Cordless carvex run time??

[cartman bob]

Just bought a cordless carvex last weekend. Bought the basic package since I own 3 screwguns. The plan was to buy a 15 or 18 volt battery for it when I recouperated from the saw and accessory kit. However, today I popped a freshly charged new (few weeks old) 12 volt lithium battery in, and tried to make 2 8' cuts in mdf, and the battery was dead about 7 feet into the second cut. Not cool. Wasn't pushing too hard, brand new blade. Is this normal? If so looks like it will be exchanged for a corded version. Kind of a bummer, for the most part I use a jigsaw for small cut-outs and the cordless saw had me excited. Anyone tell me if this short of a run time even on a small battery is normal??

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Bob,

What's the Ah rating on the battery you were using? The Ah is the capacity of the battery. Originally our 15 volt drills came with 2.6 Ah, then moved to 3.0 Ah, and now have 4.2 Ah.

The spec is listed as ~120 feet in 1-9/16" particle board. I think that was with the 3.0 Ah batteries.

Running a 15 volt battery will slow the saw some, I'm not sure what impact it might have on battery life but my guess would be that it's insignificant compared to the 18v.

Shane

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Maybe we can get some of our other forum members to talk about their experience with battery life on the Carvex and which battery they're using.

I would recommend that you check with your Festool dealer regarding returns on non-tool items. I suspect dealers might be unwilling to accept batteries back because someone could potentially swap it for another old battery. I'm not suggesting that you would do that, but just offering a reason why they might not be willing to do that.

Also, make sure that you're fully charging the battery.  [wink]

I had a quick chat with a colleague regarding using the 12v battery and we think that the machine will work the battery harder trying to keep the cut speed the same that it would be with an 18v. So, this could impact battery life.

Shane

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I just have the 18v 4.2ah batteries,  but they seem to last forever. 

 

[PreferrablyWood]

I have the Carvex with the 15v 3ah battery and for heavyduty material old pine, over 3/4 it's not lasting very long. In light stock and particle board, not mdf if does fine. I've opgraded my setup with an 18v drill so I have access to 4.2ah batteries now so I'm expecting a significant improvement in run time, I will eventual get the TSC 55 and one or two more 18v batteries, so I will have plenty of power and 3 or 4 charges to run my cordless set. I highly recommend you sort out your battery power and keep the Carvex, cordless is just so convenient, and the quality of the Carvex cuts and usability make it worth investing in..

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Yes, they will work with your charger.