Milwaukee is launching a new M18 Rapid Charger, model 48-59-1802, capable of recharging up to 2 M18 cordless power tool batteries simultaneously.
Milwaukee states that their new M18 Dual Bay Simultaneous Rapid Charger can recharge two battery packs more than 3X faster compared to their standard sequential chargers. Or, if you have multiple standard chargers, this one saves you an outlet compared to using two separate chargers.
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Referring back to the chart provided when the Milwaukee M18 Super Charger was announced, the standard charger can fully recharge a 5.0Ah XC battery in 105 minutes, and the Rapid Charger can recharge the same battery in 60 minutes.
By extension, assuming the Rapid Charger charging rate hasn’t changed, this new dual port charger can recharge one or two 5.0Ah XC batteries in the same 60 minutes. That would be compared to 210 minutes for a single standard charger, at the least.
Here’s a look at Milwaukee’s entire charger lineup, including M12, M18, and in-tool charging solutions.
The new dual battery charger is wall-mountable and features the usual LED charge indicator lights.
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No, this new charger does NOT feature an M12 port, it’s an M18-only battery charger.
Price: $139
ETA: February 2020
Discussion
Milwaukee’s new M18 dual Rapid Charger is about as clear a cordless power tool release can be. It charges one or two M18 batteries with two independent circuits, meaning you don’t have to wait for one battery to finish charging before the other begins.
It’s a convenience accessory for some, a must-have for others, and perhaps unnecessary for others.
The $139 price tag is inline with Milwaukee’s other chargers.
Psychologically, I don’t like buying new chargers when I have a perfectly good pile of chargers from various kits and bundles. So who might buy this one? I think it might serve well as a truck or van charger, or maybe in portable kits where several tools and batteries might be in use at the same time.
Milwaukee says that the new charger:
represents another opportunity for M18 users to experience significantly-reduced charge durations, allowing them to get more work done throughout the day.
This is the perfect language. This charger isn’t a must-have, but it will charge two M18 batteries at the same time, and while only occupying a single plug.
Personally, I think their Rapid Charge Station is a more versatile product, but for an M18-exclusive user, or a heavy M18 and light M12 user, this new dual battery Rapid Charger gives you two simultaneous circuits in a smaller and less expensive package. The Rapid Charge Station has 3 M18 ports and 3 M12 ports, but it only has three independent circuits.
Milwaukee’s standard chargers can be quite slow to recharge Milwaukee’s highest capacity High Output and HD batteries. If this new dual battery Rapid Charger will save you time or reduce the inconvenience of having to monitor a single-port charger, it might be a worthy upgrade to consider.
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andy
Their old chargers had a plug on the back of the plug so you can plug two into one outlet.
I can’t see many people that need this not already having multiple rapid chargers from various kit purchases.
Stuart
Some of their charging stations have this, but I don’t think their standard chargers have chainable plugs.
Charles
agree completely. I have 20 odd chargers I’d say, I was thinking of ebaying some of them
Corey Moore
The x3 as fast thing confuses me. At face value, I’d take that as 3 batteries in the time for one regular single charger cycle, but it’s clearly not, since it’s a dual port parallel. So it’s what, 2 batteries simultaneously in 2/3 the time of a regular cycle, and then a third of two more batteries before a regular cycle ends?
AngryDrumGuy
Saw this and was really hoping for the included USB port. Milwaukee has individual USB options, but their smaller standard charger takes up much more space than a DeWalt counterpart because of the M18 slide pack vs M12 stick (a head scratcher from the start), making a do-it-all charger impossible. I love my Milwaukee stuff, but their charger game always seems like an afterthought/effort to play catch-up.
Brian A
Yeah especially since they have the USB battery platform too, their expectation is to plug it into a wall since they include the wall adapter, secondary to a USB port in a car.
Even more shocking is the Packout Radio has only 1 USB port and its in the back in the battery box.
Jim
I own several of the USB powered lights and it would be nice if Milwaukee started including a couple USB ports on their chargers .
Jim Felt
A charging question.
Stuart and Fellow Toolguyders.
As with all Li-ion batteries I’m familiar with the charge cycle rate seems to effect the actual battery life span.
Slow(er) recharging seems to prolong their useful life while faster recharging tends to shorten the actual useful battery life.
