M18 Battery Pack Updates

In this video we give an update on the Milwaukee M18 XC8.0 that we received from Amazon fake. We also give and update on the Beast Lipo pack we put together to send to TTC for testing. Torque Test Channel was kind enough to test the Fake, the 8.4Ah build and the Beast. The link to the video from TTC is below if interested. We also look inside of the Fake M18 pack after it lets the magic smoke out during a high current demand run in the M18 Super Hawg. Hope you find the video interesting and thanks for watching!
link to TTC video of Fake and Beats Lipo battery testing: • Murdering Milwaukee w/...
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*7/3/23 Update- This pack is a fake, A well crafted Fake!
Milwaukee M18 8.0AH on Sale as of 6/30/23: amzn.to/3pufa6q - Don't Buy!
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[@johnuppole]

Here to show love after seeing your battery on TTC!

[@ThriftyToolShed]

Thanks man!

[@DDB168]

This is a great channel. You deserve more subscribers. 👍 It's so wrong that Amazon clearly doesn't give a hoot about what can be sold on their site.

[@ThriftyToolShed]

Thanks for your kind comment!

[@ElectromagneticVideos]

Amazing that they would skimp on the bus bar like that to save on a few few cents and introduce a such a significant point of failure. Incredible that it got so hot as to melt nearby solder!

[@ThriftyToolShed]

Exactly, I hope it answers a few of questions that have been asked about the value of these or like packs. It's no right answer for everyone, but hopefully it's straight forward if you use these for heavy loads at least! I have used them in lighter loads with no real issues. Thanks for your comment!

[@ElectromagneticVideos]

@@ThriftyToolShed Yes! I'm sure it will be useful to many who are trying to figure out of its right for them.

[@earl3358]

I think the soldered link to the B+ and B- may be a type of failsafe fuse that actually worked as intended. I came to the same conclusion that most after market packs are not up to extreme heavy duty action as the bms and strip are of lighter guage. They can still be a decent value for general use. The TPcell look pretty good, they actually copper sandwich the strips on some packs. And use (as far as determined) genuine cells. Sidorov has tested these to good result, but not to TTC level i dont think. Aftermarket, id go with these. But for hard pro use i would suggest oem. I myself like to build them as welll.

[@ThriftyToolShed]

Absolutely. The strip that was loose was part of what we usually call the fusible link. As you mentioned the link should hold to that load with 8.0 Ah no issue and the buss strip was very undersized. Thanks for sharing the packs you have dealt with. Thanks for your comment!

[@earl3358]

@@ThriftyToolShed Yes the aftermarket packs are generally .15 strips (even .10) and most rebuild sets provide .15 strips so as to be weldable for most light duty spot welders. Whereas OEM are mostly .20 to .30 or more. The average Joe has no clue a heavy load will heat things up real quick. On top of the cells being under spec. They seem to be 3ah but what amp rating 30? 20? 15? 10?

[@toolscientist]

Damn. 2k fake batteries sold per month is kinda scary.

[@Sylvan_dB]

The solder probably was molten when the battery was thrown to the ground, causing the splatter.

[@ThriftyToolShed]

Very possible!

[@georgedavall9449]

I. N. C. R. E. D. I. B. L. E.

[@emmettturner9452]

I used the exact same load tester on a brand new, fully charged, factory original DeWALT DCB210. I set 15v as the cut off voltage because zero bars on the battery gauge is 15v (3v per cell). I came back to find it stopped at just over 17v and only measured a bit over 6AH. It turns out that voltage drops to 15v and then recovers to over 17v after the test stops. How do I fully test it? Clearly, the issue is that I’m using constant current while my BT-C3400 will gradually step down the current as it discharges but I see you are using constant current too. What mode will approximate the BT-C3400’s discharge test for a true AH measurement? I wouldn’t know what resistance or voltage to pick if I changed from CC to CR or CV.

[@ThriftyToolShed]

I actually like using this method with packs and it will absolutely pull down to 15V and bounce back, but I look at it like this: The tool acts in a very similar manner. Most tools draw more than one amp while in use, most tool much more than that. So if you want a best case scenario you could simply set the discharge current to 1A. It will take much more time to do the test. I like to use a 2A load for most packs to be fair. If I use the same test in between all packs for my reference it is a very fair test. I typically set cut-off at 2.7V per cell for this reason and I know they will dip and bounce back quickly. I will use the BT-C3400 for individual cells and capacity tested them for cell matching etc.

[@emmettturner9452]

@@ThriftyToolShed Thanks. My intention is to do something equivalent to the discharge/refresh function of the BT-C3400 as a way to lower the internal resistance and ensure maximum capacity from brand new packs that have been in storage. The BT-C3400 fully discharges and recharges three times when you do this with the capacity of tired cells seeming to improve with each cycle. It does wonders for imbalanced cells that haven’t seen a full charge/discharge cycle in years. In DCB210 batteries they sometimes overheat if you resume using them after merely bringing them back in balance. That’s because the internal resistance remains high until they have been exercised at a lower current. 10AH DCB210 packs are particularly problematic so for new packs I’ll do the bulk of the discharge at 2A then switch to a lower current and run it again and again until I get to around 3.1v per cell. Once there, I’ll fully charge on the DeWALT charger and then repeat the whole process two more times. From there, I will monitor the balance and charge levels throughout the mowing season. If all is well, I will give them one full discharge and charge before each mowing season. Hopefully this will end my long streak of bad DCB210 batteries for the DeWALT mower. :)

[@ThriftyToolShed]

@@emmettturner9452 gotcha! I thought you were just capacity testing. Glad you are having luck with that.

[@elijahhenry5971]

I work for a large fleet and pull 10-15 tires a night using the Milwaukee 1in dhandle How could I get my hands on the beast?

[@ThriftyToolShed]

Hi, TTC has the only one that I have made. I did share in a video a lot about the making of it though. I hope it pressures Milwaukee to come out with a 10Ah or 12Ah stack LIPO pack!

[@WallaceFeese]

I'm in need of help with my ridgid R250AF18 trim gun , can you give me some info ?

[@ThriftyToolShed]

I do not have this model to help much at all, unfortunately.

[@WallaceFeese]

It's not powering up I was just wounded if you may have some ideas as what could be wrong with it

[@ThriftyToolShed]

@WallaceFeese Sorry, I have not worked on one like it. If you have tried more than one known good pack, then the problem is most likely in the controller inside of the tool. One quick thing to try is to verify that all the contacts are clean on the pack and tool itself. Other than that, it would have to be some investigation of the board. Could be many things such as a blown fuse and it may be a reason for the blown fuse, such as a shorted mosfet on the board. All these I have seen on other tools, but I have no experience at all with this exact model. Best of luck to ya!

[@WallaceFeese]

@@ThriftyToolShed thanks for the info