New Festool 8 Amp Batteries. New charger worthwhile? -- Have i been undercharging my batteries??

[@BradshawJoinery]

Its BLack Friday week on Amazon - amzn.to/49LRuwL

[@oblux]

The festool service is brilliant. I've slowly changed all my tools to festool over the past few years - and when I have had rare problems with their tools, the send UPS over very quickly to pick them up, and drop them off again. (Refreshing that they use a dependable courier too) It also happens that the festool HQ and service centre is 20 minutes drive from my workshop - so I have dropped tools off and picked them up from them before too. It's so nice to deal with a company where you can speak to proper humans at the end of the phone - and they truly feel like a local company when their HQ is so close. I'd rather pay the premium for festool just for this.

[@markjarman7819]

Been using the 8ah on the hkc55 the last few days cutting wet 4x2 and 200mm weatherboard and I got two days out of the 8ah. Does spin the saw up faster and improves cutting power. Interesting with the chargers there. Thanks for posting this👍

[@nidgep]

Depending on chemistry typical battery charge cycles are between 20% to 80% this is intended to maximise the number of charge cycles.

[@dwalsh3469]

The default iphone battery charging during the day is to 80%. It is apparently for optimising battery life, which is good given the cost of batteries.

[@bensimmons3692]

Great video Ollie, I’ve got a few bits of festool mains power though and usually for where you need precision. Kapex / track saw and the vac which is the dogs …. All corded tho. Makita for the battery powered gear for value and I love the 2amp hour batts on the small drills and drivers … makes them super light to handle. Keep the content coming Ollie!

[@Dazza19746]

The kapex is great, mine just bit me but. The guard has been playing up, as in not closing fully every time, been doing massive days lately ( midnight last night) so maybe that’s a factor, but guard hadn’t fully closed and I was sliding a glazing bar under to stop and somehow it caught the top of my hand just past knuckles. Technically the saw was off and running down and it’s a bit of claret everywhere, but tenons everything are fine. Just the thought of how bad it could have been is scary :(

[@Glynchbrook]

Thanks for another interesting video. You’re really pumping out the content just now which is great viewing! The cost of purchasing all the batteries and the accelerated failure of them due to constant charge/discharge cycling puts me off. I always use mains powered primary tools and suggest that a power bank would be a better purchase for when on a site without mains power.

[@tomhammond89]

I just bought 4 of these and plan to get 4 more. The table saw and shop vac it seems like anything less just doesn't cut it.

[@Cianan-vw1lb]

Brand spanking new it is. Not yet available this side of the pond. This will definitely help. The first thing that crosses the mind seeing the cordless Kapex, dust extractor, and table saw is, where's the mains adapter? Lots of places for an 8Ah battery now. I'm going to have to download the app. Thanks for the introductions!

[@raydriver7300]

Festool is fantastic kit. As a DIYer I can’t justify the cost but my DeWalt tools are perfectly acceptable, however, the run time of the 2ah batteries is woeful. Just as well I have two of them. Such an interesting video, Olive. Looking forward to the next one 🌞

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

Use at least 4Ah- and make sure your tools are brushless (they use around half the power). I use DeWalt and it is not an issue for me. You may find that using such small batteries on high power tools has shortened their life, and their power is reduced.

[@raydriver7300]

@@Tensquaremetreworkshop Thanks for your advice. I forgot that my multi tool came with a 2ah battery and bought another one when I bought a right angled drill to use for sanding on my lathe. It’s light. I use 4ah for my other drills and drivers and 5ah for my strimmer. 🌞

[@ethanabbott2258]

Hi, charging to 100% shortens the life of the battery you can also change settings in the phone so it only charges to 85%

[@dougsaunders8109]

My car only wants to charge to 80%, it is meant to extend the life of the batteries. Modern batteries work best between 20% and 80%. They can also be charged faster in this range without damage. Unless you really need cordless, certain tools are better mains fed. Extraction and grinders are two examples where run time is low on batteries between charges

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

True- and if they are tools that need extraction, power lead down the hose means no extra effort (and no battery changing). Plus your dust system can detect the power on- and which gate needs to be opened. Best is both- cordless tools that have a remote connection. Surprised that there are not more of them...

[@gregorymacneil2836]

The quickest charger is worth the money - you need fewer batteries on the site - while I don’t use Festool cordless I did buy the super rapid chargers for my Milwaukee and it makes a big difference.