Has anything changed with all these newer power tool commodity cells?
Thanks.
Adam
The chargers are designed and tested by Milwaukee, and should not effect the lifespan of the battery. That’s why the Super charger won’t charger older batteries at 4x, as they can’t handle it.
If the batteries have any less of a life, it’s because they are being used more, not because they charged faster.
With the inclusion of the M12/M18 rapid charger with a lot of kits, 2 of those make a lot more sense than a 2-bay M18 only rapid.
I think I would preferred to see a 2-bay M18, single M12, single USB battery, with standard USB & USB-C ports rapid chargers.
Also put Packout feet on the bottom.
Big Richard
Personally I would say it’s still best practice to use lower current charge rates, slower in other words, if possible. Even with newer cells I try to maintain a 1:1 ratio of output current to Ah rating.
So I will try not to put a 2Ah battery on anything higher than 2A out charger. Similarly, a 5Ah battery is fine to put on 4A out charger, but I wouldn’t put it on my 8A out charger unless I needed it asap. Most of the time I will throw batteries on a compact charger, regardless of battery size.
Does it make a huge difference, probably not. But with the cost of batteries today, any little bit helps.
Jeremiah McKenna
These new battery packs arent simply a bunch if cells strapped together inside the case. They have electronics inside them to assist in nit only rapid charging, but Al’s longevity.
Garrick Neal
I would assume it is the individual cells that are sensitive to the charge rate. Since the larger amp batteries use more cells (multiples of 5, since Lithiums put out 3.6 volts each), I think its safe to charge them at the same rate as smaller amp batteries. That said, there will likely be differences in quality at various price points. On the other hand, killing off the batteries sooner allows us to justify getting the newest versions sooner, and since the company would get more sales, they may tend to encourage us to overuse them a bit.
Toolfreak
It’s still true for battery tech that rapid charging and discharging/use gives shorter overall battery life than slow charging and moderate discharging/use. I would guess a lot of that has to do with how hot the batteries and their components get, both when charging fast and when being put to immediate use and discharging fast.
However, if you’re in a situation where you’re needing cordless power tools and you have a limited number of batteries and want them charged faster rather than slower, part of the cost of that type of use is going to be the shorter life of the batteries.
The thing about today’s battery tech is, you can now get much higher capacity batteries at a fairly reasonable cost, so you can usually just use a “regular” charger and swap between two or more batteries, and one can be fully charged before you run down the other one.
The trend towards faster and faster “rapid” charging seems to be due to impatient people and high-drain tools being used with the less expensive regular-capacity batteries, so you get someone with a 4.0Ah battery on a saw that drains it in short order under heavy use, and wants to throw it on a charger and have a full battery in the shortest time possible, instead of having two 9.0Ah batteries and swapping between them on a regular charger, which would give the batteries time to fully charge, cool, and be ready for use without the need for “rapid” charging.
I guess it basically comes down to you either have lower-cost, lower-capacity batteries and need a rapid charger to keep up with heavy use, or you get higher-cost, higher-capacity batteries with a regular charger to get around the same effect. Faster chargers can cost less than the higher capacity batteries so maybe that’s why they are often the chosen solution. The higher capacity batteries allow longer usage time with less battery swapping, but maybe workers figure that having to take more breaks to swap out the lower capacity batteries is better than working through an entire high capacity battery before taking a break.
Jeremiah McKenna
Weight is also the issue. I had a few sissys complaining that their drill/tool and battery pack were too heavy to be using all day. So they wanted a smaller pack. But then complained that the drill or other tools wouldn’t work as long, and they had to go back to the charger and swap batteries too often. So, they then had to carry another battery to swap out. Guess what, they then complained about the extra weight in their packs. You can’t win for losing these days with whiney brats on your crew.
So I gave them a third option. This entailed a long cord and a corded drill, or impact, or whatever other tools they needed.
One quit and went to work at Best Buy and the other stayed until that project was complete.
