Josh Letten Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Difficult question... yes and no, some tools take advantage of the higher amp draw from larger packs, where other tools do not.. Usually your saws and head style tools will work better off of a larger pack where some drills and impacts function the same between smaller and larger packs. There are better more complicated answers but it has to do with the amp draw of the tool and how much it can take. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I think jimbo nailed it, I notice it in some tools and not so much in others......so ya it depends on what kind of tool it is powering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo1310 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I might on brushed tools. Most brushless tool have better power management and over load protection so that why I think that it won't effect brushless tools any. But this is purely speculation on my part. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I might on brushed tools. Most brushless tool have better power management and over load protection so that why I think that it won't effect brushless tools any. But this is purely speculation on my part.I notice a difference with my fuel grinder and fuel circular saw from a 1.5ah to a 4.0ah and I'm not talking run time......but it could be a placebo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffmcmillan Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Definitely going to be the case on brushless grinders and circ saws. Those are power hogs and pretty limited by a 1.5Ah battery. That's why the old brushed makita ones just didn't use 1.5Ah batteries. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR99 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Milwaukee tools can pull more amps off a 5.0ah battery pack. Makita also has a similar thing but some tools won't run on a slim pack because of the power draw. Ryobi also does the same thing fat packs can pull more amps than a slim pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Glassey Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 We will have to take a longer look at this. Especially when the 9.0 comes out, and we can do some descent analysis on brushed vs brushless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicholasShetley Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I notice a difference with my fuel grinder and fuel circular saw from a 1.5ah to a 4.0ah and I'm not talking run time......but it could be a placeboI notice a difference on my 1/2 impact too. The bigger batteries are capable of delivering more amperage if needed. Certain tools don't pull enough to notice a difference. Saws and grinders are going to pull more amps than what the 1.5 ah battery is capable of providing therefore the tool is less powerful. You put a 4.0 on it and the battery can provide more current than what the tool can use so it is at full power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiltiWpg Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 There should be a slight increase in peak or instantaneous torque. The batteries have more available current.The tools all have electronics to prevent over current or over draw. Otherwise the 9.0 should burn up your impact!Milwaukee used to have two different peak torque ratings for the 1st gen impact, one for the 2.0 and a slightly higher rating for the 4.0. Now it's just the peak torque with no reference to battery size to achieve peak torque.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Difficult question... yes and no, some tools take advantage of the higher amp draw from larger packs, where other tools do not.. Usually your saws and head style tools will work better off of a larger pack where some drills and impacts function the same between smaller and larger packs. There are better more complicated answers but it has to do with the amp draw of the tool and how much it can take.I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Chastain Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I know with my experiecne with Milwaukee 3.0 XC Amp packs Vs the 5.0 XC does give a significan improvement with the 3.0 my saw cant cut 3/4 treated plywood with the 5.0 it cuts it no problem. with the drill flash light or mini 3/8 impact it works about the same. seems like some tools benefit more from the higher amp draw. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 there are all the same when they are dead...lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadlanthier Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Seems like the circ saw cuts with less effort with with bigger battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kornomaniac Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Depending on the tool ... yes. A compact battery has only 1 row of cells to provide current ( 5 cells of 3.6 Volts in series = 18v ! ) . This 'Row' of cells can provide ( for example ) 20 to 25 amps continuously. If we start to pull more amperage ( because our bit in the drill binds up for example ) then the electronic protection circuits will kick in to protect the battery/tool. A Fat pack has 2 of these above rows together in parallel. If we add cells parallel then we add the Amps of the 2 rows together. So the first row has (for example ) 2.0 amps juice and the second row gets added to that. So 2 amps + 2 amps gives us 4 amps of capacity. That's how all the 4.0 amp packs are made of Bosch / Makita / Milwaukee / Dewalt..... That second Row of cells in a Fat Pack can also provide ( for example ) 20 to 25 amps continuously. This also gets added up . So a Fat pack has the option of providing more current from the battery then a Small compact battery does. Tool example: The Makita DHP481 ( their 125 newton drill ) has a rated power output of 640 watts. To get this power at 18volt we would need ( 640 / 18 ) around 35 Amps of current from the battery. If i would put a Compact battery on this drill i'd be limiting its power. The compact battery would only be able to deliver 20 - 25 Amps continuously. So the maximum output of this drill with a compact battery would be ( 18v * 25 amps ) 450 Watts. Of course only the larger / stronger tools need all this current. You will not notice alot of difference in most impact drivers / Compact drills etc.... these tools are perfectly happy with only 20 - 25 amps so a compact or fat pack will not matter as the tool can reach its maximum power output with only the 20 - 25 amps from a compact pack. =) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryNY Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Yeah to echo what other have said if the tool manufacturer designed the controllers of the tool to take advantage of higher amperage batteries with more cells they can indeed bump the tool to a higher performance level. More cells with more amperage has the added side benefit of lowering the internal resistance inside the pack and that alone can allow the tool to work harder without overtaxing the battery pack. Most of your tool shutdowns from overheating on higher end tools isn't the tool so much as the battery shutting your trigger finger down so as not to overheat and ruin the battery pack. The best documented example of Milwaukee giving the tool more power/torque with bigger packs is the 1st gen M18 Fuel Hammer Drill. They put it on the spec sheet that with an XC pack it had 725 in/lbs. of torque but with smaller ones it was rated at 650 in/lbs. Nothing crazy but more with the bigger pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William S Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 I know that first gen Milwaukee fuel and Fein drills do have different power ratings for the 2.0ah and 4.0 ah batteries. My dewalt is equal across the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch88 Posted March 26, 2022 Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 I just saw an episode of This Old House where they demonstrated a large right angle drill bit even turning a 2” wood bit with a Milwaukee 6.0 pack. He then swapped to a larger mAh pack and it powered right through oak slab. This goes against what I predicted. I thought more mAh only gave you longer run time, not more power/torque at the tool? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fm2176 Posted March 26, 2022 Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 41 minutes ago, Fletch88 said: I just saw an episode of This Old House where they demonstrated a large right angle drill bit even turning a 2” wood bit with a Milwaukee 6.0 pack. He then swapped to a larger mAh pack and it powered right through oak slab. This goes against what I predicted. I thought more mAh only gave you longer run time, not more power/torque at the tool? Six years ago was just the beginning, with larger battery packs starting to become more prevalent. More recent battery and tool developments have created a subset of sorts within most brands, furthering the complexity of this question. Look at Ridgid Octane, Milwaukee HO batteries, DeWalt FlexVolt Advantage, or even Ryobi HP. I can run my Octane hammer drill on a 2Ah battery, but using the 9Ah Octane battery shows a very clear difference in power. It's amazing to think of how quickly the technology has evolved; the Gen 1 20v Max and M18 platforms are worlds away from what we have some twelve years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfytr998 Posted March 26, 2022 Report Share Posted March 26, 2022 I definitely notice a difference in performance between the 2ah battery and 4ah battery on my mostly brushless Craftsman tools. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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