Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.
Hi. I’m new here and I would fig this topic has been talked about,but let me ask anyways. I have the hardest time getting the 12V batteries out of the milwaukee cordless tools. I have used large pliers to squeeze the tabs. I’m afraid of breaking the battery. Arthritic hands don’t help, but man it’s tough.
The concept of bendable tabs to remove the things is innovative in the way of being inexpensive, but that was always a turnoff to me and probably the main reason I didn’t pull the trigger on a couple m12 tools I had my eye on for a couple years. I imagine they “break in” over time? Which also concerned me for the reason you just mentioned…that they could also break after a while. The shells of these things are usually glass fiber reinforced plastic so the long-term resiliency should actually be pretty good but I would still imagine breaking them to happen every so often.
I haven’t had much of an issue with the M12 batteries, but I do think that some of my batteries are harder to remove from some tools than others. The ones I have difficulty with seem to be ones I can’t get a good grip on. This might be an odd idea, and it probably won’t hold up to heavy use, but have you considered using something to create a more positive grip on the tabs (self-adhesive felt pads, for example)?
I have 10+ 12v batteries and some are harder than others. Some slide out others you have to “grip and rip”. Something I think Milwaukee maybe needs to be aware of.
Milwaukee is aware of the battery removal issue, but nothing that I’ve heard of is in the works to rectify the problem.