overall shape looks almost the same).

Feeling panicked, thinking "This is bad...", I hurriedly logged into my Amazon account page and proceeded with the cancellation procedure. Fortunately, the cancellation was accepted, so I was relieved.

What I have learned so far:

1. The PSE conformity mark cannot be relied upon (the accident-prone products listed in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's emergency notice had the PSE certification mark!).
2. A 4-star rating on Amazon does not equate to a "guarantee."
3. Ignition accidents may not necessarily happen immediately after starting use (the fact that they are introduced on blogs suggests they are fine for a while).

Point 3 in particular seems related to the structure of lithium-ion batteries. What exactly is a "defective product"? Perhaps it has the property that any "defective product" will work normally when new? The meaning of "defective product" might (perhaps) mean "deteriorates quickly." Furthermore, I have a feeling that "the system for detecting deterioration is weak" is also involved.

To verify this, further investigation is likely necessary. However, that is a bit of a hassle (I am well aware that this thought pattern is bad, but humans are weak after all...). When I searched on Google, I found a suggestion that "there are also Japanese-made products for compatible batteries, so I recommend those," so I decided to look for a "Dyson compatible battery" provided by a Japanese company.

Japanese-made Dyson compatible battery: Enelife

As a result of my Google search, I found that there is a specialized site that analyzes compatible batteries. It seems to be a site run personally by a battery engineer. One of the articles stated, "Enelife products can be recommended as Japanese-made Dyson compatible batteries."

Following this article, when I searched on Amazon (I couldn't find it easily earlier because it was buried under Chinese products), I obtained information that an Enelife compatible battery was available for sale!

The price is about 6,000 yen. It is double that of AWANFI, but two-thirds that of the genuine product.

I know that PSE certification is "meaningless," but if it's "not there," it's an immediate rejection, so confirmation is necessary. As a result, it seemed that PSE certification had been obtained, at least.

The rating is 4.2 stars, and there seem to be a fair number of purchases. However, I am well aware that such information (as seen in the AWANFI example earlier) is useless. But it would also be a problem if there were no stars at all, or if there were zero purchasers. In that sense, Enelife seemed to have received a "good rating" to the same extent as AWANFI. This might mean that at least "it can be used without problems immediately after purchase" (is this like the phrasing bureaucrats often use, "there will be no immediate impact"?).

Finally, there is the question of whether any ignition accidents have been reported. When I asked Google AI to check, it said, "no such accidents have been reported so far." Feeling good about this, I decided to order it on Amazon right away!

I felt relieved that I could finally clean... but there is also the matter of AWANFI. Even though I had already placed the order, just to be safe, I decided to continue reading the article on "Gokan-battery.com" for more information. Then, I found a concerning comment.

First, let's look at the "points to evaluate."

Looking at this alone, there would be no hesitation regarding the purchase. However, the next paragraph was the problem.

Since the description is becoming increasingly technical, many people probably won't understand it at first glance (I am one of them). So, at first, I thought, "Oh well." However, it is true that the last sentence is concerning. The part about "(although there are no reports of accidents) theoretically, overcurrent is possible." The reason for my failure in purchasing the AWANFI earlier was that I "got lazy and stopped the investigation halfway through," so this time, remembering what I learned there, I decided to endure it a little and dig deeper.

First, I looked up what the "total cell + single cell detection method" is, then "cell imbalance," and finally, lithium dendrites. I will leave the content for "to be continued next time" (because this article has become a bit too long).

However, I will write down here just the conclusion I reached after conducting this investigation. In the end, I also canceled my order for the Enelife Dyson-compatible battery. The deciding factor was my judgment that "dendrite formation due to cell imbalance can cause overcurrent and short circuits, potentially leading to ignition." (To be continued)