Cordless trimmer router battery adapter

[jimslita]

Hi there,

I've searched the forums but wasn't able to find any clear information on this topic (maybe there's a reason I dont yet understand!)

In the absense of a cordless trimmer in the Festool range I was interested to know if anyone had any experience of, and source for, a Festool to Makita/DeWalt/Milwakee/other brand battery adapter? I have only Festool tools in my cordless toolkit and am reluctant to buy both a tool, charger and batteries from another brand just to plug this gap so would ideally buy a bare unit and use my 18V Festool batteries.

I'm UK based but travel within Europe so both marketplaces would be options.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I have not seen such a thing. I have never heard of someone wanting to use a Festool battery on anything else (or the other way either)
There are lots of them out there for adapting most of the more common brands (at least common in the US) You can put a Dewalt battery on nearly any other brand, same with Milwaukee and Makita, beyond that, it's not so easy. I haven't really looked into it lately though.
All of my cordless tools are Makita (except for CXS) for just the reason you mentioned. Multiple chargers are a bit of a nuisance. Years ago, I dealt with Makita, Bosch, and Craftsman batteries, all at once.

 

[Packard]

The market for Festool batteries is not terribly large, so the number of aftermarket batteries is not large either.  There are some as my Google search shows.
https://www.google.com/search?q=aftermarket festool batteries&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

I have a couple of aftermarket batteries for my Milwaukee tools and they are quite satisfactory. But check the reviews first.
https://www.google.com/search?q=aftermarket festool batteries&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

Paint a green square on the side of the battery, if it makes you feel better. Amazon has several, in more than one style.

 

[jimslita]

Thanks for your reply - however I have enough Festool batteries: I'm on the hunt for an adapter to use my Festool batteries with a Makita (or other brand) cordless tool. Theres a number of Makita to Dewalt adapters (for example) but I havent seen one for Festool to another brand as yet.

 

[Doug S]

A quick google brought this up
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/27616793...pid=147591788601&rlsatarget=aud-1657461042628la-1817264050995&abcId=9303861&merchantid=232721978&gclid=CjwKCAiAvdCrBhBREiwAX6-6Ui3ypxt-jgOr84uLSdBgKLQiOyXZE4ZL3Pnf23orKvn58zLyall3RBoCZosQAvD_BwE

 

[jimslita]

Hi again Doug

Yes Id found that but its unnecessarily expensive and comes from Kazakhstan - I was hoping to find something that someone has some experience of.

Thanks for your help but I have already used Google to research the topic myself but was hoping for some Festool users that might have already road tested a product.

Cheers

 

[Packard]

In school, I never paid much attention to geography.  I had to Google Kazakhstan.  It seems an unlikely source for battery adaptors.  The description of their constitution (current) reads a lot like the USA constitution.  But while Trump is trying to move the constitution towards having greater executive power, the Kazakhstan constitution is being modified to create a better balance and is reducing the executive power.

This from the Encyclopedia Britannia:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Kazakhstan/People

 

[six-point socket II]

The problem with all/most of these adapters is that today a battery is far more than an + - power connection to the tool.

Depending on tool manufacturer, battery and tool communicate. There is heat protection, protection against exhausting the battery/ "deep discharge" = dead battery/ can't be charged anymore, and more.

Additionally with more recent batteries, there is communication that lets the tool know which battery (Ah and cell type) is currently being used, so the tool can adjust draw/ power accordingly.

Some tools will work with + - connected only, others require a little bit of convincing by adding, for example a resistor of a certain value, to another connector/pin. Comprehensive lists can be found online.

Now to be absolutely clear: This is dangerous, you need to be aware of what the adapter does (or not) to protect your batteries and tools - and your life, family, home. ... Some people claim they have this all figured out, it's no problem, they can "control" it.

The same issue arises with aftermarket batteries, you have absolutely no idea what's actually inside.

I for one will never recommend to do this, especially not if you do any sort of commercial work. Not the adapters, not the aftermarket batteries. However, people do it.

The Festool battery platforms are more "niche market" compared to a lot of other brands, thats why offerings in that regard are somewhat limited.

If you really decide to go with an adapter, which I would not recommend, that guy on eBay might be your best bet at getting any adapter at all.

All that said, there are small steps towards "genuine"/safe commercially sold adapters being made, currently especially for lighting solutions because that is a lot easier to handle than high draw/current tools.

It's the same reason Festool has designed a proprietary mains adapter for the small cordless sanders only. (As well as have other manufacturers that offer mains adapters for very specific tools within their product range only.)

Again, no recommendation to use an adapter.

Kind regards,
Oliver