festool ISC 240 battery enquiry

[marbles]

Hi,

I'm needing to cut a lot of PIR insulation board. The Festool ISC 240 fits the bill perfectly. This would be my first Festool, everything else I have is Makita. My question will a non Festool copy battery work with this saw, or damage one or either. I can guess at the answer but just thought some Festool have simple + & - connections to function. 

Many thanks

 

[Spandex]

I don’t think anyone can advise on the quality of 3rd party batteries, given that most of them aren’t branded so even someone who owns one won’t know if theirs is the same as the one you’re looking at. I’m sure they all ‘work’ in the broad sense, but whether they will be reliable, long-lasting or even safe is anyone’s guess.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

I'm needing to cut a lot of PIR insulation board. The Festool ISC 240 fits the bill perfectly. This would be my first Festool, everything else I have is Makita. My question will a non Festool copy battery work with this saw, or damage one or either. I can guess at the answer but just thought some Festool have simple + & - connections to function. 

Many thanks

Welcome to the forum!

      I am sure Festool's answer would be to use a Festool battery and that they won't condone or recommend the use of another battery. I am also sure that has to be their answer.

    Do you have an adapter or some other copy of a Festool battery?  My thinking is .................. try at your own risk. Will it power the tool properly? Maybe , maybe not. Will the cells have longevity?  Maybe , maybe not. etc., etc.

      In the end is it worth the difference in price will be a question that only you can answer. 

    You might also be able to get previous generation Festool batteries for quite a bit less than current.

    If this is a tool you won't need after one job, then it will probably resell better with a Festool battery.

   

Seth

 

[Coen]

The tool can't smell the brand of the battery.

But copies tend to be of lousy quality.

You might be able to find an adapter for Makita battery on Festool tool.

These endless different 18V battery systems just scream one thing; standardize!

 

[threesixright]

The tool can't smell the brand of the battery.

But copies tend to be of lousy quality.

You might be able to find an adapter for Makita battery on Festool tool.

These endless different 18V battery systems just scream one thing; standardize!

Not fully true. Wetter FT check if its original battery is a different question.

But the tool could “smell” the battery.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Coen]

The tool can't smell the brand of the battery.

But copies tend to be of lousy quality.

You might be able to find an adapter for Makita battery on Festool tool.

These endless different 18V battery systems just scream one thing; standardize!

Not fully true. Wetter FT check if its original battery is a different question.

But the tool could “smell” the battery.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You would need additional circuitry in both the tool and the battery to exclude copies. I have yet to see any evidence of it's existence in the current 18V Festool system. It's more a thing for Apple, HP and laptop makers in general. These batteries also have more contacts.

Now it's usually a bad idea to experiment with lithium batteries if you don't know what you are doing; eg unprotected batteries on a tool without current limiter. The latter is what you end up with if you 're-cell' an old Ni-MH or NiCD battery with 'harvested' laptopbattery cells to use with the old tool that does not stop when overloaded.

Wasn't too detailed discussion about this subject (Festool batteries on other tools and other batteries on Festool tools) not banned from this forum?

My laptop 'smells' the adapter power; but it does so by measuring the resistance between a 3rd pin and ground. The tip of any power supply can be easily modified to make it always think it sees the bigger adapter. And if you don't want to mod the adapter it can even be done in the laptop itself.