Milwaukee V28 tools---

[PeterK]

Any of you own these? I have purchased the V28 lithium ion powered sawzall, circular saw and bandsaw. The tools do have tremendous power and my electricians love using them. The problem is that EVERY time we go to use them, the batteries are discharged if left sitting for more than a week so that we have to wait to recharge before use. Doesn't matter if the battery is installed in the tool or left disconnected so even the back up battery is dead. Very frustrating. I don't understand the problem as it historically has been a problem with the NiCads. Surprisingly, my C12 with NiCad batteries ALWAYS has a charge no matter how long it sits between uses. Seems to be more of a quality and manufacturing issue as Festool has great old technology batteries. I love Milwaukee corded tools but will not purchase any more battery operated ones.
Pete

 

[nickao]

Pete I have seen this on my cordless stuff too. I have not seen,  other than waiting, the quality drop or the batteries be bad at all. I do not know why this happens. Others would say the batteries are bad, but they are not. Once recharged they last and have full power. I have seen this in Ridgid and others. I will call a friend who has the same system as you and see what he says about it.

Nick

 

[ken257]

I have had a set of V28 tools for a couple of years now. They are great tools but I have experianced the same problem with the batteries that you have. I also have 2 C12's (1.2 and 2.4 batteries) and they always have a good charge and never go dead on there own.

Ken

 

[PeterK]

My understanding and experience was that NiCads would discharge fairly fast just sitting there and I have definitely experienced that with some brand tools. But - the C12 doesn't do it. Don't know what Festool did to fix this - higher quality batteries built to their spec maybe? I have 2 of the C12s and have purchased 4 others for my electricians at work and they all hold charge extremely well. I know many people look at the C12 and TDK and see the NiCads and won't consider them thinking that Festool is using very old technology. My experience is that they are every bit as good as my other tools utilizing NiMH and LiIon and in many ways better. Amazing power out of the 12 volt NiCads. Gonna pose this as technical question in tool forum to Festool.
Pete

 

[ken257]

I find that the quality of the battery is more important then the type. I actually just gave away a Makita 9.6v drill that I bought over 20 years ago and the original nicad was still good. I have had bad nicads to in cheaper products.  Li-ion is supposed to be the latest and greatest but I have had so many fail in laptops, phones, ..... that I don't believe it. And li-ion hasn't been around long enough yet to be a proven reliable battery technology for high current items such as tools. I guess maybe that is why Festool hasn't come out with them yet. They have great batteries as is, no reason to change untill the technology is mature.

 

[valerko]

There's got to be something wrong either with your charger or your batteries.I have a same set as well as right angle drill and impact gun.I abuse the hell out of them.Use them a lot and main reason I like them is that batteries are waiting to be used(assuming they were charged or had some charge in them left)
I had on battery die on me ,which I packed up and send to factory on Monday and had brand new one back on Friday.
Had no problem with the tools or batteries.Lithium batteries in general have long shelf life.Shouldn't loose more then 10% of charged capacity in year.

 

[nickao]

Milwaukee has great service. At least they did.

About 10 years ago I ran a deck company. I purchased a new Miwaukee Sawzall. It broke in my hands after cutting about 50 lag bolts. Tough, but the Sawzall should not have broke.

I wrote an email to corporate  saying that this sawzall is so bad my 2 year old couldn't use it as scizzors to cut paper.

3 days later two people from milwaukee knocked on my door and handed me three brand new Sawzalls and asked to come back and monitor the wear on them. They drove two hours to get to my house and did cme back twice over the next year to check the tools.

I never have since had customer service that good.

Nickao

 

[mastercabman]

milwaukee corded tools,very good!
milwaukee cordless tools?    not for me.         
i had a 12 v. drill about 12-13 years ago,lasted 6 months.
bought an 18 v. drill 7 years ago,never liked it and burned the motor after 1 year. no more cordless milwaukee for me.

also,milwaukee's batteries has always been a problem

 

[valerko]

I recently rough plumbed 2 small house without even starting the generator.All the cutting and drilling was done with my v28 tools and 4 batteries I had lasted all day.Impressed even my plumber friend.
I wasn't huge fan of milwaukee tools untill they come up with V28 tools.Never really liked their sawzall before , pretty much only thing I had from them was my 7 1/4 skill saw with adjustable handle.
I still don't have too many of thaie corded tool,but have all v28 but bandsaw (looking for excuse to buy one) and I love their little 12v driver.