Repairing M12 Battery battery pack. Charger Gives Red Green Blinking Error.

THIS VIDEO IS NOT ADVICE OR GUIDANCE! Li-ion batteries can suddenly and violently combust if shorted, mishandled, or if they just fail on their own. Actual disassembly video starts around 9:15
I show you my thoughts and approach to restoring a Milwaukee M12 RedLithium XC 6.0 battery pack that was rejected by the Milwaukee charging unit. I am not recommending you follow my steps.
Whatever you do please be careful!

[@dtsouza2519]

Thanks for taking the time to make this video. There are SO many videos on KZbin showing people how to fix these M12 batteries. I have a M12 XC6.0 that died after fourteen months...they are junk batteries! I have three Craftsman 19.2 batteies that are close to 20 years old and still work just fine. I've repaired my M12 battery twice, take it apart, balance charged each cell individually, put it back together, it's good again for about 4 or five charges before I have to do it all over again. The SAMSUNG 30Q cells Milwaukee used on these cells are junk.

[@Brian_L_5168]

You are the genius & thank you. I have exactly the same XC 6.0 for 4 years and probably charge total TEN times maximum. My cell reads 4.0V, 3.5V, 3.6V and causing the catastrophic green/red error light. Milwaukee is making total trash b/c there are many cell imbalance in M18 XC 8.0 & 12.0. I will use your method and hope mine can be revived !

[@pizzacrusher4632]

its been working great ever since. i charged again yesterday and it gets lots of use.

[@Brian_L_5168]

@@pizzacrusher4632 You are indeed lucky. I balance my M12 cells and M12 charger can now charge successfully. So I decided to let it sit for 2 months and monitor individual cell during this time. One cell drops 0.02 volt daily and the other 2 cells remain constant at 4.09 volt after 2 months. There you go, LOW QUALITY Milwaukee battery. Your method gives everyone hope. The day before I use M12, I will simply balance them 😅

[@Antoniocool86]

​@@Brian_L_5168Are your cells Samsung? That's what I got in my m12 and m18 cells.

[@Brian_L_5168]

@@Antoniocool86 yes my M12 is Samsung 18650. My M18 is covered by black plastic module so I barely see the cells 😅

[@Antoniocool86]

@@Brian_L_5168 Yes they turn the cells to completely hide all the lettering but on one of my m18s I could barely see some of the text and they are Samsung as well. DeWalt 20 volt uses LG cells.

[@Antoniocool86]

Thank you for showing how to measure the individual cells without taking the battery apart. I've broken 2 of the clips on one of mine lol.

[@nickzigrang2664]

Thank you. I have a 6.0 that does the same thing. I never thought of isolating the the cell groups.

[@hdwood76fxe]

I'm in the same boat. Fairly new, rarely used. My experience is: they have to be charged every few months even if not used. Also battery went dead in the charger but not plugged in to the wall receptacle. Maybe the charger ciuit was discharging the battery.

[@ratha8665]

Thank you for taking the time to share this. I have the same issue, after coming across your video, I ran out to the garage and got the pair of bad cells on the charger. It measured 2.7

[@pizzacrusher4632]

That's great! Mine is still going strong as well, and has been through 2 discharge/charge cycles already.

[@Jeff-rk8hq]

Your video is an excellent explanation of what’s happening with most common tool battery issues but also if your not electricity inclined Milwaukee has probably one of the better warranty systems if your battery is within 3yrs u don’t even need the receipt

[@delkeeney2471]

When I checked, I understand that the battery warranty is 2 years; not 3. Without the receipt, the company checks the date of manufacture, which may be several months different from your date of purchase. Still worth checking. My current M12 6.0ah battery that is malfunctioning is 2 years and 5 months out from date of manufacture...unfortunately.

[@Jeff-rk8hq]

@@delkeeney2471 you are correct it is two on the batteries I forgot the tool is three or five, depending on the tool

[@Jeff-rk8hq]

@@delkeeney2471 sorry my fault I only buy the high output batteries period and those are three-year warranty for a fact … so you must have seen the standard packs such as the xc5.0 2yr warranty unlike the xc6.0 which have 3yrs along with the othe HO packs

[@danielmoore394]

Not true I called on a battery issues yesterday and was told they can do nothing without a receipt?

[@derekwilley1991]

Instead of taking battery apart to balance, why couldn't you do that method with the tabs that make contact to the charger contact points. I get you were investigating, but knowing what you know now, would that be an avenue you could go down?

[@toargames]

Fixed my 6.0 with balance charging. the difference in the cells was huge. one set was at 4.13V and the other two where almost 1800-2200Mah behind before reaching that voltage

[@losslessthoughts]

I have a M12 6.0 battery doing the same thing, flashing red and green lights. I've tried everything, it refuses to charge even though it does work and registers 2 bars in a tool. Will the service centers replace batteries?

[@pizzacrusher4632]

well, many other commenters have said that the Milwaukee warranty service is pretty good. I just looked up their warranty page on the internet, and this is what it says: "Please consult the Find a Service Center page or call 1.800.SAWDUST (1.800.729.3878) to locate your nearest service facility for warranty and non-warranty service on a MX FUEL™ product, battery pack or charger. "

[@Goneriding23]

Could I use another batter to charge up the pairs?

