Makita BL1830-2 18-Volt 3.0 AH Battery, 2-Pack

by Makita

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Makita LXT 18-Volt 3-Ah Lithium-Ion Battery boasts more power, less weight, and a better fit. The optimum charging system produces 280 percent the total lifetime of standard batteries, with twice the number of cycles. With a five times lower self-discharge, this lithium-ion battery is ready for use, even after long periods of storage. Built-in features include shock-absorbing to protect the battery and a memory chip that communicates with the charger to maximize battery life using three active controls: current, voltage and thermal. Sixteen firm holding contact terminals reduce the risk of power loss/fluctuation in high-vibration work environments. This battery comes with a 1-year limited warranty.

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000EDRT70
• Item model number: BL1830-2
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
  • #2 in Home Improvement > Power & Hand Tools > Power Tool Accessories > Cordless Tool Accessories > Battery Packs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Faulty design on BL1830, September 8, 2011

By 

F64 (Southeastern PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Makita BL1830-2 18-Volt 3.0 AH Battery, 2-Pack (Tools & Home Improvement)

There is an intelligent circuit board inside the pack that needs to be powered, and it draws its power from the very cells it is monitoring.

The basic design flaw is that the circuit is wired to be powered by only one of the many cells in the pack. The board draws a constant although small current from that single cell. If the battery is not used for a few weeks then that cell will deep discharge causing a weak link in the bank of cells, the pack then fails in the charger.

Makita has programmed the circuitry so that if you try to charge the battery 3 times in this state, it will permanently disable it. Normal behavior is to think "why is it not charging, let me try again". If more than 1 year old, it is out of warranty.

Makita should step up, redesign the battery, and offer on their website to replace any batteries which have not been abused with the new design.

I would not buy any more Makita tools powered by this battery.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great value, October 10, 2007

By 

Joseph M. Cone (thibodaux, louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Makita BL1830-2 18-Volt 3.0 AH Battery, 2-Pack (Tools & Home Improvement)

These batteries are a great value because they last a lot longer than other 18V batteries. I have crews using these tools for metal framing and such and the less time they spend getting down off of scaffolds looking for a charged battery, the more money I save. I personally used the 18V driver to install 18 sheets of Durock and I went thru over 300 fasteners on a single charge. I kept reaching for more fasteners wondering when the battery would go dead and it just kept on going. The 3 amp hour design is awesome. In this case, I say you get what you pay for...and maybe a little bit more.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great batteries, but they have a short life due to a bug, October 21, 2011

By 

Opti Mystic "Poco Loco" (San Jose, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Makita BL1830-2 18-Volt 3.0 AH Battery, 2-Pack (Tools & Home Improvement)

I love these batteries and the tools they power. They deliver more energy than my other brand 18 volt tools. The Makita smart charger charges them in 20 minutes. Wow, great battery! I should be happy, right? Partly I am, but partly I'm not. I am concerned about the huge number of premature failures people are reporting here and in the single BL1830 battery reviews. There's a problem and Makita is ignoring it.

I did a lot of research on the net about this. My conclusion: this battery has design flaw that shuts down these batteries prematurely. It won't happen to everyone, but if the battery sits discharged for a long time, it's very likely to happen.

Background: Lithium batteries can burn or explode if abused. They need monitoring, for safety reasons. So like everyone, Makita put in a smart control board in the battery pack. The control board monitors charging voltage, current, battery temperature, number of charges, and remembers all that. Sounds good, right? But.. there is a design bug. The battery control board draws power only from the first cell of the 5 cells in the battery. If you leave it sitting for a while, the control board will discharge that first cell to zero, while the others remain charged. To the control board or possibly the charger, that looks like a shorted cell, which could overheat, and the control board remembers it. If you try to charge it 3 times with an apparently deep discharged cell, sudden death! The control board tells the charger that the battery is unsafe to charge, and prevents charging in the Makita charger -- permanently.

The key evidence is the apparent dead cell is usually that first cell, the one that powers the control board. Very likely the battery is still usable. It can probably be recharged on third party chargers that ignore the control board -- but never again on a Makita charger. If you have a dead battery, you could try to charge it on an aftermarket charger. They cost about $50, a lot less than a new battery.

If you read the reviews for the single BL1830 battery, you will see that a lot of customers, about 1/3, are angry about these premature failures. Makita has extended the warranty if the battery fails before 150 charges, admitting they know about the problem. It's not enough. We should not have to deal with premature failures caused by a known design defect. Who has time on the job, and who has money to throw away?

I can think of many ways to fix this. For example, Makita could reprogram the battery control board or charger so it did not lock up a good battery, or the control board could draw power from all 5 cells so this is less likely to happen to a single cell, or use a separate coin cell for the control board, or ... well, as you can see there are many possible ways to address this. My point is that Makita's engineers need to pick a solution and fix this problem.

As I said, I really do love these batteries and tools. But this serious problem has been identified, and it needs to be fixed. In my opinion, Makita should recall these batteries and fix this problem, and release a better battery design for new sales. If not, Makita's reputation will continue to suffer, and there could be a class action lawsuit too. Makita is infuriating customers and destroying its reputation.