Milwaukee cordless to corded adapter

[FriendOfYours]

I've been thinking about gutting an 18v and 12v battery pack, and running them from a switching power supply. I have multiple batteries but the tiny bit of power drop as they discharge is annoying, mostly with my ratchet and impact. Running back and forth from the charger is wasted time, not to mention when I'm so wrapped up in a job I forget to charge

Anyone else think it'd be worth it? They never leave the shop anyway and the cord won't bother me. It'd be a small $100ish investment for say a 60amp ps

 

[reptilezs]

i would just run a airhose. i bought cordless for no corrds

 

[FriendOfYours]

I have air already. Cordless equivalents are lighter, more quiet, and the cord would be significantly more maneuverable

 

[fitz11]

What milwaukee line are you using? I have no problems with the battery power of my m12 red lithium tools. It sounds like you might need to upgrade your tool line.

 

[wmartin]

I think it would be a great idea for some company to build that for their line. The only thing like that I've seen is this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/203710648

It's a shame that some third party doesn't pitch that product together, but no doubt the battery packs are a patent minefield and are jealously guarded by the tool manufacturers. It's not dissimilar to the way that drug companies who make products that are easily to replicate will patent a delivery system.

 

[FriendOfYours]

The impacts are fuel and the ratchet is the only one they offer

The impact is much more noticeable than the ratchet

 

[doan]

I think buying an expensive power-supply to run cordless tool is cost prohibitive. I have thought of making an adapter to run 12-14v cordless tools from a car battery. Would be a cheap way to make an orphan tool with a dead battery useful. Handy for farmers and others that are working away from 120v AC power.

 

[FriendOfYours]

Ya, because thats more cost effective... Have you seen car battery prices in the last ten years?

$100 and a couple hours to never have to recharge? Sounds great to me. Can even bump up the voltage a touch for some more oomph. Been running my Ridgid 12v right angle impact on a 18v li-ion for over a year now

 

[dbonne]

I took an old battery pack and gutted it, added a long (heavy Gauge) wire with a Cig adaptor and a set of alligator clips. Best 12 volt tool I ever had for working on an auto. Make sure you don't cross the polarity, it will toast the power tool.

 

[wmartin]

I think buying an expensive power-supply to run cordless tool is cost prohibitive. .

If you build it in the same form factor as a battery, you only need one if all your tools are the same series of cordless.

Insanely expensive, but where's the Milwaukee equivalent of this:

http://www.amazon.com/Greenlee-EAC18120-120-Volt-Adapter-Cordless/dp/B004I0Q5PC

 

[diggerrick]

I use one of these for a 12V power supply in my garage all the time. Set to "start", and you've got up to 50A of 12VDC. I got mine for $30 with a coupon.

http://www.harborfreight.com/battery-chargerengine-starter-10250-amp-12-volt-60653.html

 

[kythri]

Anyone else think it'd be worth it? They never leave the shop anyway and the cord won't bother me. It'd be a small $100ish investment for say a 60amp ps

What PS are you looking at for this?

I've thought it'd be cool to build something for my 18V setup as well, but hadn't gotten to the point of calculating the required amp output I'd need.

Was also debating if I wanted to go with an 18V or 20V output.

 

[rice rocket]

Milwaukee supposedly has a feedback control loop to the batteries that monitors temp and current as to not overload the batteries (or motor).

So it won't be as simple as just supplying 20v....

 

[Farmall450]

I think buying an expensive power-supply to run cordless tool is cost prohibitive. I have thought of making an adapter to run 12-14v cordless tools from a car battery. Would be a cheap way to make an orphan tool with a dead battery useful. Handy for farmers and others that are working away from 120v AC power.

Im in the midst of doing this for my DeWalt 12 volt, kinda put it of to the side but I had read an article in the backwoods an which gave me the idea.

 

[Packard V8]

A guy I know who does decks and fences has been doing something similar for years. He buys the 12v emergency light commercial batteries which have screw terminals, adds a long heavy duty two-wire cord, cuts the bottom off the tool battery pack, removes the cells and solders in the two wires. He can drill and screw all day off one battery. Before, he was back and forth to the charger and going through $75 batteries all the time. At the end of the day, the battery goes on the regular 12v auto battery charger.

Best of all, at garage sales, there are unlimited supplies of 12V-14V drills and screwguns with dead batteries. He claims the older Makita are the best.

jack vines