I'm gonna try and emulate your successful use of a 400w DC PS. I bet, out of 7,000+ views, at least 1 Milwaukee employee has seen this. Dear Milwaukee - There is no weakness in admitting that wall outlets are sometimes better. Offering this capability would only increase the versatility and value of your 18v/12v tools. When I'm on a 12' ladder driving 30mm bolts for a structure tent, I love the battery. Especially that fat-ass 12ah. STUPID thick! But, when I'm at my work bench, wall power makes more sense. Plus, you can market it as "We're cutting e-waste by letting our customers choose grid power when they don't need batteries." Batteries that will, ultimately, need to undergo an extensive, expensive recycling processes lest they contribute to our dying climate *sheds single tear* But, seriously, Milwaukee's CEO should be offering this guy a job. And offering me a brushless tool kit of my choice, since I gave you that "choose their power" hippie crap above. People will buy it hook, line and sinker😎
Power for the light is why I came here! I have 2 of them. The 2nd one I bought just a few months before they came out with the DC/AC model - I was pissed! I have plenty of M18 batteries but hate swapping them in the light on a long project. Thanks!
I still have my DeWalt 24 volt 5.25 circ saw and .5 hammer drill. They both came with an fan cooled ac adapter the slides in the battery slot. I still used the saw plugged in because it it light and easy to use.
@@harrisonhobbies241 they sell the AC dc adapter on Amazon. I am thinking of getting another one to tinker with to run my Milwaukee and Makita cordless tools
If you are trying this with a genuine battery, don’t bother! You can trick the microcontroller on a genuine battery with a voltage divider network to apply 4v on each pin (just like the batteries did) however, you still need to plug the modified battery into the charger to restart the microcontroller every time you apply external power. When you turn external power off, you’ll need to repeat the plug into charger step every time you apply external power. If this isn’t a problem for you then you can get a genuine battery to work like this. Took me a bit to figure that the charger is the turn on mechanism for the microcontroller.
@@danieltupikov2078 , I went and got myself some of these knock off batteries which don’t need the voltage divider circuit. They worked perfect on everything EXCEPT my back pack vacuum 🤦♂️😭 (which is my small shop vac and the reason why I wanted this converter). Turns out the back pack vac won’t work unless it sees a genuine battery or it’s just rejecting my particular knock off batteries. Found out that applying a jumper off the 8v leg of the divider to the J2 (pin between charge and negative) for about 2 seconds fires the microcontroller up and now she works beautifully sucking 20 amps at 21V.
Thank you! I also tried a genuine milwaukee battery, and had this (non-working) result (even though the raw voltage across the pins looked good). I could not get it to reset in the charger either. Any trick to that? Would love to hear if anyone can get this working for all devices.
I know the Dewalt Vacuum can either be used plugged in or ran with battery, they gave you the option. Too bad Milwaukee didn't do that with their Cordless Vacuum.
Awesome video, I was just thinking about this in the shower. It’s funny because I realized that the whole purpose of the brick part of a laptop charger is a transformer. So I was thinking to make one of these adapters work for a battery powered tool, you’d have a transformer on it. I didn’t fully close the loop until I saw this video, that you can literally use a laptop charger.
Yep... finding a simple transformer without any third pin handshake is the problem... but pretty straightforward overall. Make sure to check out all of the other testing I did with larger transformers.
Milwaukee should do this for the table saw and miter saw. They added a plug 🔌 for the Milwaukee rocket 🚀 work light 💡. I wanna do this with an actual power supply (meanwell) unit that you use on machines and 3D printers.
Agreed on that! I have some follow-up videos where I test a 1,200 watt power supply with much better results. And more to come on an even beefier system in the coming weeks.
Couldn’t you just hook it up the way you did and put a voltage limiter so it doesn’t overcharge? As long as that limiter doesn’t break/stop working it would work for every m18 tool, no?? I was thinking about just doing this myself but thought I’d bring it up to you as I see you’ve had quite a few of these videos and even got a few more on the way. Happy Holidays my friend.
Why don't you leave the batteries in place, parallel into pin 1 & 4 +/- The batteries will handle the high amp start up and the supply will supply 18volts - and trickle charge the batteries.
