One important note, the real Milwaukee M12 Power Source (48-59-1201) has QC spoofing meaning the USB port can output 9V @ rated 1.6A. I've actually tested this and found it does indeed do 9.xxx V at a real 1.6xxx A reliably, meaning almost 15W charging on a phone that has QC charge compatibility (or any of the cross-compatible protocols). This means it can charge a lot of phones with a decent degree of "quick charging" which is more important for modern phones than the 5V output. Most USB A ports on these type of devices never give the rated current anyway (sometimes nowhere even near--I have some power bars that have ports rated for "3.4A" that can barely break 1A of actual output), so the 5V not being 2.1A isn't really a huge deal (5V @ 2A is still only about 10W). Though QC spoofing is easy, I've rarely seen many A ports on similar devices that have this. I don't believe the Rover light has this either--it's 5V output only. That said the M12 Power Source is *way* too expensive on its own--it's like $80 CAD over here when you can get one within a heated jacket package, with a 2A battery and of course the jacket, for around $200 CAD. There's no reason the power source on its own should be more than $40...but that's Milwaukee for 'ya! A USB-C port with PD would be most ideal of course, but for most power tool "power sources" we'll probably have to wait for the newer gen products for those. Some inverters have them though... The M18 Top Off inverter has the same QC-capable A port plus a 45W PD-capable C port. Ryobi's 40V inverter has a C port with PD as does their unobtanium new-version ONE+ inverter (this was advertised like over a year ago, still haven't seen it actually for sale).
I was going to ask if the knockoff did balance charging, but based on the missing pins it obviously doesn’t! I would be very hesitant to use a non-balance charging charger with any regularity. Maybe for infrequent emergencies? I was thinking it would be a nifty thing to keep in my car in case I needed to use a tool for longer than usual. But that charging rate is so slow and the lack of balance charging means I will skip it for now. Thanks for the great teardown!
@@h8GW The problem is that the use case I imagine for it is for a tool like an impact wrench that I might leave in the car all the time. So the battery seems likely to be somewhat under stress by my hypothetical usage pattern. (The other concern is that I don't want to melt my impact wrench inside a hot car, so I probably won't be doing this)
@gf2e Understandable, but I personally wouldn't even charge a battery with the _official_ charger -even if I had the -*_-$70-_*- to pay for one- in a hot car without supervision. Anyways I'll be using my knockoff "N12" charger mostly for emergency charging on the go, and I won't be charging it over 80% or discharging under 20% on any knockoff. (FYI the kickoff I bought has one of the balance pins connected to the PCB.....which I'm sure still doesn't allow balance charging, but is at least more advanced than the one in the video.)
@@h8GW Agreed. The only unattended charging is lead acid or LiFePO4. The latter I charge in my car by solar. I need to dig into the schematic but I discovered something odd and unexpected recently. I connected an RC car style balance charger to my M12 pack and it was measuring odd voltages. Apparently there is some circuitry on the two pins in addition to the cells. Measuring with a multimeter with zero load, I see the expected cell voltages. But the balance charger circuitry does something that interacts with whatever is on the battery PCB. Very disappointed! I have a balance charger that is tiny and runs off USB C so I was gonna make a wiring harness to make it connect to M12.
If you own a Milwaukee or Dewalt heated jacket since you have the adapters can you tell me if there compatible in each other? The Dewalt power stack battery allegedly has a significant better run time I’d like to try one in my Milwaukee jacket to test it.
Sadly I don't own either even though I live in the northeast. I could see how it would be better with the power stack. Both adapters Dewalt and Milwaukee adapters output 12v via the barrel jack so as long as the barrel is the same size I don't see why it wouldn't work.
The max temp I seen while charging with the Knock off was 80f degrees and this was at the charging port itself with my thermal camera. Externally its not warm at all.
Campers might use the adapter for charging an M12 battery in the car. The fake adapter is dangerous because it does not prevent over-discharging. Lithium cells discharged below the minimum safe level and can vent or explode. Stay away from anything that discharges cells below the minimum safe level. It is not worth the risk.
Wait, what? Shouldn't it be over _charging_ them that could cause them to explode? Over-discharging should really only shorten cell life, since it's a process of taking _away_ energy.
@@h8GW For many lithium cells there is a minimum safe discharge voltage specified by the manufacturer. That is why any good charger will refuse to charge a pack with a low-voltage cell. As far as I know the working material is held on a copper ribbon and below the minimum safe voltage the copper goes into solition. When it is recharged the copper does not plate back evenly but forms dendrites. If the dendrites short the cell it can vent or explode. This can happen at any time after the cell has been over-discharged.
