Milwaukee's Brand New M18 Forge Battery - Is It Worth Your Time and $$$$???

[@TinkerWithTools]

Corrections on the video: the title cards for the hammer drill testing weren’t correctly labeled. The first hammer drill test is the 5” ledgerlok, 2nd is the 5” timberlok, 3rd is the 8” timberlok, 4th is the 1” Flex Auger.

[@devonboyer626]

The Forge is kinda the combination of a 6 ah and 12 ah, so it really makes sense that it's price would fall somewhere in the middle. Luckily for us it's closer to the price of the 6 ah than the 12 ah.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Yeah, I was surprised when the announced the pricing. I had previously paid $179 for a 6ah HO when they were newer so to have the newest battery only $20 more than that list price, it made a lot of sense. I don't have the 12ah and I don't really have need for that level of run time but I do like more power!

[@Brian..........]

Just the explanation I've been looking for for a long time! Great comparison and visuals! Thanks for putting this together

[@TinkerWithTools]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CraigularjJoeWoodworks]

This is the only place to run the tracksaw with the forge, which was important because it made a difference

[@Sainte305]

Unlike most guys running Milwaukee gear, I don't have a ton of M18 batteries, I do have a ton of M12 because I like the M12 tools. I've been buying more and more M18 for some of my bigger jobs though and I got 2 of the Forge batteries recently, only paid $200 for both, so it was a no brainer. I tried to buy more and they wouldn't let me. On my SDS Plus I was able to drill 40 holes, 18" deep and still had battery left. Holes were for speed bumps. I used a regular 6.0 and could only drill 18 holes before the battery was drained, both batteries were fully charged. I am happy with them, especially paired with the new 1/2" high torque, the power is pretty insane.

[@TinkerWithTools]

You got a steal of a deal getting two for the price of one. Nice score.

[@Xio189]

@@TinkerWithToolsSo you were drilling in concrete? 40 holes on a forge battery? I am working in Home Depot’s as of late and I will be getting a rotary soon. One forge battery making 40 holes sounds extremely good, but I just wonder what you were drilling.

[@Caymen43]

What about run time. Will a forge battery run a light for example longer than its high output battery counterpart. Im finding videos on the forge having more power but nothing on run time.

[@TinkerWithTools]

No it will not. Run time is going to correlate to the AH of the batter so a 6ah high output and a 6ah forge should be fairly similar.

[@communicationiskey-]

Good video. However, with track saw cuts were not made the same way: With the HO 6.0, the hose rubbed on the rail and you were holding it from behind the counter. With the Forge, you were already on the side of the saw, giving saw a better angle to push from and protecting hose from rubbing on rail. I think, if cuts were made the same way with saw held the same way would not have amounted to much difference.

[@billcuningham586]

Great video, as always. In my world, being retired, run time and speed isn't so critical (well run time is important when I am bucking wood with my M12 Hatchet). Other than that...I work as long as I feel like it, and then take off until I feel like working again. However, performance is always a factor with me. The power to drive a bolt is a factor, how fast not as much. The same with speeding through a cut. I recently purchased a 2nd gen Fuel mid-torque impact wrench. In on of the many reviews I have watched on of the guys said that while the Forge and the High output XC 6.0 are pretty much similar running constant draw direct drive tools, where the Forge excels is the "punch" in power when hitting the anvil on an impact tool. Something is that is very important when trying to knock loose a rusted bolt. Not sure how you actually test this but it would be interesting to see if this really true.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Thanks! I would have to think about how to test that.

[@motivationro8042]

Love this new battery. I used it on my dual battery shop vac and the leaf blower. The shop vac definitely seems to run strong, and the blower has way more power and all the way through to the end.

[@TinkerWithTools]

It’s been awesome for me as well. I have loved it paired with my track saw.

[@scottelms5639]

Which has a longer run time the High output 5.5 or the forge 6ah?!! I have high output 5.5 I think it’s 6 in the USA but I’m in uk and here it’s 5.5. Anyway I can’t believe no one has been able to give a straight answer as tomorrow the runtime when compared with the forge 6ah.

[@TinkerWithTools]

All things being equal two batteries sharing the same ah rating will perform relatively the same in run time. So I would guess in your scenario that the 6.0 would yield slightly better run time than a 5.5. But there are many factors that can alter this in real world use like battery age and cell degradation, the application including the tool used on etc.

[@mannyfresh8504]

Definitely worth it…. Put it to work yesterday on a big job. The quick charge makes fits right in with that “time is money” statement. Battery life was more than expected as I never needed to re-charge anyways. The new charger is bad@ass too.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Thanks for providing your experience with it!

[@ericnichols9275]

Just TOO MUCH CA$H only paid $199 for my FLEX 550 WATT. SUPER CHARGER will hopefully get a KMAS DEAL

[@mannyfresh8504]

@@ericnichols9275 i feel you, but money makes money bro. I spent 600 for the two batts and charger and made $5000 using them on a two day job… most these mainstream companies have trades in mind hence their pricing. Not too mad at them considering they do things for DIY’ers too.

