Hilti just introduced a new multi port charger, which is awesome. How awesome is it to be able to insert four batteries and let them charge. No more running back and forth trying to figure out when a battery is finished charging and replacing it with another that needs to get charged. Now you can just insert the four batteries and know that when you come back, you will have charged batteries, pretty cool. OK with that said, let go over a couple important factors to this charger.
Not sure if you know this, but Hilti has some pretty impressive battery technology compared with other manufacturers. Hilti uses a high-density battery and they also have their batteries manage each cell instead of a whole battery like other manufacturers. So with that said, Hilti already has one up compared to the competitors. So with the Hilti batteries, they are very efficient and you can get a ton of work out of a single battery. Now with a 4 bay charger, you should never have a problem with a dead battery.
The Hilti four bay charger uses a system called first in first out. So what this means is that the charger is sequential and will charge a battery one at a time. So whatever battery you place on the charger first, the charger will charge that battery first. Which every battery you place on the charger second (In any bay) it will charge that one second after the first battery is done. Same with the third and fourth battery.
I love the low profile of the charger as it doesn’t take up a ton of room. Also on the front of the charger, each bay has it’s own two led lights to let you know the charging status. The charger will charge any Hilti 12V, 14V, 18V, 22V or 36V. You can mix and match when charging which means you can put a 36V on the charger and also an 18V battery. One thing to note is that with the 12V batteries, you will need the adapter in order to have it work on this charger.
OK, let’s get down to business. I know some people will be disappointed that the charger only charges one battery at a time. I understand your frustration, but you have to realize a couple of things. First, all manufacturers use the sequential charging system, one at a time. If you were to try and charge all four batteries at once, a couple of things would need to be changed. First, the charger would have to be much bigger. The most important thing that would have to change is power. To charge a battery it roughly takes 5 amps. We all know that most breakers are 20 amps at most. So with four batteries, you wold be popping a breaker all the time and it would end up being a pain. Second, if you lowered the amp for charging, the charge time would dramatically increase making it very slow. There are other obstacles, but those two are pretty big obstacles to overcome on a job site.
Since Hilti uses a premium cell and advance technology for monitoring them which increases your work time, the single aspect charger is more than enough for any job site where you will never have to worry about not having a battery. Since the charger has a quick charge feature where it will charge the battery up to 75% in 20 minutes, you can be assured you will be working all day.
Bottom line, I love this charger. I love the low profile and the fact you can cut down on running back and fourth to the charger to change batteries. A great addition to Hilti’s line.
