Lost your Milwaukee m18 Battery charger? Or maybe it doesn’t just work anymore and you want to try a quick solution before you think about purchasing a replacement. Well, there are several ways to get your Milwaukee m18 Battery charging without using the official charger. Just follow the guide below to get started.
How to Charge Milwaukee M18 Battery without Charger
Charging a Milwaukee m18 Battery with a Laptop Charger
Before using your laptop charger, you should check the rating and specifications. Most laptop chargers are rated for 18-20V, which is very suitable for charging an 18V battery.
Using your laptop charger for this charging process is very easy.
All you need to do is
- Get hold of an old laptop charger or you can use a spare laptop charger. Confirm the voltage output by reading the printed label on it.
- Check and confirm that the output voltage is above 18. From there, you can use two methods:
Method One:
- Start by cutting the charging connector and connect the two wires with the Milwaukee m18 battery. Using this method, you can just resolder the wires after completing the job and keep the laptop charger for further use.
- When connecting the two take note of color codes for positive and negative. If you do not know about the color codes, you Google for the laptop charger brand name and learn about the color codes for that specific charger.
Method Two:
If you like a challenge, you might consider this sophisticated but also effective method. Follow the steps below
- Find a female connector for the charger you already have.
- If you’re using a universal charger, these connectors will work. If not, you will have to cut down the wire and connect these connectors as mentioned int he first method.
- A better solution would be to solder the female connector with the internal battery connections (This means positive with positive and negative with negative).
- After that, Make a cut-hole for the female connector to sit in. With that, you can charge your battery without the official charger.
Charging Milwaukee M18 with an Apple MagSafe Charger
If you have an old MagSafe Apple Macbook charger, it could come in handy for charging your Milwaukee battery. These chargers are rated at 14/16/18/20V. With them, you can quickly charge your 20v Milwaukee m18 battery, especially if you have an option rated 18-20 volt. Ensure you check the output voltage ratings on the back of the charger before using them on your battery.
Charging your battery with the Apple MagSafe charger is a simple process. The steps below should guide you on how to go about this:
- Start by connecting the laptop charger’s positive terminal with the Milwaukee m18 battery you are charging and the negative terminal of the laptop charger with the negative terminal of the Milwaukee m18 battery.
- You will have to cut down the MagSafe connector to get the wires and connect them to the terminals.
- Take note of the wires and how they’re connected. The center’s wire will be the positive terminal, and the outer mesh will be negative. When done, this will irreversibly damage your MagSafe charger. So you should only do it during times of emergencies and be ready to lose the MagSafe charger.
Charging Milwaukee M18 Battery With Off-the-shelf 1.5V AA Cells
This is not the most efficient way to charge the Milwaukee m18 Battery without a charger and it can be also expensive. However, if you’re out of options it might be the best way to go about it. Using AA cells will help when you’re unable to get voltage source. You can get these off-the-shelf 1.5 AA cells and connect them in series to make up the desired voltage. Ensure that the batteries are equal to the voltage of the battery you’re going to charge.
You will need to connect 13 cells in series for up to 19.5V if you’re going to charge the 18V Milwaukee m18 Battery. When using this charging method, they might not fully charge your battery as these cells have a minimal capacity. Another thing to take note of is the charging speed. In most cases, the charging speeds will be very slow.
You can get more out of this charging method if you’re able to get hold of rechargeable AA cells. These options usually come with a charger, but that will be an expensive route.
Jump Charging Milwaukee M18 Battery with Another 18V Battery
This is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you’re having charging issues with your Milwaukee m18 battery and you’re not able to get to the charger. In most cases, this would be an inexpensive option. Jump charging a Milwaukee m18 battery with any fully charged 18V battery is a simple yet great hack. You can borrow a fully charged battery from your neighbors or friends to get your battery working again.
The trick is to get another drill battery with a working charger. This is why having a spare battery at all times becomes really important. From there, you can use that drill battery to charge your battery.
When using this charging method, you want to make sure that the other battery is of the same 18v voltage and fully charged.
Once confirmed, all you have to do is connect the terminals in the same polarity (i.e.Positive with positive and negative with negative).
To get the battery charging, you will have to use jump wires for the connections. Keep in mind that this will not be a solid solution but will greatly help in an emergency.
Charging a Milwaukee M18 Battery With a 20V Solar Panel
Solar Panels are considered one of the best sources of energy. The biggest problem with this energy source is reliability. The output voltage of the solar panel is not constant which does pose a problem. The output voltage will vary due to the change in sun’s direction and temperature.
For the best charging experience, you need to buy pre-built panels with voltage regulators. The only problem is that they are usually on the expensive side.
