DSC - AGC 18-125 FH Battery Life

[mbrusso]

Okayyyy...

I  am in Canada and not supposed to have access to one of these things, however ... I  ordered a basic kit without the batteries from a retailer on eBay., and used it for the first time today on a tile demo job.

The dust extraction is superb and it is absolutely an AMAZING tool.

The battery life though seems to be very very short. It seems to really suck the juice out of them. The charging station actually stalled on a recharge on the first drained battery because it was too warm (Steady red light present until it cooled off)

Anyone else experiencing the same issue on the cordless version of this tool?  I  am using the two batteries which came with my PDC 18 Cordless drill and have not started looking if different festool 18V batteries have different milliamp hour ratings or not. 

My BHC 18 and PDC drills seem to function at "reasonable" operating lengths with these batteries, but the Tile cutter is a pig.

Mark

 

[mrboult]

Do you have experience with other cordless grinders? My experience is that they all seem to eat battery pretty quickly.
5.2ah have been standard with Festool 18v for a few years, and I’ve think I’ve seen 6.0ah batteries now too.

 

[six-point socket II]

Totally normal. Cordless angle grinder are some of the most demanding & consuming tools regarding batteries/ battery life.

Since Festool will have 4 Ah "high power" (21700 cells) compact batteries for sale beginning in January (for Germany/Europe), I'd honestly wait and see if they also upgrade the current, bigger 6.2 Ah Airstream batteries.

That said, your tool & overall work will definitely profit from 6.2 Ah airstream batteries & airstream charger: Less charging time, air cooled while charging.

But if you can, wait a little and see if there will be some upgrade and get the new batteries and charger then.

(Then again, theres nothing wrong in having also some of the current 6.2 Ah airstream batteries and charger. (Will work with your PDC & BHC, too.)  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin] )

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

The battery life though seems to be very very short. It seems to really suck the juice out of them.

My BHC 18 and PDC drills seem to function at "reasonable" operating lengths with these batteries, but the Tile cutter is a pig.

What's the run time that you're getting with this? Cutting porcelain tile will be tougher on the batteries than some other material.

I have a couple of Milwaukee cordless grinders, I get about 1/2 hour of continuous use before they go south.

You realize that there is an attachment for this grinder so it can be used on a guide rail.  [smile]

[attachimg=1]

 

[Michael Kellough]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]

“I have a couple of Milwaukee cordless grinders, I get about 1/2 hour of continuous use before they go south.”

What size battery?

 

[Cheese]

What size battery?

Well [member=297]Michael Kellough[/member] that was certainly an interesting exercise. I have purchased several Milwaukee 18V batteries over the years and in my mind I think about them as short...medium...and large. When I use the RA grinders I typically go for the "medium" size because they give me a reasonably long run time and they handle well because they're light.

When I actually looked at the amperage rating of the "medium" batteries I would use with the RA grinder I was shocked, they were 47 Wh, 54 Wh, 72 Wh and 90 Wh. All of these batteries are the same physical size and when I'm using them I consider them to be equals...obviously they are not.

So to answer your question...I don't know which batteries give me the run times I describe.  [crying]

Something for me to pay attention to in the future.  [doh]

 

[mbrusso]

Hi All .  Thanks for the replies !  Because the current job is a tile demo job, it's sustained cutting at speed setting 6. 

The cutter is actually "the other one" than that depicted by cheese. I  'm getting nowhere near 1/2 an hour lol. It's more like 5 to 10 minutes of steady cutting. Which could also mean I'm due for new batteries. 

That being said, I  have options and appreciate the replies from the community
Mark