[@chrismononen663]

Great comparison.

[@hovermotion]

what a shame the ctc 36v cordless only runs on 4amp its such a short run time ..great vid...

[@BradshawJoinery]

yeah 2x8ah in that would probably work really good

[@davidhull2060]

I saw an interesting interview with Elon Musk explaining the charging cycle of tesla batteries. He likened the battery capacity to a car park....the electrons find it easy to park when the cells are discharged, but as the charge increases, there are fewer places to park, and so the electrons take more time and effort to fill up to max capacity. The optimum efficiency for charge levels was a minimum of 30% and a max of about 80%. This gives the maximum number of charge cycles for the batteries. I've always rammed the max amount of charge into all my power tool batteries...perhaps I've been doing it wrong all these years.

[@raydriver7300]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson explained it the same way 🌞

[@ryanmikita]

Nice video. I was wondering how much those 8ah batteries would help the runtime for the CTC MIDI. Now I know, TY! Hopefully we get them in the states sooner than later.

[@BradshawJoinery]

You guys seem to struggle on tool release dates!

[@Sol-hl2rj]

Thanks for the nice review. If you have a Festool HKC.. would you mind testing the power difference with the new 8Ah vs the 5,2Ah?

[@markjarman7819]

Been doing the same thing for two days and makes the hkc55 loads better.

[@Sol-hl2rj]

@@markjarman7819 Thanks, very interesting - had a feeling that it would, and that the HKC was kind of prepared for higher output. That said, I’m very pleased with it with the 5,2Ah - Very good battery life too.

[@CreativeCarpentry]

They say ready @80% to keep the battery as healthy as possible- operating between 20 and 80 is what’s recommended for longevity

[@BradshawJoinery]

Ahh ok, so would it not be best to say 100% when it was at 80 instead of charging more/leaving it for the user to mess it up 😂

[@CreativeCarpentry]

@@BradshawJoinery yeah I agree - but we buy a new one sooner when we mess them up😂. I only found out about the 20-80% thing recently when my brother bought an electric car and was looking into how to get the most out of it.

[@Jimmythechippy]

Sold my ctcl it’s half powerful as the corded and doesn’t last long enough maybe I’d buy the sys version for anytime I’m desperate for a cordless vac

[@vanzipper6486]

Forever 💝Makita💝

[@michaelplays2449]

Great video !!!!! thank you !!

[@riptonedwards9175]

Very informative iwill be buying the bigger batteries. Thanks

[@tonyfrewin4822]

Interesting video but you might be surprised to see a fan (like a vacuum cleaner) will actually use less power if you restrict the supply of air into the fan.

[@BradshawJoinery]

Aparantly so, I guess this is good news 👌🤣

[@frankmatibs8076]

I have a lot of festool tools But I sent a working jig saw to them for a service It needed a spare part other than that it was fine They sent it back not working at all And told me it needed a new motor Also the handle on the case was missing 😳

[@eddiekidd5524]

Have you had any problems with the sca16 charger? I've had 2 fail on me....waiting for the third one to come from Germany.

[@BradshawJoinery]

No mate, not yet tbh. I dont use it much though recently

[@carbb5760]

Seems better but still not great. Are you finding you are using the vac more now at least? I might give the ctcsys another look instead

[@BradshawJoinery]

The batteries don't fit the ctcsys unfortunately. I haven't because I've been in the workshop. Will see how it goes soon

[@carbb5760]

@@BradshawJoinery ya that’s ok though, it’s smaller, cheaper and you still get 50% of the runtime with the smaller batteries. Anything to keep the jobsite as clean and tidy as possible. Good video btw

[@csabaszabo8618]

Having 8ah battery on my site radio, so I can have it on full blast.

[@th3undrgk1ng]

Can you give us an update? Have you been using it more since you got the 8ah’s as you said the run time was a real struggle so you did not use it often. Is it even worth getting when you have 2x 8ah and 2x 5ah batteries like you have or is having 2 sets of 8ah and 2 new chargers a must have to use this vac? Cant decide to get the corded or cordless one 😬 cordless seems like an adventage but 22min or 14min runtime - 30% when using with a tool.. how do you feel having used both?