You can do some quick math to figure out the adapter wattage required for sustained load. Figure out your run time on an existing battery. My 3Ah battery will run my transfer pump for 15 minutes. 15*4 = 60 minutes. So 4*3Ah = 12A. 12A * 20V = 240W. Hope that's right but it sounds correct. Startup is the killer though so you'll still probably need a capacitor.
The one thing that can make tools companies loose a lot of money... They have it for the cordless miter saw, that proves that they have the technology already, why not doing it for the rest of the tools...
Frankly don't know why Milwaukee has not produced a convenient and durable AC Adapter for their M18 and M12 lines ( mostly M18, since they encompass HEFTY STOUT tools like Table Saws, Miter Saws etc. which are mostly stationary). Surely a company as innovative as Milwaukee could do so wand give their customers the ability to run those large stationary tools off available AC power without having to endlessly recharge batteries, and yet not sacrifice portability and the ability to use them where no AC is available. I am certain it has to do with ECONOMIC considerations and not technological problems. Perhaps they don't want to lose the revenue stream of producing endless numbers of batteries for these tools. But that is foolish. I think the customer base would appreciate this feature and it would FURHTER STRENGTHEN the brand loyalty, while not making too big an impact on battery sales, since many contractors and professionals will still use these tools in circumstance where AC power is not readily available, and portable tools like circular saws, drill, routers, reciprocating saws, etc. would STILL be used without the cord. Are you listening Milwaukee? As as the owner of of a huge amount of both your M18 and M12 line, and on the verge of purchasing large shop tools like table saws, miter saws, thickness planers, joiners, band saws etc. , such an accessory would go a LONG way towards increasing your appeal to people shopping for this kind of shop tools in competition with other corded brands such as DeWalt, Grizzley, Delta, Skill, Bosch and give you an even bigger leg up brands like Fesstool.
Yes I do Corian counter tops. Milwaukee heat guns use alot alsoo.. glue guns use a ton. Not worth it. Have corded for both to much battery for heat up times
I do enjoy customizing my own tools whenever possible. But in this case, this idea will take off, guaranteed. There is no need for me to make one, Somebody will make a proper adapter with the right power running through and retail it for us Milwaukee fans.
I don't understand why the battery isn't flashing as dead As all the cells have been removed, there's no balancing signals. That should be upsetting the battery board and the tool
Hi there. Glad I ran into your channel. I bought a battery powered vacuum cleaner and I'm wondering if I can rig up your system to wall power it? Since it's not Amp hungry do you think I can go with the laptop approach psu or will I need to go the other route you did with 100$ psu
Theoretically, it should be the same as this... just higher voltage and more dangerous since there is an actual shock risk at 56v. I've made quite a few videos after this one detailing much higher wattage options - and i plan to investigate expanding these to other brands of tools (i'll be looking at DeWalt and Makita in the coming months. At some point, Ego and the other larger outdoor brands could be an option for me to look at as well - though no plans in the immediate future.
Hello, I have been fighting with this and not sure what I am doing wrong. I have tried several M18 batteries and 2 different power supplies and the only thing that happens is the light on the drill will come on for a bit then goes off but I never get the drill to actually run. The one power supply that I am using is a very good Mean Well RPS-500-18-C that should have enough power to run it. I did exactly what you said and disconnected the positive connection on the one corner from the battery and then the negative connection on the other corner from the battery and then connected my power supply + and - to the corresponding metal tabs (the ones that were "welded" to the battery + and -. What am I missing? Thanks so much Alan
Hi Alan - I'm not sure! I looked at the specs of your power supply, and my first thought is - can you step the voltage down from 24 to 22 v (and is your power supply pushing 24v max, or 24v nominal)? I don't know how sensitive the M18 tools are to voltage, so you may be triggering a high voltage protection which causes it to cut out? And lastly, did you check with a multimeter that each of the terminals of the battery are getting the proper voltage and polarity? The modifications I did to the battery I had worked, but I suppose the PCB could be a different layout if you chose a different manufacturer (and thus, different tabs could have been the series rail). Let me know what you find! - Sam
