Melted battery terminal

[colin9]

One of the terminals on my M18 RedLithium High Output XC8.0 battery melted after about a month of use. 

 

I use it on a M18 FUEL grass trimmer I bought about six weeks ago from Home Depot (the battery came with the trimmer). (I love it by the way!)

 

A few days later, the terminal on another 12ah battery also melted on the same terminal when used with the grass trimmer. 

 

The overheat protection hasn't kicked in. I just noticed the melted terminal because it's hard to remove the battery now. 

 

There's also a grey powder that has collected on the battery around where it slides into the tool. 

 

Ideas? 

 

 

[Eric - TIA]

That is weird but I would send it back.

[ElDuderino]

Same happened to me with my brand new 12ah HO and the brand new quick-loc string trimmer. Is the thermal protection inside the battery bad or inside the tool?

 

Will I just need a new battery? Or is the tool the problem? I don’t want to melt another battery...

 

[Audun]

Same thing happened to me two weeks ago. New Quik-lok grass trimmer and new 12 Ah battery. What I think is happening here is a combination of things:
1) This is one of very few tools you use continuously till the battery is drained, so there is a lot of time for heat to build up.
2) It is made for use with the big heavy batteries (5 Ah overheated for me)
3) The tool vibrates a bit
4) It is 18v

The combination of all of these factors does not appear in many of Milwaukee tools. In short, you have a high continuos current through a heavy vibrating battery and tool. The spring loaded contacts are not heavy duty enough to not offer a bad connection under these circumstances and will overheat.

The problem will be less prominent if you take breaks and or run the tool on low speed setting. Also this seems to only happen with the string trimmer, not the other attachments as they draw less current and are often not used continuosly for the duration of the battery.

 

Maybe they should mark it with intermittence 50% or something, haven't seen anything about intermittence in the manual, so then one assumes it is 100%.

 

I have started making breaks and running on low speed for now, but will contact supplier and or Milwaukee about this issue.

[Canadian Karen]

I just had to return my M18 Fuel quick attach weed eater.  Melted battery terminal and connection port on the power head on the 3rd time using it.  I have a large area to cut and was scything the grass so the mower could pick it up easier.

 

I was thinking there was a faulty battery or such but after looking here (great photos, thank you) i see this looks more like a cooling issue.    Not sure the best way to proceed with this product now.  A tool is meant to be used...which is unfortunate because i'm impressed with the ease of use and how quiet everything is.   I can actually hear rocks bouncing off the walls.

[method]

I believe the issue looks like a fault where the battery connects to the tool allowing it to vibrate ever so slightly during use. Regardless of heat protection the terminal should not melt unless the contact is poor. I use many tools continuously over and over until the battery drains and it should not melt. A line trimmer draws little current so the battery should barely get warm. 

 

Milwaukee have been the most disappointing in terms of battery quality for me over the last few years. Their batteries have been so bad that unless it's a specialised tool I can't buy from anyone else, I avoid Milwaukee now. 

[honkmeister]

Hi, same thing happened to me yesterday. Brand new grass trimmer / powerhead (M18 FOPHLTKIT) and two brand new 5 Ah batteries. 

The first battery ran out of power after only a few minutes, and so did the second one. And that second one melted. The load was really not very heavy, and since they ran out of power quickly it wasn't running for a very long time either. 

 

I also had some kind of grey powder on the battery. Could it be some residue from arcing? 

 

I will contact the supplier here in Sweden, but the feeling in my gut is that they will say "This has never happened before".

 

So I'm very interested in knowing how it was handled by Milwaukee for the rest of you, was it covered by the warranty? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

 

[Eric - TIA]

That's crazy it is happening to so many people.

[Muppen]

I have melted one of my brand new batteries with the trimmer piece as well. After trimming one of the terminals was melted and the terminal side of the battery was hot af. I didn't put any significant load to the trimmer as i did some edge trimming.

 

[NordicBob]

I have two quick-loc trimmers and both of them cause this issue with my M18 5Ah batteries. Out of the 10 batteries I have managed to melt 4 of them... :/ Returned 3 to my local dealer yesterday for investigation and repair/exchange.

 

Today I used the tool with a brand new 5Ah battery. I used it for 5 minutes on slow speed, checked the contacts and they were OK. I left it rest for 30+ minutes and then continued for another 10/15 minutes until the battery was empty. When I checked the battery after it was emptied I noticed once again that the most right (negative) terminal was melted... that's number 4 dead. The battery nor the tool was even hot, at best warm to the touch.

 

I have send a message to both the companies where I had bought the trimmers and also to the email address of Milwaukee EU. This is getting out of control. I will not use the trimmers until this issue is solved. Perhaps it can mean no Milwaukee trimmers, that would be a shame since they work amazingly quiet and have good performance.

 

Did any of you find a solution or heared back from your dealers?

[Kazza M]

This has happened to me also.  The 5.0 battery is melted, I think after the first use.  I noticed it was difficult to remove, but didn’t check for battery damage… this is Milwaukee!  Will be returning mine for replacement.

