Re: Milwaukee Batteries

[Jim Davis <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

On Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 8:16:53 PM UTC-4, Bob La Londe wrote:
> I've got a couple Milwaukee 18V Fuel cordless drills that were long=20
> serving great lasting tools as a contractor.  One is from the very first=
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> release of the M18 Milwaukee tools, and the other is only a year or 2=20
> newer.  I did finally have to replace the brushes in one of them, but=20
> both are going strong... but not at the same time.  Out of the several=20
> batteries I had for them only one still takes enough charge to be=20
> useful.  I can still buy the batteries, but they are still expensive.
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> Who has the best price on these batteries?
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> I like the drills, but (I hate to admit this...) I bought a pair of=20
> Harbor Freight Bauer cordless 20V drills and several batteries for the=20
> shop.  I could get a drill and battery with a charger for less than the=
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> lowest AH Milwaukee battery.  They work great for shop use.  I don't=20
> know if they would hold up bouncing around in a tool box on my truck,=20
> but in the shop at a year old they still look like brand new and they=20
> get used all the time.  I also picked up a few other Bauer cordless=20
> tools and service lights to use the same batteries.
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> I'm not trying to be a commercial for Bauer drills.  What I want is to=20
> find the best price for some M18 Fuel Milwaukee batteries.  There are=20
> times when more than 2 cordless drills would be handy and my wife throws=
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> a temper tantrum if I borrow her Makitas from the house.  Also on the=20
> front assembly bench in the shop (where all 4 drills and their chargers=
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> live when not in use) it would be really handy to leave each one with a=
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> different commonly used tool in the chuck.
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> So far the only places I've found even a hint of a discount is from MSC,=
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> but you have to buy six batteries at once.  There is an after market=20
> battery substitute, but I read a couple reviews indicating they may not=
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> hold up.  Could also be tool dealers posting trash reviews.=20
> Unfortunately a lot of that happens.
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> So anyway, who has the best price on the Milwaukee M18 batteries?
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> I have also considered just going down to Harbor Freight and buying two=
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> more Bauer drills.  They hold up fine (so far) for shop use.  The=20
> Bauer's feel ok in the hand, but not as nice as the Milwaukee.  They=20
> have plenty of torque, and the larger batteries have decent battery=20
> life.  The only thing I actually dislike about the Bauer's is the smell.=
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>   It doesn't give me a headache or anything, but its noticeable.  Like=20
> it has an aromatic mold release they didn't wash off the injection mold=
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> parts before assembly.
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> So again, who has the best price on the Milwaukee M18 batteries?

I never had need for heavy duty tools like Milwaukee and have used De Walt =
for years. About a year ago the 20 volt batteries started to get weak and I=
 almost flipped when I saw the  price. $79,00 (if I remember right). I didn=
't buy them but a good thing I didn't. About a week or so later I see an ad=
d in a mail flyer from True Value Hardware down in town for a new drill and=
 two batteries for $99.00 with a trade in of old batteries. So ---- now I h=
ave TWO drills and a new set of batteries for close to half the cost of two=
 batteries. If this continues I could wind up with lots of extra drills !=
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