[@tikamistudio]

I would go with a corded CTL M Midi. The Midi is big/small enough to bring with you on jobs. I would go for at least M-class for dust particles. I use a CTLC-Sys with battery for smaller service jobs and get about 18-20 min of suction.

[@RickyLee53]

Adding a restriction to the flow of the motor will make them run longer. As you restrict airflow to a fan it actually puts less load on the motor, hence why the motor picks up RPMs.

[@BradshawJoinery]

but surely restricting the flow causes the motor to work harder as its creating a vacuum rather than free running the air through?

[@RickyLee53]

@@BradshawJoinery a difficult part of fluid dynamics to get your head around I appreciate. Actually what happens is the air becomes thinner, so the motor can turn more freely. Imagine it as the motor it as if the motor is a tyre. It has “grip” on the air. At which point it is under load. If the tyre breaks traction, it then no longer has the same grip, so the load decreases. This isn’t the perfect analogy, more accurate is the more and less dense air is in a vacuum. I’ve just done a quick test on a mains midi. And the power drop is around 35%. From open hose to fully sealed. Love your videos by the way. I’ve certainly learned from you in the past, and hope my reply’s come across in a pleasant tone. P.s. SLA 16 will be a 16 amp charger. The 8 signifies 8 amps.

[@BradshawJoinery]

Brilliant, thanks bud, yeah that makes sense! I will give it a try one day! 👌

[@mrnormski9005]

Pardon my ignorance on this, but as the motor is not working as hard, does this reduce the suction, or does the thinner air compensate. After 50ys I'm still trying to understand the 1st law of thermodynamics, but I'm sure it's Gibbs free energy to blame lol😅

[@nathangardner772]

Can anyone confirm this fits the csc sys 50 tablesaw? Also does it sit flush so you can put the case back on with the batteries installed?

[@BradshawJoinery]

I think it does, festool talk group on Facebook is a good forum 👍

[@nathangardner772]

Dude thank you. I’m thinking about importing a couple to California. You do stunning work by the way 😊

[@Pete.Ty1]

👍👍👍.Thanks

[@gavjav1]

If you leave the batteries on charger longer than your supposed to does it not go into optimising charge like an I phone, therefore giving you longer use.

[@maaike_franskravelzen8467]

Hi, you are wrong about the load on the vacuum. If you block the hose while running the vacuum load will be reduced. Test this with your stop watch, it will run longer.....

[@BradshawJoinery]

will give it a try, thankyou

[@Macron87]

Dewalt customer service - or lack thereof - is the single reason I am switching out of my huge range of their tools

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

Or you could just throw away the broken ones. You would still find it cheaper. And you would have a spare to hand (they are usually less than half the price, so buy two).

[@Macron87]

@@TensquaremetreworkshopNot sure what you mean. The last broken Dewalt tool I had was a £700 mitre saw. Spare? Find cheaper?

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

@@Macron87 I mean you could have bought two of them for the price of the Festool KS120 (£1399). When it broke, you could have just moved to the other. No delay. And you have duplicates for different uses. Or you could just replace on breaking one- faster than any repair. Unless you break all of them, you save money.

[@simonh73]

Tesla li-Ion cars are recommended to charge to 80% for daily use. 100% if you are going on a trip and using the battery that day. That's the best for life of the battery cells. You shouldn't charge to 100% and then just store the batteries really.

[@neilhowarth9362]

Mint how come you didn't get the dual charger

[@garrymetcalfe5914]

I thought that as well?

[@BradshawJoinery]

I have the dual charger but dont use it much, but the SCA 8/16 are alot quicker, plus i have many plugs in the workshop! ahha

[@davidmunro5577]

For best life 80% is recommended for max routine charge.

[@Pistol_Knight]

Cheaper to get a corded extractor and a small generator!! for on site, even those 2 8ma only 20 mins!!

[@아이뻐-z3s]

I can't imagine how much money you have to make to afford all the fancy equipment and machines you have.

[@BradshawJoinery]

I'd say it is more sacrificed than earnt 👍🤣

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

I think you mean 8Ah (not 8A)...

[@vanzipper6486]

✌️

[@TABE-O]

Might be quick but not good for the battery.

[@josvandiepen3425]

The motor doesn't work harder if the airflow is restricted. The highest power consumption is with an open hose. Max flow means max power used.

[@BradshawJoinery]

Yeah I learned this from the comments, every day is a school day!