[@Sainte305]

Got two Forge batteries on a steal, waiting to get the charger. It only takes about an hour and a half on my regular charger though.

[@mannyfresh8504]

@@Sainte305 wait until you get the new charger… world of a difference. Got my set with the charger and a $50 deduction via acme tool some weeks ago. That hr and a half comes down to half hr or less :-)

[@thepewplace1370]

Great video! The constant draw direct drive tools like saws and drills are where we really ought to see the gains from the massive current those tabs on the pouches can supply, and that's basically what your testing shows. Milwaukee tools, more than any other brand as far as I can tell, really can boost performance with better batteries (iirc, like a 40% torque improvement on the 2904 going from the xc5.0 to the 6.0HO). The Forge should provide across the board improvements in a similar way, although less drastic. What I'm more looking forward to is the charge speed, and the fact they've made these much more robust: the battery packs until now have been ABS with overmolding on corners, but the Forge is made out of nylon with glass fiber fill, just like the body of the tools we put them in, which should make for a much tougher battery case. I haven't gotten any yet, but I'm looking forward to getting a couple. I'm also curious what the other Forge offerings are going to be capable of, as this is the only pouch cell battery in the M18 group: the other Forge batteries coming next year supposedly have cylindrical cells in them, so I'm very much interested in what they've done to get even better performance than pouch cells, out of cylindrical cells.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Thanks. Yeah Milwaukee seem to love the premium battery.

[@stauker.1960]

​@@TinkerWithTools Makita is investigating tabless cells instead of pouches, maybe TTI is doing something similar

[@TinkerWithTools]

I think the future lineup will be a combination of cell types for most brands.

[@riba2233]

@@stauker.1960 they are not investigating, they are already released (BL4040F pack). milwauke also released some mx fuel packs with tabless cells and upcoming 12ah forge will have them

[@thepewplace1370]

@@riba2233 yup, I'm ready for it to come out in the M18 series (I have little need for MX Fuel and can't justify it's cost at this point) and see what additional benefits it gives. We're definitely in a golden age of cordless tech.

[@steffendetrick]

I think newer tools that are designed with that battery in mind to take advantage of the higher discharge rate will perform better. The wiring and connection points for the battery on some of those older tools, I think are a chokepoint for that higher discharge rate.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Yeah the circular was first released almost 10 years ago at this point. I can’t imagine they had this battery in mind then. The track saw was almost certainly developed and tested along side this battery.

[@steffendetrick]

@@TinkerWithTools which is why that tool has some of the larger gains I suspect. You can immediately hear the difference in the saw’s with the forge battery in it.

[@johnpacheco830]

I wonder how they would do in the lawnmower

[@TinkerWithTools]

I assume they would have the power just not the run time.

[@devonboyer626]

Yeah I feel the lawmower is kinda pointless without long time capacity batteries. One of those tools you really need the 12 ah for.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Yeah, the way I see it is in a pinch this would have the power to run it well, just not the full run time, but I don't see them packaging it with this any time soon.

[@ericnichols9275]

Just when the 12 amp FORGE Battery comes out

[@douglasswatts9448]

Excellent review.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Thank you! Glad you like it.

[@ToolsInAction4u]

I just like that they can be charged so fast. Really want to get rid of all my 2 ah and 5ah batteries and get 2 of these.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Agreed!

[@psidvicious]

What’s with the “FUEL” designation?

[@TinkerWithTools]

Are you just referring to the tools that have it? If so it’s just Milwaukees top tier of brushless tools.

[@OUTILSCLIPSQC]

Very nice video , i realy like the fact that you bring circular saw to your channel good job .

[@TinkerWithTools]

Thanks!

[@ericnichols9275]

Yea got my FORGE Battery at HOME DEPOT and saved 10% when i used my HD CARD still$80.00 cheaper then my DEWALT 5 amp Power Stack when i got it from OHIO POWER TOOLS last DECEMBER

[@TinkerWithTools]

The price point of the Forge was really surprising for me and I think it's something that Milwaukee got really right with this tool.

[@VeryCoolAlan]

Im ready for that PWR5 Forge! It will probably be $299+ but it will be well worth it.

[@Unbendable74]

The new battery Milwaukee is working on is called what cell?

[@TinkerWithTools]

It's called a tabless cell.

[@riba2233]

@@TinkerWithTools they should have released this one with tabless cells, it would be 8ah instead of 6 and similar power level, but would be of better quality. Huge fail imho

[@QuockhanhPham20]

Just another nice video But there is only a small mistake when edit the named material test in Hammer Drill test

[@TinkerWithTools]

Thanks and thanks for letting me know.