MichaelHammer
Wowee. I”m sorry but your assessment is deeply flawed. The reality is high draw tools have gone cordless, table saws, chop saws, grinders, leaf blowers, yard trimmers, the list goes on. They eat power. Even a 12ah can”t keep up with the charge cycle. Another reality check; batteries don’t last as long as claimed and don’t charge as quickly as claimed. Then there’s your assessment of cost. What do you call “a fairly reasonable cost”? Let’s put it into perspective , a 12ah battery often cost as much or more than the tool it’s plugged into and the battery alone can be more expensive than a corded tool. But it doesn’t stop there, you’re proposing having two of these batteries and ignoring the perfectly good batteries the tool came with. How exactly is that reasonable? The better argument would be to stay corded on many of these tools.
Xrh07
The market doesn’t like corded tools because 100 ft runs of 10 AWG in snow, mud, up and down ladders, sharp objects.
It’s for the birds.
Cordless convenience comes at a cost that most serious contractors are willing to pay.
Garrick Neal
Ironic that the heavier the tool battery is, the more breaks one needs, yet less breaks are needed to swap out the batteries.
Stuart
This was brought up when I posted about the Super Charger – https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-m18-super-charger/ .
I followed up with Milwaukee, and:
And also:
I’d assume that the same applies to the Rapid Charger.
Paul Ojanen
A dual super charger would be a lot more compelling.
Sean
Meh
Koko The Talking Ape
So, it just saves an outlet? I have several chargers, and with a power strip I can use them all at the same time.
If you don’t have much counter space and lots of batteries, I suppose this guy could take up less space, but it doesn’t seem optimized for compactness. If the black label and lights were moved to either above or below the battery docks, you could get more batteries charged per foot of counter space.
Big Richard
Maybe this is a precursor to some M18 x2 tools? Doubtful, but wishful thinking. Wouldn’t mind a M18 x2 lawnmower or 10″ tablesaw.
Tom D
This seems the most reasonable explanation as to why they came out with this – as most people have rapidchargers coming out their ears.
Jeremiah McKenna
I’m confused. I thought I heard the Milwaukee rep say that this rapid charger was even faster at charging than the previous super charger charging dock. I also thought the Milwaukee rep told us that it doesn’t charge two at the same time, but will switch back and forth between the two batteries as they reach a specific charge level/percentage? Am I missing something or maybe I’m confused with all of the new Milwaukee chargers they have coming out today. Or maybe the Milwaukee rep was confused or told something different than what these guys were told? Who knows?
James
I wish they’d release this exact charger with a standard 3ah charge rate option. They should do this for M18 and M12, I’d buy one of each. I’m not going to charge any of my batteries above 1C.
I only use my Rapid Chargers for my 8.0 High Output batteries.
Joe
I might be interested if the street price is okay. I only have one rapid charger and I lost my only other charger on site. I might also buy the m18 m12 charging station. I have been fortunate to find great deals on bare tools and free batteries so I am the prime customer and would have a hard time justifying it. Maybe some x2 stuff is in the works.
The What?
How inconvenient for those who own Milwaukee tools and has both 12v and 18v stuff. I’m wondering who decided that it was a good idea to make slide 18v and stick 12v. Intelligence was not exhibited when that decision was made. Nor was convenience at the behest of the consumer. As for this dual charger, the $140 price tag is not bad but it should have a usb port as well as a port to chain other chargers with it. I don’t get why rapid chargers aren’t the standard means of battery charging instead of the slow trickle chargers that they force you into owning when purchasing a kit. They should know that time is money. This is why it’s better to make your own charger like I did. And trust me, it’ll be a lot better than what the manufacturers make. If you own several chargers, then there’s no need to buy any sort of multi charger that the manufacturers sell. They suck. All you need is a male extension cord plug end replacement and several battery chargers. Cut off the plug ends of all of the chargers and separate the hots & neutrals. Then strip off about an inch and twist all the copper wires for the hots together & all of the neutrals together. Solder each group of wires so you have a single stinger for both. Take your plug end replacement and secure the stingers in their respective side of the plug, screw the plug end together and voila! If you don’t know which screw is for which polarity then you need to figure it out for yourself. I suggest mounting them in a box with adequate space with a hole in the middle of it for the wires to protrude so it plugs in. I did this years before manufacturers even thought of making a multi battery charger. Let alone a simultaneous charger. And they still can’t get it right due to sequential multi battery chargers. So if anyone wants to make their own simultaneous multi charger using chargers you already have, then there you go. And if you don’t know which wire is the hot its the one with letters and numbers on it. Best part is you can use as many as you want as long as it doesn’t exceed your breaker. I don’t know the exact number of amps they draw but I’ve been running 8 chargers for years & have yet to have any problems when charging all of them simultaneously. So if you have a bunch of batteries that you’re going to need on the job and you wanna make wise use of your time instead of standing around holding your nuts, then I suggest you make your own multi charger like I had to do. I use Dewalt but I’m sure that it’ll work with whatever brand you like. Try it out. You won’t regret it. I even have a rapid charger as a part of my setup.
