Customer Reviews

Milwaukee 48-11-2230 18-Volt 2.4 Amp Hour NiCad Slide Style Battery

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

Yes, my batteries also seemed to die after relatively little use. I even sent my charger back to Milwaukee since I had trouble believing that both batteries would die so quickly.
After the charger was confirmed functional I contacted Milwaukee again asking for guidance. They recommended jump-starting my batteries (I suppose to get it above threshold as has been noted in a few other reviews).
I did not bother to jumper it as suggested but rather just pressed a standard nine volt battery against the leads for about 30 seconds (the single lead is positive). Sure enough, I then loaded each battery into the charger which lit up and charged the battery with no problem (and the batteries are again working fine). Compared to a third party repair ($35 plus shipping or a new battery $50) this was a pretty cheap alternative - I only wish Milwaukee would have suggested it much sooner (or posted it).

For those who, like me, are frustrated with dead Milwaukee batteries, DP's trick -- place a standard 9V battery against the leads on your dead Milwuakee battery for 30 seconds (single lead on your Milwaukee is positive, the double lead is negative) -- sure did work for me. Thanks to DP for saving me $100+.

The folks at Milwaukee deserve to be sued not only for making crappy batteries but for not publicizing this incredibly easy (and cheap) way to fix them. This ought to be on their website's FAQ.

I purchased several 18-volt Milwaukee portable tools about a year ago. The tools are first-class. The batteries, on the other hand, only last about a year, regardless of how often you use them. Unless you are a heavy user of Milwaukee portable power tools, the expensive, short-life batteries make the investment not worthwhile.

Two of these batteries came with my drill. The drill has seen occasional heavy homeowner use. The first battery failed to take a charge shortly after the warranty expired - battery warranties are 1 year. The second started failing shortly after. According to other Amazon reviews, this is a known problem.

I absolutely LOVE the drill. It's a real workhorse, but $175 for batteries every 2 years is outrageous.

I emailed Milwaukee regarding this issue and obtained a crucial information regarding this battery and it charger. If your battery voltage falls below 3V, the charger won't recognize it.

With that, I did a test with my "dead" 18V battery. I disassembled it (unscrewed the 5 Torx screws on the battery pack and open the top part) and used a regular AC-DC adaptor (mine was a 15VDC output @800mA but I think anything AC-DC adaptor with more than 3V output will do) to charge it manually - connect the positive output from the adaptor to the positive pole of the battery pack and negative to negative - for 1 hr. That will bring the battery's voltage above the 3V limit. Re-assembled the cover and plugged it back to the charger and voila, it recognized the battery and charged it to full. Plugged it back into my drill and it worked like it used to.

With all that said, still, I will not buy any Milwaukee product in the future. I'm still pissed at the way they handled this situation. They blamed ME for not taking good care of the tool, not a flaw in their design. I still don't know why their charger won't charge the pack when its voltage falls below 3V. I left all my power tools (Milwaukee, DeWalt, Hitachi, Makita) unused for 4 months when I went abroad and by the time I came back, Milwaukee's 18V was the only one that wouldn't take a charge.

Disclaimer: please proceed with the above mentioned instructions ONLY if you know what you're doing (basics of DC current, polarity...) I will not be responsible for your loss of properties and/or lives when you decide to do this.

Update (Sep 24, 2010): Just learned Milwaukee had a recall on these batteries a few years ago. Called and asked them if it's still in effect and it is. Took my batteries (they are the ones with the "Power-Plus" label, which qualify the recall) to a local Milwaukee Service Center and they swapped them on the spot without a question asked (well, they did ask for my name/address/phone number). Yay for Milwaukee even though I was extremely pissed in 2006 when I found out about this issue and contacted them just to find out they denied their problems altogether. Haven't bought a single Milwaukee tool till after this. This recall does not affect the star rating on this battery. They suck. Go for 18V Li-Ion. They cost about the same nowadays.

If you still have these batteries (dead or alive), call them up. The recall is still in effect, guys. Once again, it doesn't matter whether your batteries are dead. They'll just swap it for a brand new one for you. Good luck.

I love the tools, however, the batteries, even if you don't use them go dead.