[@kvernesdotten]

Theres nothing inherently premium about 21700 cells, its just a physically bigger cell. 21x700 mm spesifically. it can be cheaply made or well made, and in some cases the difference between the two can be upwards of 3x the capacity. Also, are you sure those holes are for cooling? Usually they are for venting gases from the batteries, and it makes little sense to have venting holes for cooling without a fan inside (convection is incredibly poor for carrying heat away), especially on a battery that touts being resistant to chemicals and fluids. I tried looking through their marketing wank but didnt find any mention of air cooling.

[@TinkerWithTools]

The venting was mentioned in the initial pipeline event. I believe the new super charger has fans that help cool the batteries during charging as well.

[@kvernesdotten]

@@TinkerWithTools Oh okay, odd choice but makes a little more sense

[@riba2233]

liion batteries don't vent any gases, if they do they are done lol

[@kvernesdotten]

@@riba2233 Yes, which would be uneccesarily catastrophic should they fail. Open any power tool battery and I bet you'll find them :)

[@thepewplace1370]

There is an inherently premium factor in 21700 over 18650, although it is a byproduct of size, and that's continuous draw numbers (capacity isn't the selling point on these HO batteries). As we know, current = heat, and the larger end terminals on the 21700 enable higher currents with the same materials. Could you get equal numbers out of an 18650? Sure, but you'd need a different materials blend, and more importantly, insulating materials to do something with the heat of the whole cell more efficiently. The significant increase in surface area of the 21700 inherently gives it a benefit there as well. In sum, are they technically more premium, or materially more premium? Nope. But they are materially more efficient, at the cost of volumetric efficiency. The increased power this delivers to the tool may be worth that material and size increase for some users (it definitely is for me).

[@NWGarage]

Nicely made video !

[@TinkerWithTools]

Thanks!

[@steffendetrick]

The old super charger will also fully charge that battery in 26 minutes. Home Depot is currently clearing out those super chargers for $90.

[@TinkerWithTools]

I haven’t seen them at that price at my local stores but I’ll have to keep an eye out for them.

[@steffendetrick]

@@TinkerWithTools mine was at the endcap, where they do the buy more save war. Always look for the yellow stickers.😂

[@TinkerWithTools]

Yeah I usually do a weekly walk for that reason but I have found certain stores are more stingy with clearance from brands like Milwaukee. My closest store isn’t great with Milwaukee clearance unfortunately

[@jpadilla0515]

Looks like the 6ho a bit better lol, i just want it for my m18 vacuum it kills a 5ho in 18mins lol

[@TinkerWithTools]

I am hoping that will see an increase in the deals on that battery or the 12 ah with this new battery on the market.

[@rock_machine01]

But here’s the thing, you’re only testing these for a short amount of time in light use tools. I would like to see it in say a 7/16 Milwaukee driver like my lineman impact drill!

[@TinkerWithTools]

Well, if I ever have a tool like that I'll be sure to test it and report back.

[@TheWonderfulEngima]

Nice.

[@timothybayliss6680]

There is almost no way that TTI can push the M18 5s 18.5v platform to a higher power. Not without introduction of a dual terminal battery pack like Ryobi or Makita has done. Dewalt sidesteps the issue and runs 15s "60V" batteries in high draw tools. Tools are already starting to torch the terminals on batteries. Something like a drill is pretty unlikely to do it, its a matter of cycle time. The 9" cut off saw and string trimmer have a nasty habit of cooking the terminals in the battery packs. The 12.0ho,6.0ho and forge can already supply more than 100 amps of current continously to the tool. For reference a 3/8 locar spade terminal is rated for 35 amps. I actually like the forge pack, less weight with comparable output to the 6.0HO with the ability to fast charge and have really high cycle life.

[@TinkerWithTools]

It will be interesting to see what they come up with to account for that in the future.

[@SuperPhoReal]

These newer forge batteries will fry their tools sooner with heavier usage. Their circuit board from trigger to wire leaves a lot to be desired. Just watch Dean Doherty’s video.

[@TinkerWithTools]

I have been using is for several months now with a variety of tools and so far all is good.

[@j0rzeh]

I can buy 4 XC 5.0 batteries for the price of one of these.

[@TinkerWithTools]

Yes you can. Buy what works for you.

[@EditioCastigata]

6:24 You know how to use this tool, as do I, but consider who'll be watching your video. If only 1% imitated that less than recommended handling, there's a risk of injuries. In other words, on KZbin (and other media) you'd better be exemplary. :-)

[@Skinnymoose]

Lol We have a safety Sally in the house.

[@shtika]

dewalt is the power stack. lol dewalt

[@AR-uj3js]

Don't know about the forge but all other milwaukee battery is horrible, won't charged red green flash etc stupid red link stupid protection technology

[@TinkerWithTools]

Is the battery in warranty still?

[@AR-uj3js]

@TinkerWithTools got all my battery new as gift and some I bought can't find receipt but I hate there battery protection circuitry dewalt is better n now flex

[@DullMoments_edc]

Some of your clips are off

[@TinkerWithTools]

I appreciate you letting me know.