Doneright
I did something similar to this. After removing the divider in a Milwaukee jobsite organizer, I mounted four chargers inside. I installed an exterior 15a recessed male socket in the back and wired the chargers to it through a dual bus bar. Can charge four batteries at a time, the chargers are conveniently portable and I just plug an extension cord into the box to power it all.
Corey Moore
DeWalt makes a 4 bay parallel rapid charger that charges 12/20/60v and attaches to tough system.
Steven
“Opportunity to get more work done in a day”….. maybe if your batteries were crap and wouldnt hold a charge.
Most dedicated users have a plethora of batteries and “slow” chargers.
I have like 8 chargers in my garage, unused and prefer the 6 port sequential charger for storage/transportation. Plug in end of the day, ready to go the next morning.
MarylandUSA
Steven, I’m with you. I’ve given away my 1- or 2-port AC-only chargers. I now own only what some would consider specialty chargers:
– a 6-port M18 slow AC charger
– a 1-port AC/DC M18 slow charger
– a 1-port AC/DC M12 charger
Bob
I too am not sure what the point of this charger is? 5amp/hr per bay is not that impressive. (Dewalt multi bay fast charge is 8ah each bay for example). Especially considering the Milwaukee single bay 12amp/hr charger is more than twice as fast.
If you needed two batteries charged I guess you don’t have to remember to swap batteries after the first one is done on the single bay charger. It’s a set and forget thing? Or maybe it’s the more compact size that is apealing as it doesn’t have the 12v. But what if you need 12v? I guess for certain specific applications this fills a niche. No USB was a miss tho.
I’d probably just get a power strip and use a couple of the 12 amp hour output chargers unless they are super expensive. You could screw it to a sheet of plywood and have a ghetto multi port simultaneous fast charger like the other guy mentioned. No shame in that game. I did something similar before multi port fast chargers were available from DeWalt.
Corey Moore
The chargers have zero to do with what amp hour battery they can charge… There’s an 8ah on this charger in the picture. It’s just higher current with fans for cooling built in, you can charge two 12ahs on this dual bay no problem. It’ll be faster than regular chargers, slower than the rapid charger, but zero issue with any of the m18 batteries.
Bill
I’ve been eyeing the Milwaukee’s Super Battery Charger, more specifically the bundle that includes the charger with an 8.0 Ah HO battery (48-59-1880SC). Does anyone have any experience with this charger?
Sam
If you’re a professional, then this charger makes sense…one less charger to cart around, it’s a no brainer.
Took them long enough to get a duel unit out to market…and I agree with a previous post, Milwaukee is generally playing catch up in the charger game as far as incorporating features outside of the core function of charging…in today’s world USB is a necessity for all the various devices that use the tech…
DL Smith
I have found only a few glitches in the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Systems.
#1. The small 2.0 AH batteries. Do not last. They are charged to many time in heavy use and loose there charge. Lowest AH battery O have now is 4.0 AH.
#2. When Using the 9.0 or any of the HO Batteries. They do not work well in any of the Drill. Or Impact driver’s.
What happens is the Contacts in the drill were the batteries make contact.
Actually get burned from the 9.0 HO lithium Ion Batteries. To Much Power!!. They start getting loose also from the weight.
Best size is the 6.0 HO LI Batteries. Or the lesser AH 4.0 ECT.
Other then these two issues. I am an admirer of these systems. I am a Contractor and my tools are in use all the time.. Great Product.
Milwaukee. Please Sell the
Black Packout Storage Boxes in the USA. I have had many many inquiries about my Black Set. Which I purchased online in Europe. Make them available in the USA. They will Sell!!! Right now. I know they are mine!!!!