Furthermore, even though they have improved how the battery clips to the tools, it takes a lot of effort at times to pinch the two sides to release the battery. My wife has never been able to change the battery on any of the tools in the combo kit I purchased. Now that the additional batteries I purchased much later are also going bad, very dissapointed.

Given current experience with the batteries, I am phasing out Milwaukee's cordless tools (even though the tools perform great). No desire to try their new V28 batteries after my experience with these.

Due to the inherent nature of Ni Cad batteries, Milwaukee, Dewalt, et al batteries, IME, do not hold up well. Fortunately there are companies like Voltman, and Batteries Plus, who will rebuild your old batteries with better, all though lower AH rated batteries. A lower AH rating should result in slightly lower torque, but I think that the 2.4AH batteries used by Milwaukee, Dewalt, etc., must be over rated, because the 2.1's used by Voltman and Batteries Plus are much better. Contractors who previously would share their batteries with each other, track and do not share their rebuilt batteries because they are that much better! Some here say that Milwaukee is the only company with crappy batteries, but as far as I can tell and in my experience, they all seem to use the same crappy cells. IMO, rebuilding with better cells is the only solution to this problem! Voltman charges $35.00 including return shipping, Batteries Plus, $49.00, but they are a franchise, so even though more expensive, they may be more convenient for some folks. You can Google either of them. Batteries Plus may be in your yellow pages, and Voltman can be found on Ebay. I use a Milwaukee at home, and a Dewalt at work, neither, as far as I can tell, has good batteries, but the rebuilt ones are a BIG improvement, IME. While wildly more expensive, you can change over to Lithium Ion batteries which hold a charge for a year, and do not die if not charged monthly. For home users who only use their tools every few months, they are the way to go. Amazon has them listed as:

Milwaukee 48-11-1833 V18 Multi-Pack 18-Volt and 28-Volt Lithium-Ion Charger with 2 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Batteries Combo Pack

The charger must be purchased as Ni Cad chargers will damage Lithium Ion batteries. The charger in this set can be used to charge Lithium Ion and Ni Cad batteries though.

If you want to stick with the 18v NiCad system, like I do, consider buying the 48-59-0260 Multi-Bay charger. Like a lot of people I use the 18v cordless tools with large lapses of inactivity in between. If you do this, I just about guarantee that your batteries will not take a charge when you need them next. The Multi-Bay charger brings the dead back to life. I have gone for almost a year, not charging or trickle charging them with the supplied charger that comes with the tool. At that time the batteries will not be recognized by the supplied charger, but the Multi-Bay's different recharging cycle will recondition them. I have bought "dead" used 18v batteries at local swap meets for $5 and the Multi-Bay revived 80% of these. The Multi-Bay costs about what two or three new 18v bateries do, so if you don't want to continually subsidize Milwaukee through battery purchases this may be a viable solution. Another possibility is to switch from the 18v NiCad to the 18v Lithium Ion system that Popular Mechanics said is available from Milwaukee. Of course this would involve new batteries and a new charger. I have not checked out this solution but unless these Lithium Ions explode like the Dell/Sony debacle, this might be another way to go.

I have had the Milwaukee hammer drill and circular saw kit for around three years. It came with two batteries, the first of which died around 8 months ago. I accepted it, grudgingly, but with the apparant death of battery number two today I was fairly unhappy. My previous drill's battery (old Craftsman) lasted around eight years. So I was ready to shell out some cash for new batteries, but happened to see the other reviewers discussion about the 9v battery trick and a problem with the charger not recognizing the battery when it didn't show a charge of at least 3v. So, I tried the trick, and suprise, I have two very functional chargable batteries. Used both tonight to continue finishing off our bonus room. No issues. Thanks to the intelligent reviewer for sharing his insight. Milwaukee, if you read the reviews on Amazon of your products, which I would do if I were in your shoes, you really should address this problem with at least the folks that registered their cordless tools with you.

Although I love my Milwaukee drill, I too was frustrated with what appeared to be a dead battery in a short period of time. When looking to purchase a new one, I saw the review from DP and his trick of using a standard 9v battery to get the Milwaukee battery charge high enough so that the standard charger will recognize it. DP's little trick worked like a charm!! My "dead" battery is now up and running again.

Makes ver glad that I use Amazon often.