The Milwaukee Rapid Charge Station

Posted by 141drew Feb 6, 2015 at 11:45 AM and filed under Reviews & Features

Updated on May 28, 2021 at 11:37 AM

Honestly, I don’t need this thing. I’ve got a charger for both my M12 and M18 tools and I’ve haven’t found myself wanting for more than that, but… Milwaukee has been teasing this new rapid charger that charges both M12 and M18 batteries 40% faster than standard chargers for a few months now. It’s finally hitting the streets… and now, I want one.

Dammit!

The cheapest I’ve found is $169 from Acme. Here’s the link. I’ve got no affiliation with them – feel free to post cheaper prices if you find them.

See Comments on the forum.

View thread (23 replies)

marty_p

Well-known member

Feb 6, 2015

Ryan, that beauty would look great atop any workbench, plus you would always have charged batteries when you need them.

Thank you for sharing! :thumbup:

Last edited: Feb 6, 2015

Ryan

Administrator

Staff member

Feb 6, 2015

marty_p said:
Ryan, that beauty would look great atop any workbench, plus you would always have charged batteries when you need them.

Thank for sharing!

That's the thing... I already have charged batteries when I need them as I don't use my battery stuff day in and day out.

Still... I want.

Banjorear

Well-known member

Feb 6, 2015

Ryan said:
That's the thing... I already have charged batteries when I need them as I don't use my battery stuff day in and day out.

Still... I want.

Funny, I understand totally. When it goes to something that keeps things organized and handy, I can't help but want. Regardless of redundancy. This place can be too much for one's budget. I'm working on a Fool's gold budget, but all I want is 18K.

Milwaukee is on fire as of late.

Last edited: Feb 6, 2015

Trey T

Well-known member

Feb 6, 2015

I would love to have this charger. I was eager to get it when it comes out but now I'll wait until there's a deal. If there's a price lower than $170, can someone post it up in the deal section, please?

BK13

Well-known member

Feb 6, 2015

I want one! In no way can I justify a need, as I have a pile of M12 batteries, enough that I have never even come close to killing even a third of them in a project, but I will probably have to pull the trigger on this, sooner or later...

justsam

Well-known member

Feb 6, 2015

I like the concept and I am a Milwaukee product fan.

I choose to have light duty compact tools, M12, and heavy duty tools, M28. I really don't own any medium duty like M18.

If this were M12 and M28 I would certainly consider. Better yet make it multi-voltage, like most of the Makita line.

itsvegas

Well-known member

Feb 7, 2015

I like this and could really use one but $169? You can't even give away the M12 chargers I must have 6 of them! Think I'll hold off until a deal pops up!

foreverfalcon40

Well-known member

Feb 8, 2015

I have the M12 for Mechanical work and Home. There is no need for the heavier duty stuff.

A little excessive for my needs, but isn't bad to leave the batteries on the charger the whole time?

rice rocket

Well-known member

Feb 8, 2015

justsam said:
I like the concept and I am a Milwaukee product fan.

I choose to have light duty compact tools, M12, and heavy duty tools, M28. I really don't own any medium duty like M18.

If this were M12 and M28 I would certainly consider. Better yet make it multi-voltage, like most of the Makita line.

M28 is dead. Sell 'em off while you can.

gahrajmahal

Well-known member

Feb 8, 2015

Who has room on their workbench?

MartyO

Well-known member

Feb 10, 2015

Drool....

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Trey T

Well-known member

Feb 10, 2015

gahrajmahal said:
Who has room on their workbench?

I hope they have a way to mount them on a wall.

shockwave

Well-known member

Feb 10, 2015

Cool concept but overkill I am fine with the new chargers that come with m18 that do m12 aswell

If at a big shop or dealer where 20+techs are there I can see but most the single Chargers will do great

Now if makita and snap on would come out with dual line chargers aswell that would be great

Trey T

Well-known member

Feb 10, 2015

^those charger do not charge M12 and M18 simultaneously, it charges whichever you stick it in first.

I'm usually doing stuff in my garage and I only have one charger now w/ three batteries (all M18 XC) and I wish I have a single charger like that to charge all my batteries at the same time. Also, this charger is very beneficial if you own all compact batteries bc you'll go through it faster and require more charging than XC.

With this new charger, I'm likely to go back to compact batteries for lighter weight.

danski0224

Well-known member

Feb 10, 2015

I know someone that almost lost their home to a DeWalt charger- another minute or so, and it would have been a loss.

I was also on a jobsite where a Milwaukee M18 charger would have burst into flames if it wasn't for some quick thinking. It did set off the smoke alarms and the FD showed up.

No way in hell I'd leave one plugged in and unattended.

You can if you want.

swamplaw

Active member

Feb 12, 2015

Damn you Ryan, Must resist....Hey wait a minute, this is not as worthless as flowers, put a bow on it -- should make it pretty...might work...VD day here ..

twertsy

Well-known member

Feb 12, 2015

danski0224 said:
I know someone that almost lost their home to a DeWalt charger- another minute or so, and it would have been a loss.

I was also on a jobsite where a Milwaukee M18 charger would have burst into flames if it wasn't for some quick thinking. It did set off the smoke alarms and the FD showed up.

No way in hell I'd leave one plugged in and unattended.

You can if you want.

danski, you mind explaining? I leave mine plugged in / charging in the shop all the time :dunno:

ishiboo

Well-known member

Feb 12, 2015

Wish Bosch had this.

ADSR

Well-known member

Feb 12, 2015

I have the all m18 6 pack charger. It only changes one battery at a time. The only thing it saves is you babysitting the swap in's.

Strouty

Well-known member

Feb 12, 2015

I have been patiently waiting for one of these. I am waiting for them to be available at home depot, since I have a gift card.

firebox40dash5

Well-known member

Feb 12, 2015

LORDDiESEL said:
I have the all m18 6 pack charger. It only changes one battery at a time. The only thing it saves is you babysitting the swap in's.

I got hyped up when that was announced, before realizing it was just round robin.

This one will do 3 at a time in any combo... but now I already have 3 dual voltage chargers. They do the same thing, but take up 3 outlets instead of 0 (since this one has a pass through plug). But, I can also just grab one and take it with me easier than that big thing.

Ign

Well-known member

Feb 12, 2015

firebox40dash5 said:
I got hyped up when that was announced, before realizing it was just round robin.

This one will do 3 at a time in any combo... but now I already have 3 dual voltage chargers. They do the same thing, but take up 3 outlets instead of 0 (since this one has a pass through plug). But, I can also just grab one and take it with me easier than that big thing.

Yeah, I don't really want sequential charging, just seems like a low cost hokey way to do it. Simultaneous, that's a different story!

danski0224

Well-known member

Feb 13, 2015

twertsy said:
danski, you mind explaining? I leave mine plugged in / charging in the shop all the time

Not much to explain.

Fires originating from cordless tool battery chargers that were left alone and plugged in.

Why? Got me. Wide range of possibilities like defective component inside, defective battery, junk inside the charger shorting it out...

When the FD showed up at the site with the Milwaukee charger, it was not the first go-around for them. They had prior calls/fires with that charger style.

It is probably reasonable to say that consumer mass market cordless tool battery chargers are engineered to meet a price point. It is doubtful that those inexpensive tool chargers are built like battery chargers used in the enthusiast level and up remote control toy hobby- electrical components or charging profiles.

I have used cordless tools of one type or another since the Makita 9.6V stick.

I see no benefit to leaving batteries in a charger and plugged in all the time. The possible increase of charge/discharge cycles and simply leaving it unattended are both deal breakers for me, especially with lithium batteries.

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