Milwaukee Rapid Charger issues?

[AJHD]

I picked a Milwaukee M18/M12 Rapid Charger back in the middle of October from Home Depot.

I've only used it a handful of times and it's done what it's supposed to do.

I used it to charge an M12 battery yesterday with no issues. Later I tried to charge another M12 battery, but it did nothing. No lights, no signs of life. I tried multiple M12 batteries, an M18 battery and multiple outlets, still nothing. It seemed to be dead.

Pissed off, I decided to unplug it and leave it on my toolbox.

Fast forward to a few hours ago, I plugged it back in and tried both an M12 and an M18 battery, all seemed to be good. Lights on the charger were illuminated. Seems to be working again.

Anyone had a similar experience? I don't think it was heat related. But I have no idea what the hell the problem was or is.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Personally no experience. Everything I have is yellow, orange or green.
I've heard some stories about them from friends who have large collections of red tools and batteries.
First is that the dual voltage chargers need very clean power, and must be plugged into a real good surge protector strip.
Second is that there was supposedly a batch of the chargers with cold solder joints.
Third is that whatever alloy makes the contacts needs occasional cleaning.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I will occasionally need to unplug Milwaukee, and other brands, chargers. I'm sure it's not "right", but it does happen.

 

[RTM]

Some tools have internal thermal protection, no idea about your charger. It could also be an unintentional thermal protection, something just shut off to protect itself.

 

[mreisner]

I have a couple that occasionally do that unplug them we've been sit for a few minutes and then they take right off again maybe happens three or four times a year

 

[AJHD]

I have a couple that occasionally do that unplug them we've been sit for a few minutes and then they take right off again maybe happens three or four times a year

I'm hoping it's something like that. I have 2 regular M12 chargers, but I don't have a spare M18 charger. I will have to fix that.

Not sure if Home Depot can exchange the charger. If there is an actual issue it appears Milwaukee wants me to ship it to them, they will inspect it and either replace it or charge me for a replacement. The process appears to take a few weeks.

 

[Zewnten]

The rapid chargers always claim my older batteries have failed but the normal chargers work fine so I won't use them anymore.

 

[dnschmidt]

Call 1-800-SAWDUST, get a shipping label and take it to FedEx. What's so hard about that.

 

[AJHD]

Call 1-800-SAWDUST, get a shipping label and take it to FedEx. What's so hard about that.

After I pick up a "spare" non-Rapid M18 charger, I will talk with Milwaukee and see what they say about it. In the mean time however, I will continue to use it if it continues to work.

The point of this thread was to see if the issue I had was a fluke (maybe something intermittent), or if other guys here who have more of these chargers and more experience with them have had similar issues.

For the record, I've been running M18 and M12 non-Rapid chargers for almost a decade without issues (beyond charging speed). This is my first go around with the Rapid variety.

 

[BrandonV]

Doesn't shock me. The fact they never did anything about the coil whine from the switched mode power supply is one reason I've stopped using them.

Such an easy fix but I'm sure they're trying to pinch every penny.

 

[AJHD]

Doesn't shock me. The fact they never did anything about the coil whine from the switched mode power supply is one reason I've stopped using them.

Such an easy fix but I'm sure they're trying to pinch every penny.

On the Rapid charger or non-Rapid?

In my experience the non-Rapid can and will absolutely make noise, but I've not heard anything from the handful of times I used the Rapid.

 

[dnschmidt]

Let's see. I've got two of the new two bay super chargers, one of the older single bay supercharger, four of the rapid chargers, The 3 X 2 bay M12, M18 simultaneous charger, the six bay sequential M18 normal charger, about 10 of the ****** M12 normal chargers and three of the normal both M12 and M18 normal chargers. I use the rapid chargers mostly and the superchargers for the FORGE batteries.

Haven’t had an issue with any of them and if I did they are covered by Milwaukee’s five year warrantee which I use about four times a year for prematurely dead batteries and various tool issues all of which are handled within two weeks.

 

[BrandonV]

On the Rapid charger or non-Rapid?

In my experience the non-Rapid can and will absolutely make noise, but I've not heard anything from the handful of times I used the Rapid.

Non-rapid. Glad to hear they spent a few extra bucks on the rapid.

It's just not excusable in a customer product IMO. I've worked on a lot of SMPS and I'd never put something like that in a consumer product.