Milwaukee tools 18v battery

June 22, 2024 4:56 PM

Can you still get this old style Milwaukee tools battery ?
posted by falsedmitri to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

Like this one that looks like your picture that comes up when you type "Milwaukee 18 volt battery" into Google?

https://www.expertpower.us/products/milwaukee-18v

Unless there's something unique about that battery, which you didn't mention in your question.
posted by jonathanhughes at 5:11 PM on June 22

Response by poster: Oh, I think you are correct. I didn't consider that someone besides Milwaukee would make them.
posted by falsedmitri at 5:24 PM on June 22

You don't want to buy a replacement NiCd battery like the one linked above (NiCd batteries are much worse than lithium ion in terms of power storage and delivery, plus they are worse environmentally). NiMH is a little better, but still far worse than lithium ion.

These are called V18 batteries. You can get lithium ion V18 batteries from many third-party manufacturers, e.g. on Amazon, or if you already have the newer Milwaukee M18 batteries, you can buy a V18 to M18 adapter to use the newer batteries on your older tool.
posted by ssg at 6:32 PM on June 22 [1 favorite]

There's always been a market for third party battery pack replacements for cordless tools. The bad news is that making third party NiCd battery packs (such as that one) stopped being cost effective a while back because the economy of scale went away as most people just bought new tools with lithium batteries instead. Buying NiCd batteries for seldom-used tools is also not really cost effective, because the chemistry works against you, forming crystals that can destroy individual cells unless you're using the tools all the time. So you'll pay more now than you used to (like how I bought a new drill in 2019 rather than buy a new battery for an old Ryobi), and if you don't use the tool very often – and run it under load until the battery is well and truly dead, or use a battery conditioner you probably don't have – your new battery pack will also go bad surprisingly quickly.

Nickel-based batteries are awesome for heavily used power tools, but not great for tools that mostly sit idle. I'd really think about adapting lithium batteries (as above) or just buying new tools that come with them.
posted by fedward at 6:38 PM on June 22

I should add that charging a lithium ion battery on a NiCd charger is sketchy, so you're better off replacing both the charger and battery (which is probably cheaper to do with an M18 battery and an adapter).
posted by ssg at 6:44 PM on June 22 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I think I didn't put the right link in the original question, such that some photos were missing.
https://imgur.com/gallery/old-style-18v-battery-can-one-still-get-these-Thjn9TK
I think it doesn't change the question or the answers though.

So can someone point me to a charger and battery lithium ion combo that would work ?
posted by falsedmitri at 7:25 PM on June 22

Realistically, if this is the only tool you have, you're probably better of just buying an entirely new drill with battery and charger included, as wasteful as that may be. Battery, charger and adapter will probably cost just as much.
posted by ssg at 7:49 PM on June 22 [4 favorites]

My ReStore has a ton of older tools and batteries.
YMMV, but at least you're not generating more waste.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 9:48 PM on June 22 [3 favorites]

I'm pretty sure AEG batteries of that era are identical to Milwaukee. Check that I'm correct before you buy but that could be another avenue to pursue.
posted by deadwax at 2:27 AM on June 23

So can someone point me to a charger and battery lithium ion combo that would work ?

The best price I can find on a Milwaukee 18V battery and charger includes a drill. It's $99 for that kit, which is the same price as just the battery, and $40 cheaper than just the drill.

Note: Milwaukee has an overwhelming number of different bundles available, and there's also a well-known "hack" at Home Depot because of the way they apply "free item" discounts on their in-store bundles (e.g. get a free tool with this battery and charger kit). They pro-rate the discount value across every item on the receipt, so to take advantage of this you buy a store bundle and then just return part of it and get the thing you want for less than the advertised price. This might not be relevant for you right now, but it's worth knowing about.
posted by fedward at 2:50 PM on June 23