[@pizzacrusher4632]

my guess is yes, just know that they’d likely equalize at half charge. its different than 2 water glasses where you can pour the whole full glass of water into the empty one. you’ll only be able to charge to half of the charging battery voltage ( assuming one zero and the other full)

[@mostlikelywedoitservices6926]

those open slots on the end of the battery that are + and - v shapes facing you to the right are neg, and the left is positive. Please check to varify.

[@V-CarChannel]

I have this same problem now hope this works

[@pizzacrusher4632]

i just charged mine again yesterday and it worked great.

[@j-sonS]

my similar m12 6ah just did the red/green blinking....i just filled out the online form and am mailing it back to them tomorrow. they have a 3 yr warranty...mine was from februrary and i also probably only used it a few times on my radio

[@chriswalker6776]

My problem is I bought the impact and drill Milwaukee combo kit and it came with the 18 v 2.0 batteries. I also have the older kit as well where it actually came with the bigger 18v xg batteries three of them. So i was using the big batter on the new brushless impact and as I was using it and it was extreme an usage of course the battery went out ready for a recharging and since then it flashing red and green on the new charger. So i jumped started it at least I thought i did 😂 but when you said things about the chargers i went out found my old charger and now so far its actually solid red light charging. I have 12 volt batteries and used maybe four times and they are acting weird now. One shows a solid green light like its completely charged but will do nothing in a tool.the other one flashing red and green. Its crazy. I never have these issues with my DeWalt batteries. Thinking about leaving the Milwaukee club and stay with DeWalt 😂

[@mijit.859]

Why? Is the 12V battery 🪫 showing me a 👉RED but Not blinking stable light whilst on the charging dock ??

[@stanjuan1178]

So, here is the real question I suppose. Maybe two questions. 1) Why can't the charger balance the battery cells. 2) assuming the charger in question is just a cheap pile of crap that the great company is crapping in your expensive tool kit, would a "More Expensive" Milwaukee charger be able to balance the cells in order to correct the problem.

[@Mezman101]

Would it be possible to trick the charger? The 3 center tabs that allow the charger to detect the functioning ability of the 3 series... Would jumping from (example if series 2 was bad) series 1 or 3 of the battery to series 2 of charger allow the battery to charge? Of course you would have to jump the positive and negative of battery to respective terminals on charger as well but would that work? (Lord I hope this makes sense to someone other than me 😬)

[@pizzacrusher4632]

That is a really fantastic idea!!! if mine fails again I will try that!

[@Mezman101]

@@pizzacrusher4632 it sounded like a good idea until I was looking at my charger and noticed there is actually only 1 tab on the charger (other than the pos and neg) that would make contact with obviously only one of the 3 small tabs of the battery. Also, I've got conflicting info on what those 3 tabs do. One video implies that those are so you can test each individual series of the internal batteries Yet another that suggested the 3 tabs had entirely different functions. One of which would be the temperature sensing for the tool to know if the battery is overheating in order to protect damage to either. I'll reply with the 2 different links so that hopefully you're able to make sense of what I've said. As an aside, I want to say thank you for being on top of your videos and taking the time to reply, especially in such a timely manner, very much appreciated.

[@Mezman101]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXiVaHVsh9-Vr5Isi=SMkSRgPhhjExLFSK

[@Mezman101]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5rQg6aHardors0si=Tb8H2zYbSO9LN77A

[@randyaivaz3356]

I Thought the Extra, Smaller Contacts on Cordless Tool Batteries, Sensed Load or Heat?

[@pizzacrusher4632]

Maybe you are right, but after taking my particular battery apart I encountered no thermocouples or other devices that might measure what you are talking about. I agree it would make sense, even just from a safety perspective.

[@themiller9868]

I have this same problem. Tried to jump start but it didn’t work. One pair is only .1 different do you think that would be the issue?

[@pizzacrusher4632]

gosh I don't think so... maybe you are able to charge them one at a time to get them up a little and then try the charger again? I am not sure.

[@KollynJ]

Just curious if it held up? If so I’ll do it

[@pizzacrusher4632]

yes, I use it every week, and it charges just fine now! I mean it might be a fluke, but it worked for me.

[@mediocreman2]

@@pizzacrusher4632 Yes it's a Fluke alright. Multimeter. 😄

[@MikeMcAuliffe-g2f]

Thanks for the video. Helpful.

[@V-CarChannel]

Whats funny is I used my old oem charger OEM charger and it charged with no problem

[@suspectfisherman2227]

If the battery was that new I would have just sent it on a warranty claim, I think warranty is 3 years on Milwaukee batteries.

[@Shrecphrito]

I sell Milwaukee, and the warranty is 2 years from the manufacture date on the battery. You can buy something with a battery that is already 24+ months old, and even though you just bought it the battery warranty is already expired.

[@NEWFIEBULLET1497]

Pretty easy to swap out the batteries, good to know

[@jonanderson5137]

So... Milwaukee chargers don't utilize cell balancing even though the batteries have the hardware for it. They just let you know by blinking red and green lights . Anyone have a cell balancing charger?

[@johnnysidewayz6873]

Thanks

[@donaldscott6135]

Tamper proof bits

[@shadowdance4666]

Or just return it?!? It’s got a year warranty doesn’t it? It’s probably going to do it again because it’s probably faulty from the factory

[@a69pizzoo]

What charger is everyone using to balance the cells