Makita has the largest line of 18V tools available. With that said, it only makes sense to have one of the best performing batteries with their new 18V 6 Ah battery. The model number for this new battery is BL 1860B. So what is amps and what does the 6Ah battery mean? Think of it this way. The volts are the size of your gas tank and the amps are how much gas is in the tank. So a 6Ah battery has more gas than the 5Ah battery. Get this, even though the amps increased, the size and weight did not. So you can expect the same size and weight as your older batteries, but with a much longer run time.
I know, the bigger amps means a longer charge time. Actually no, it doesn’t. This battery will fully charge in just 55 minutes. Another cool feature, which most batteries have, is the on board LED fuel gauge. With a press of a button, you can see how much juice or battery life is left on the battery.
Another cool feature to this battery is it protects against overloading and over charging. So in the end, your battery will last much longer. Besides heat, one of the biggest things that ruin batteries is drops and falls. Makita designed this battery with an impact resistant outershell and an inner shock absorbing liner . Kind of like M&M’s candy shell, but just not as tasty. Each battery comes with a 3 year warranty.
The price?
How would this compare to the Milwaukee 9.0? I’m stumped on my next tool purchase need some advise.
The 9 Ah battery is bigger in size and longer run times. It’s great for high demand applications and tools. With the Makita, they have tools that will use 2-18V batteries, so you can get a 36v power.
As far as I’m aware the 6ah battery is bigger and heavier than the 5ah version,if so thats a big minus point against it.Imo the 5 amp is the sweet spot.