 

[ToolBane]

On 6/29/2021 at 6:23 AM, Eric - TIA said:

That's crazy it is happening to so many people.

And the tally keeps building…

 

I wonder how long these batteries are going per charge. I just wouldn’t think a grass trimmer of all things should consume current fast enough for stuff like this. Some of my Makita and Ryobi tools will drain fully-charged batteries at what seem like crazy speeds but I have no damage around any terminals or anything.

[Zinku418]

My Milwaukee m18 fuel quik lock string trimmer has melted the negatives on two of my 8.0ah batteries as well. While using the string trimmer id get around 30-40 minutes of use. And the first two times i used it the batteries got extremely hot after use and had to cool off before charging. They still work and i havent encountered a issue since. The plastic is not nearly as bad as pictures posted in this thread though. I bought my string trimmer two months ago and use it weekly and just noticed the damaged terminal after using my circ saw

[lowbreaker]

I am experiencing this exact same issue. I already knew that this unit was designed to use 8.0 batteries and higher, as the 5.0 batteries will drain very quickling and overheat....so i have ONLY been using my included 8.0 battery and a new milwaukee 12.0 battery i bought separte. Both have the same melted terminal as show in previous posts.

Now if i try to use these batteries with the melted terminal the power head will function but wont trim under any load whatsoever. 

This is a shame cause i really was impressed with that last two months using this trimmer and polesaw until today!

[nut]

Looks like a design or manufacturing error. The battery has not been designed or manufactured to meet the high current draw of the tool of sustained periods.

 

Here in Australia we have 3 pin 10Amp power points and then we have 3 pin 15Amp power points with a larger earth pin so that you can't plug a 15A plug in a 10A socket. Sometimes people file the pin down so that it fits in the smaller rated point but the 10A socket is only manufactured to 10A tolerances. It works in the short term but the end result is you end up drawing 12 or 13 amps through the 10A socket and the first sign is the back plastic casing melts just like what you are seeing with your batteries.

 

Either the design specifications are wrong or the manufacturer is not meeting the product specifications. 

[ElDuderino]

Update: after my first melted battery/connection port Milwaukee EU replaced the battery and string trimmer under warranty here in Germany. But sadly the same damn thing happened to the replaced tool again! My girlfriend was using the trimmer on very light grass for about 15 minutes and then it stopped working. Again the plastic melted. 
 

Milwaukee replaced both pieces again. Now the problem is different. One of my new 12ah batteries seems faulty because the trimmer stopped working after just one minute of work, although everything was still cool. But the problem with this battery just occurs with the string trimmer. It’s fine with other tools. With the other battery the trimmer runs 10-15 minutes until the overheat protection kicks in. The battery is still cool but the power head gets pretty warm. Once the trimmer stopped working it must cool down at least 30 minutes before I can use it for another 10 minutes. 
 

@NordicBob You see here in Germany it was super easy to get it replaced under warranty and now getting my money back from the dealer. As it is Milwaukee EU it should’ve been easy for you as well!
 

End of the story? I’ll bring this poor tool back tomorrow and get an ego instead.

[ToolBane]

5 hours ago, ElDuderino said:

Update: after my first melted battery/connection port Milwaukee EU replaced the battery and string trimmer under warranty here in Germany. But sadly the same damn thing happened to the replaced tool again! My girlfriend was using the trimmer on very light grass for about 15 minutes and then it stopped working. Again the plastic melted. 
 

Milwaukee replaced both pieces again. Now the problem is different. One of my new 12ah batteries seems faulty because the trimmer stopped working after just one minute of work, although everything was still cool. But the problem with this battery just occurs with the string trimmer. It’s fine with other tools. With the other battery the trimmer runs 10-15 minutes until the overheat protection kicks in. The battery is still cool but the power head gets pretty warm. Once the trimmer stopped working it must cool down at least 30 minutes before I can use it for another 10 minutes. 
 

@NordicBob You see here in Germany it was super easy to get it replaced under warranty and now getting my money back from the dealer. As it is Milwaukee EU it should’ve been easy for you as well!
 

End of the story? I’ll bring this poor tool back tomorrow and get an ego instead.

Yeah I wouldna tolerated all that…hats off to you for having the patience

[NordicBob]

On 8/17/2021 at 1:03 AM, ElDuderino said:

Update: after my first melted battery/connection port Milwaukee EU replaced the battery and string trimmer under warranty here in Germany. But sadly the same damn thing happened to the replaced tool again! My girlfriend was using the trimmer on very light grass for about 15 minutes and then it stopped working. Again the plastic melted. 
 

Milwaukee replaced both pieces again. Now the problem is different. One of my new 12ah batteries seems faulty because the trimmer stopped working after just one minute of work, although everything was still cool. But the problem with this battery just occurs with the string trimmer. It’s fine with other tools. With the other battery the trimmer runs 10-15 minutes until the overheat protection kicks in. The battery is still cool but the power head gets pretty warm. Once the trimmer stopped working it must cool down at least 30 minutes before I can use it for another 10 minutes. 
 

