Fastest Cordless Battery Charger

[redmed]

How fast does your battery recharge from dead to fully charged?

 

[the.wong.kid]

30min charge for the 18v makita batteries

 

[shampoop]

30min charge for the 18v makita batteries

for the 3.0 amp/hour batteries

15 mins for the compact 1.5 amp/hour batteries.

The very new 2.0 amp/hour compact batteries take 25 minutes and the 4.0 amp/hour batteries take 40 minutes.

 

[stage20]

for the 3.0 amp/hour batteries

15 mins for the compact 1.5 amp/hour batteries.

The very new 2.0 amp/hour compact batteries take 25 minutes and the 4.0 amp/hour batteries take 40 minutes.

About spot on.

 

[kc-steve]

Yup, Makita but I have never let mine get to the dead level, so the longest time it has taken me to charge my batteries has been about 10 minutes or so. With Lithion you don't have to worry about a "charge memory."

Steve

 

[FMC1959]

Yup, Makita but I have never let mine get to the dead level, so the longest time it has taken me to charge my batteries has been about 10 minutes or so. With Lithion you don't have to worry about a "charge memory."

Steve

One thing to consider, all rechargeables have a life of X cycles. Every time you stick it on the charger, it is a used cycle. One day it will die and you will have got half the life you should have.

 

[logixjock]

One thing to consider, all rechargeables have a life of X cycles. Every time you stick it on the charger, it is a used cycle. One day it will die and you will have got half the life you should have.

Well, not exactly.....

 

[uart]

One thing to consider, all rechargeables have a life of X cycles. Every time you stick it on the charger, it is a used cycle. One day it will die and you will have got half the life you should have.

Actually they will usually last a lot more cycles if only partially cycled. I've read that (with LiIon) cycling from about 40 to about 80 percent charge can give you five to ten times as many charge cycles before they **** out.

 

[firebox40dash5]

Actually they will usually last a lot more cycles if only partially cycled. I've read that (with LiIon) cycling from about 40 to about 80 percent charge can give you five to ten times as many charge cycles before they **** out.

I could be wrong, but I think that's more a function of them not liking a deep discharge. So if you stop and charge it when it's half discharged, it'll last longer than if you run it til it won't run no mo' and then charge it.

Another thing to consider is that fast charging isn't the best method for battery longevity either. My Milwaukee batteries charge pretty damn slow, like around an hour for a really low 4.0ah pack. When I had Makita, their charger was much faster. But, I also had rampant battery failures with Makita, and haven't had any of my dozen or so Milwaukee batteries fail. The Makita charger does have forced-air cooling, and there are other factors (the circuit board on the battery running off a single cell and potentially unbalancing the pack) but I can't imagine slamming 6 amp-hours into a battery helped any either.

 

[GSteg]

Cycle life is a gray area because it depends on the depth of discharge. Are those 800 cycles rated at 50% or 70% DoD? I'm willing to bet not all battery manufacturers use the same test method. Most batteries will die from lithium aging long before it hits the cycle limit.

Anyways, my 3AH batteries take about an hour to fully charge with a charge rate of 4A (listed on the charger)

 

[Aquamoose]

I agree with firebox. My Makita's crapped out after only two years. Sudden death, no warning. My older Makita's are still running albeit slowly loosing their capacity. After 25 years of Makita, I'm now switching to Milwaukee Fuel 18v, getting my first kit in a few days!

 

[uart]

I could be wrong, but I think that's more a function of them not liking a deep discharge. So if you stop and charge it when it's half discharged, it'll last longer than if you run it til it won't run no mo' and then charge it.

Another thing to consider is that fast charging isn't the best method for battery longevity either.

Yep, cycle life is a function of the depth of discharge, the exact level of what the charger considers "full" charge. the temperature and the speed of the charge.

The main problem with high charging speed is that it increases charging temperature, which is the real killer. Also the "top end" charging voltage is not something that is set in stone with these things. A particular charger design may be orientated towards maximising the run time and fully charging the pack as much as possible. Or it may be orientated toward reducing the temperature and voltage stress on the pack and making it last more cycles. The combination of high speed charging and high top end charge level would very likely give reduced pack longevity.

 

[sac02]

Yep, cycle life is a function of the depth of discharge, the exact level of what the charger considers "full" charge. the temperature and the speed of the charge.

The main problem with high charging speed is that it increases charging temperature, which is the real killer. Also the "top end" charging voltage is not something that is set in stone with these things. A particular charger design may be orientated towards maximising the run time and fully charging the pack as much as possible. Or it may be orientated toward reducing the temperature and voltage stress on the pack and making it last more cycles. The combination of high speed charging and high top end charge level would very likely give reduced pack longevity.

I wish this forum had some upvote/recommend/like function so I didn't have to type out this message that really doesn't add to the conversation:

This. uart is correct.

 

[redmed]

So I gather from this is that Makita is the fastest 15-40 minutes, but the batteries **** out in a few years. Milwaukee take about a hour. Any other brands? How about Rigid how fast does a charge take?

 

[FMC1959]

So I gather from this is that Makita is the fastest 15-40 minutes, but the batteries **** out in a few years. Milwaukee take about a hour. Any other brands? How about Rigid how fast does a charge take?

The Makita do no **** out in a couple of years, I have 9 LXT batteries. Of these 7 are 3ah and 2 are 1.5ah, ranging in age of 4 to 6 1/2 years; 1 of the 3ah died on me, the remaining 8 batteries work perfect.

Not counting the newer larger capacity 4 & 5 ah coming out lately, I would suspect that Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Rigid & Makita all recharge in 1 hour or less. Having a kit with a second battery, recharge time should never be an issue.

 

[devoncoolman]

My dewalt 20v charge in about and hour for my 4ah packs and my 12v 1.5ah packs charge in like 20-30 depending on how dead it is.

 

[shampoop]

The Makita do no **** out in a couple of years, I have 9 LXT batteries. Of these 7 are 3ah and 2 are 1.5ah, ranging in age of 4 to 6 1/2 years; 1 of the 3ah died on me, the remaining 8 batteries work perfect.

Not counting the newer larger capacity 4 & 5 ah coming out lately, I would suspect that Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Rigid & Makita all recharge in 1 hour or less. Having a kit with a second battery, recharge time should never be an issue.

My 2 makita 1.5 AH batteries are 4-6 years old and work perfect!

 

[truckdriver]

They charge a lot faster than the tools run them down is all I know. Never sat and timed them.