@@harrisonhobbies241 Thanks so much for responding.... To answer your questions: 1. The RPS-500-18-C is an 18VDC power supply. Not sure where you got 24V? 2. I am using a Milwaukee branded 2AH battery, actually I have tried 3 of them. 3. Yes sir, I did what you did and mapped out the pins where the pins 1 and 2 and 4 are ground as you have and the fifth pin is positive (+) which also maps to the markings on the actual battery. They show a + and a - on the black part of the battery. 4. Yes sir, I also made sure I had the + and - correct on the battery pack itself. I did what you did and removed the tabs from the + and the - on the corners of the pack, the batteries at the end. then I connected 2 different power supplies up to those points. But I cant get anything to run. I do get the little LED light on the drill to light up but no actual drill working. 5 All I can figure is there is another handshake going on that I haven't found. If you actually got one to work I would be more than happy to pay you for it so I can further debug on my side. Thank you sir Alan
The problem now is I have spent quite a few hours on this, and have gone through 3 batteries trying to figure it out. I still don't know if it is my particular battery OR some connection I am missing OR the power supply. That is why I suggested using one that you have working to narrow it down on my side. I even bought a fancy little box for the power supply, made sure it is 18V 27A and 500W. I have measured the output at 18VDC and double checked all the battery voltages and connections. I even did what you did and..... when I connected my power supply as you did and measured the 12v at the battery terminals (positive, negative, not used, negative, negative) then connected the drill and STILL NOTHING. Thanks again, Alan
@@alanhymes2881 1. Ah! I was looking at the 24v model. :( www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/mean-well-usa-inc/RPS-500-24-C/1866-5611-ND/10129205?AC%20DC%20Converters&Shopping_Product_Power%20Supplies%20-%20External%2FInternal%20%28Off-Board%29&AC%20DC%20Converters&msclkid=6786744ce5641f0cf58e2b387fa2b594 2. The battery i used was www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MLYWHHL/. I haven't tried any OEM batteries, so i'm not sure if they have additional tamper features? Unfortunately, i only have the single battery that I've modified - so nothing to send out currently. Do you have any other M18 tools that you can try? There is potential the inrush current may be tripping your power supply. Based on subsequent testing i've done, the drill running is taking around 300 watts. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JY_vQyFzP4A.html .It sounds like your terminals may not all be receiving voltage? I had success with the multi-tool and fan being lower wattage options - so maybe try another tool if you've got one? You could also try hooking up the 18650s from the pack in series to see and linking those to the + and - terminals of the pack to see if it's a power supply issue.
@@alanhymes2881 Since i don't have a spare battery handy to send, I can have a Zoom call with you at some point and *try* to help you troubleshoot if you would be interested? Let me know and we can set that up.
you kind of brazed over the capacitor part, where do they go, do you have to un solder existing capacitors? can you daisy chain some together? need more info here.
Hello - you don't want to touch any of the existing capacitors on the PCB. The capacitors that get added should be roughly the size of a 18650 battery (or smaller) so they fit within the battery shell, and they are all added in parallel with the input wires from the power supply.
Hello! sorry for the delay in posting videos. I actually did have capacitors in the follow-up, but i didn't actually post a video of installing them. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-arXXAF89-wg.html Based on the size of capacitors that would fit in the pack, i don't believe they had too much impact on the starting capability. You just need lots more power.
No replies from @milwaukee yet? It would be nice if a team member would chime in unless they’re working on something? Would be awesome to have the dual ability, thanks Harrison Hobbies
Hey I was interested in one of these adapter for my milwaukee 18v compressor. Would you be interested in making one for me ? Let me know and a price. Thanks
did you ever come up with a capacitor that will cover the surge draw? i want to make one for a vacuum but i showed aprox 10 amps constant with and inrush of near 20. that was on a trash meter mind you. i did find some other power supplies but i cant seem to get any info on their surge capability
This specific configuration won't, but I've built much larger units that handle the compressor. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gT8et0RFU9A.html
Does anyone if this guy hasn’t got into “accident” recently or perhaps is now sick ajahahahahah. Wouldn’t surprise if the offed this guy. They would loose so much money In batteries. I know guys who would kill to have this little inverter.
Still alive, and still want to work on these projects. Got a different job, new house, and kids started school - so not enough time right now. Will try to create a follow up video though to prove Milwaukee didn't off me.
