Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Milwaukee). This thread is read-only.
Besides the price, $129 for the XC and $149 for a twin pack HC has anyone found a big difference between the two? When you go through the specs they are all most identical.
All XC batteries are the same at 3.0ah except the the new XC 4.0ah packs but they have that marked on the side of the packs it’s hard to miss.
From what I read, Milwaukee has redesigned the M12/M18.. Or more accurately, they have found better lithium cells. The older style is the 1.5Ah & 3.0Ah. The new style is the 2.0Ah & 4.0Ah.
I don’t know if the battery chemistry changed between revisions but chemistry doesn’t really matter much (in order to keep it simple) What you need to look for is the Ah ratting. The more Amp hours, the longer your tool can operate between charges. I will note however, the Amp-Hour method to measure a battery is flawed. Ah = current flow in amperes (I) * time in hours of discharge (t) or Ah=I*t. So without knowing the time of discharge (t), Amp-Hour is worthless.
All lithium battery packs are made up of a bunch of small lithium cells (small batteries) connected together. The new 2.0 & 4.0 batteries supposedly have better cells, although OEM Milwaukee has never let me down, when it comes time to buy a new battery, I’ll be buying the new 4.0Ah
Thanks for the info guys. It is always a help.
I would recommend getting the new 4.0 xc packs. And forget about paying full price for the xc 4.0 packs at hd or so. Don’t get cheated paying full price. A quick search over at eBay and you can get 2x 4.0 packs for as low as $128. The seller for that price is 1_great_shop and I’ve bought tools from them before no problems.
Javier wrote:
I would recommend getting the new 4.0 xc packs. And forget about paying full price for the xc 4.0 packs at hd or so. Don’t get cheated paying full price. A quick search over at eBay and you can get 2x 4.0 packs for as low as $128. The seller for that price is 1_great_shop and I’ve bought tools from them before no problems.
Thanks
I had just gotten the m18 XC 3.0 packs with my new M18 set, they last along time but i drill 40 to 50 1 1/2 holes through 3″ beams every day, so I use the 4.0 packs and they last me around 30 or so holes. and a good way to find cheap packs would be ebay or amazon. Ive found a listing of 4 4.0 packs on ebay for $200.
Some tools will only accept XC packs. The compacts have a small restriction device that will not allow them to be used on some of the more power hungry tools like the Sawzall and circ saw. That may not be an issue for you, and they may have changed this restriction on the Fuel, but I thought I’d mention it.
Conductor562 wrote:
Some tools will only accept XC packs. The compacts have a small restriction device that will not allow them to be used on some of the more power hungry tools like the Sawzall and circ saw. That may not be an issue for you, and they may have changed this restriction on the Fuel, but I thought I’d mention it.
i have the XC packs as well as the XC 4.0. the XC works on both saws.
Xc, xc red lithium, and xc red lithium 4.0 are all the same form factor and are essentially the same battery pack EXCEPT for the amount of juice they hold. The battery restriction that conductor was talking about where only some tools only accept xc packs applies to all xc packs since they all are the same form factor.
Maybe I wasn’t very clear. Some tools such as the Sawzall and Circ saw, will not accept COMPACT batteries. They will accept any generation of M series XC packs though. It has nothing to do with whether they are 3.0 or 4.0ah