[stavros]

I'm in the process of replacing the battery in my old robot vacuum right now, and for the amount of time spent doing that, I could buy a whole new vacuum. It's a pity, because the battery itself can be replaced just by plugging it in, but all the batteries I could find were AliExpress fakes, so my two options are either "more e-waste" or "spend $500 in time doing it myself".

[avar]

Some of us enjoy fixing things like these over and above the hypothetically fungible billable hour, and whether you can substitute some time in an evening with a billable hour or three is highly dependent on your employment situation.

But in this case the relevant cost under discussion isn't that of a replacement vacuum cleaner, but what value you assign to your house not burning down due to a crappy 18650 cell, or the anxiety of worrying that that'll happen.

[stavros]

Well, I don't enjoy making the hundredth battery pack, so I'm counting it against the hypothetically fungible billable hour.

The cost should be the cost of a good-quality battery pack from the factory, which I can only get right now as part of the vacuum, unfortunately.