Millwaukee M18 battery lifespan

[premmington]

With daily use - I am getting about 3.5yrs out of a M18 5amp battery.

No real loss of power - then they just refuse to charge!

Not had a failure yet with M12 2amp of 6amp ones

Battery warranty is 2yrs and tool warranty is 3yrs.

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Is this about what everybody else is getting - or have I been unlucky or lucky even...?

 

[123hotchef]

i have had them fail sooner and I have some that are going longer, weird aint it, have you taken any apart yet to try and fix them?
I have 2 M12 4AH ones here I want to disect

 

[Trevorleach]

One m18 4.0ah died after 10 years, same as yours refusing to charge, another one same age still charges but loses power quite quickly.
To be fair they all worked hard for at least the first five years.

The rest of my M18s are newer but some are certainly over 3.5 years old.

After the 10yr old battery died, I started to think about all those people who have bought electric cars!

 

[rhubarb7]

One m18 4.0ah died after 10 years, same as yours refusing to charge, another one same age still charges but loses power quite quickly.
To be fair they all worked hard for at least the first five years.

The rest of my M18s are newer but some are certainly over 3.5 years old.

After the 10yr old battery died, I started to think about all those people who have bought electric cars!

Oh don't mention EV batteries, they'll be dummies spat out again

 

[Trevorleach]

Oh don't mention EV batteries, they'll be dummies spat out again

I would hazard a guess it is happening right now, but being kept out of the news.

 

[Migmac]

With daily use - I am getting about 3.5yrs out of a M18 5amp battery.

No real loss of power - then they just refuse to charge!

Not had a failure yet with M12 2amp of 6amp ones

Battery warranty is 2yrs and tool warranty is 3yrs.

----------

Is this about what everybody else is getting - or have I been unlucky or lucky even...?

It’s worth taking them apart, it’s sometimes just the tabs come off and need resoldering. Ive replaced the board on one, £14. Another one I’ve been given to repair needs new cells

 

[premmington]

Oh don't mention EV batteries, they'll be dummies spat out again

PMSL...

 

[premmington]

i have had them fail sooner and I have some that are going longer, weird aint it, have you taken any apart yet to try and fix them?
I have 2 M12 4AH ones here I want to disect

Not had time - just ordered 2 x 5amp ones from SGS - £103 ish delivered the pair.

 

[Pete.]

Oh don't mention EV batteries, they'll be dummies spat out again

Just last week I happened to ask my mate how the battery was doing on his 2017 Tesla, if he'd noticed any drop-off in range or performance. He said no, it's still going strong. This is a heavily used car too.

 

[frank horton]

PMSL.....?

 

[Migmac]

PMSL.....?

Peed my self laughing

 

[mtt.tr]

My DeWalt batteries are about 6years old, I've lost one in this time.


Found it in a bucket of water.

 

[daleyd]

My DeWalt batteries are about 6years old, I've lost one in this time.


Found it in a bucket of water.

At least it won’t catch fire…

 

[roofman]

Pretty interesting

How Long Do Lithium-ion Batteries Last?

How long do lithium-ion batteries last? We talked with more than a half dozen manufacturers to get the answers so you know what to expect.

www.protoolreviews.com

 

[tom2207]

Id always thought about 500 charge cycles was average for them , a lot is to do with what state they are stored in ,,, I loose track , some like nicad are meant to be stored fully charged , but lion not fully charged , then theres these new polly batteries ,,, I just use them till they are done.

 

[weldingnovice]

Hilti 22v batteries from 2012 on are still going strong couple of 3.3 Ah rest are 5.2Ah. Must have a dozen.

A few of them have failed to fully charge.

Took them apart and fine ****e had worked into the spade connectors. Cleaned them with contact cleaner nipped them up put back together.

These have been abused from day one.

Circular saw and grinder are the harshest tools for batteries.

Cushty.

Get a few hours max out of Milwaukee 12v jobbies in my coat.
Only little things, but have had a lot of use and are holding up. Used all year round as an emergency top up for phone via usb on the coat adapter.

 

[premmington]

I have always fully cycled or near fully cycled the milwaukee batteries.

As I use them in a workshop most of the time - and the charger is screwed to the wall on a few mtrs away from where I am working.

I did not buy into too many batterys at the time - I only got 3x M18 5amps - 2x M12 2amps - 2x M12 6amps.
Plus one Ebay special 8amp which I bought as an experiment and would not buy a copy battery again.

 

[julianf]

I have always fully cycled or near fully cycled the milwaukee batteries.

As I use them in a workshop most of the time - and the charger is screwed to the wall on a few mtrs away from where I am working.

I did not buy into too many batterys at the time - I only got 3x M18 5amps - 2x M12 2amps - 2x M12 6amps.
Plus one Ebay special 8amp which I bought as an experiment and would not buy a copy battery again.

I'm not sure li ion is the same as nicad... I don't know for sure, but I think lithium works best not being cycled, whilst part charging nicad would stuff them.

Again I don't know, but I think that's accurate?

 

[MattF]

My Makita batteries are 7 or 8 year old now. All still working. Oldest Bosch batteries are 6 year old. Still working. I put them back on the charger when I'm done with them, before putting them away.

 

[premmington]

Stripped M18 battery in question - been over cells and main contactors with a multimeter - they seem OK.

Conclude charge PCB dead - ordered one off ebay for a play. @Migmac I paid £6.97 ex China.

I did strip another working M18 battery to give me some comparative readings. Was nearly tempted to rob the PCB out of the eBay special copy battery I got to have a play with (but that don't like winter cold for some reason).