Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Milwaukee). This thread is read-only.
Purchased an M18 drill kit for Christmas. Worked great for a few months but now it flashes Red Green when you
put it in the charger.
Online a lot of people say that this is usually because the battery is too low for the “smart” charger to accept it.
They recommend jumping it from a charged battery for a few minutes and putting it back in the charger.
Is this just a temporary fix for a failing battery and it will probably go to the same failed state again?
Better to just get a warranty replacement?
This is a very common issue posted on the web. Looks like a major charger design flaw by Milwaukee.
I would get a replacement. If that is true and the battery is in that state, it has to be sitting on the shelf for a long time. Sometimes when the cells get that low, you can ruin them. When these batteries leave the factory, they are put in a “Hibernation” state so this doesn’t happen. So somewhere along the line, something happened and if it were me, I would just return it or get the warranty.
I have used the jump method with an old M18 battery and it worked. Was only getting two bars when charging the old battery and short run time.
After connecting to the new battery the old battery would fully charge and show all your bars.