@NordicBob You see here in Germany it was super easy to get it replaced under warranty and now getting my money back from the dealer. As it is Milwaukee EU it should’ve been easy for you as well!
 

End of the story? I’ll bring this poor tool back tomorrow and get an ego instead.

Thanks for the reply. I have received back 3 of the batteries repaired from my dealer, they also said I should stop using the tool that causes this issue. I'm about to send back one of the string trimmer motor units to my dealer for repair, but I assume they'll do a lousy switch of the unit and no real fix. It's not promising that you got the exact same issues with a repaired/replaced unit.

 

I've also had contact with Milwaukee EU directly and they only hid behind "this tool is developed for the High Output batteries, try those", even though that info I cannot find anywhere on their website/manual etc. On the Milwaukee EU website they even sell a package of the string trimmer + 5Ah (non high output) battery, so that don't make any sense. In the manual they have a "recomended battery" section which states the normal + high output batteries. I've send that info back to Milwaukee, but they haven't replied for a week yet. Let's see what happens. At least everything is going to the service center asap.

[honkmeister]

A little update from me also:

I sent my melted battery to a Milwaukee authorized service shop and I got a new battery in return, no questions or comments. So I called them to see if this was known as a common problem, but to their knowledge it wasn't.

Anyway, I've continued to use the trimmer, but only on low speed from now, and veeeery, very carefully.

I've noticed that my other 5 Ah battery (from the same batch as the melted one) also runs hot att the terminals, the plastic has become a little bit deformed on this one also.

However, the new battery I got does not seem to run hot?! Coincidence? Or has there been any changes in the design? I guess time will tell...

[method]

On 8/14/2021 at 11:45 AM, nut said:

Looks like a design or manufacturing error. The battery has not been designed or manufactured to meet the high current draw of the tool of sustained periods.

 

Here in Australia we have 3 pin 10Amp power points and then we have 3 pin 15Amp power points with a larger earth pin so that you can't plug a 15A plug in a 10A socket. Sometimes people file the pin down so that it fits in the smaller rated point but the 10A socket is only manufactured to 10A tolerances. It works in the short term but the end result is you end up drawing 12 or 13 amps through the 10A socket and the first sign is the back plastic casing melts just like what you are seeing with your batteries.

 

Either the design specifications are wrong or the manufacturer is not meeting the product specifications. 

 

 

Ive done this plenty of times, well actually cut the plug off and installed a 10A plug. Most, if not all of your 10A sockets are 25A rated. The main reason for 15A sockets is so that each 15A socket is stand alone to the board. Your oven or split systems will be stand alone, requiring 15A or hard wire. By doing this, it stops people plugging in 15A leads/appliances/tools to a circuit that may have many more points looped to it which will trip the power. 

 

You just want to ensure that the wire used is beefy, which mostly I think it's as thin as a hair these days and legal! This is why we have so many fires in Australia, an appliance rated at 5amps won't trip the board because the breaker will be 25A. If appliances had their own fuse, this wouldn't be a problem. I remember I bought a bosch multi tool from the UK and the actual plug has its own fuse. Best idea imo. 

[Benjd]

Same thing happened to me after using my weed trimmer for about 20 minutes with the XC battery it came with. I called Milwaukee and they said they know this is an issue but not as big as the internet is making it out to be… unreal. Anyways I exchanged it at Home Depot for now but may have to just return it and switch brands altogether… would suck as I have plenty of M18 batteries but don’t want to risk melting them. 

[Hugh]

Melted 2 x5amp batteries sent the Strimmer back got a replacement Strimmer also melted batteries. One 9amp. Contacted Milwaukee who are quiet dismissive.

[NordicBob]

On 7/16/2022 at 12:38 PM, Hugh said:

Melted 2 x5amp batteries sent the Strimmer back got a replacement Strimmer also melted batteries. One 9amp. Contacted Milwaukee who are quiet dismissive.

Seems to be a general issue right. I've had 4 motor heads and 8 batteries with the same issue. I've replaced all batteries, Milwaukee EU hasn't given any proper feedback there. Last year I sent back one of the trimmer heads and there I got back from the repair shop that Milwaukee "has some issues with this tool and the chain saw too". 
I'm about to send back the two motor heads now for repair to Milwaukee. Have had contact with 3 suppliers, only one had other customers sending in the grass trimmer for repair for the same issue. The other suppliers didn't have any customers coming back. From two of them I'm awaiting them hearing back from Milwaukee EU to see if this issue has been solved to begin with. 

To be continued. Thank God for 3 years warrenty here   But if the motor heads come back and still cause the issue, I'll return all motor heads and attachments instead. A pricy tool to just have laying around and not being useful.

[glass]

Solution. Buy makita. Milwaukee is junk.