I received an email from Los Gatos Power, but it was somewhat vague, directing me to their website for more info.
I don’t like it when companies email in without telling me a thing about their products, but I was curious and clicked the link. What I found was that Los Gatos Power produces cordless power tool AC power adapters.
Advertisement
That’s right, they make adapter packs that connect to your cordless tools, essentially turning them into AC-powered corded tools for longer runtime.
The product is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a power brick that connects to a dummy battery that connects to your cordless tool.
Right now there are 2 adapters available – one for Dewalt 20V Max power tools, and one for Makita 18V, and a Milwaukee M18 adapter is said to be in the works.
This is something that readers have asked about a number of times now. Why don’t brands make power adapters that allow you to plug a cordless tool into a generator or wall outlet?
I believe there to be 2 reasons, maybe more. First, cordless tools offer cordless convenience. Most users buy cordless tools because they don’t want to be tethered to a power outlet. A corded tool adapter would defeat a major selling point of cordless tools. Second, there’s cost and potential inconveniences tied to the size and weight of an adapter that could serve in place of Li-ion cells.
Advertisement
Price: $250
These adapters aren’t cheap. For the same price, you could probably buy 2-4 high capacity battery packs.
After checking Amazon’s prices on battery packs, I saw that $250 will buy you nearly 3x Dewalt 5Ah battery packs, or 4x 4Ah battery packs. So that’s 16Ah of total charge capacity. Or, it’ll buy you slightly less in Makita battery packs – 2x 3Ah packs and 2x 4Ah packs, for around 14Ah of total charge capacity.
But, they’re also not very expensive. Given the AC power supply prices I have seen, $250 for a high power AC to DC converter of this kind, plus whatever electronics are in that battery box, could be reasonable.
Los Gatos Power adapters/converters feature:
- 10ft cable from Power Brick to tool battery adapter
- 4ft input power cord
- Light weight AC to DC power converter
- “Built tough enough to survive any construction environment”
- Passively cooled (no noisy case fans)
- “Always at full power”
- Easily extendable (AC input cord) using a standard extension cord
The power converter looks large, but Los Gatos Power says it’s light weight.
We checked out the company, and they’re very new, first starting business in Q4 2015.
Update (March 2019): the Los Gatos Power website is defunct.
First Thoughts
It’s difficult to tell, but it looks like these could be AC to DC power supplies connected to modified Dewalt 3Ah and Makita 3Ah battery pack housings.
I have been planning to do something like this for a while now, for testing purposes, but I haven’t had the time or incentive to do so yet. It’s also something that I have seen at least one power tool brand do before.
This might actually be a good thing, as it should in theory keep a brand’s safety measures in place, at least assuming the power brick was designed to emulate the performance of an array of Li-ion cells.
I could see this working well if the power brick was designed to trick the battery pack circuitry into thinking that it was a regular battery pack with a bunch of Li-ion cells.
Or maybe everything was gutted from the housing, although I don’t quite think that’s the case here. It would be a lot easier for a new company to build an adapter on top of brands’ perfected battery pack electronics, rather than trying to reverse engineer them.
Anyway… while it’s interesting to think about how these works, what do you think about how well they would work?
There are many power tool users who are accustomed to working with the full range of a tetherless cordless tool, and who might find such an adapter appealing. There’s proof in the number of emails and comments from readers asking about such adapters.
But will that appeal change now that a real solution is out there to answer their needs and wants?
Personally, I don’t think that I would ever want to use something like this. But, I also don’t work in a professional environment where I’ll get chewed out if I let something like a drained battery delay me from completing a job.
Is 10 feet long enough, from power brick to tool adapter? It seems that only the AC input cord can be lengthened using an extension cord.
Is it UL rated? If not, that could affect its workplace suitability.
How light (or heavy) is the power converter? And will it easily fit into a contractor-style tool bag?
I’ve got mixed feelings about these products, but I am more optimistic than not. This is a solution that many users have asked about and for, and the price doesn’t seem to be unreasonable.
The company offers a 30-day return policy, minus a $15 restocking fee and shipping costs, which I think will be comforting to users who like the idea of such a cordless-corded power adapter but not the execution.
What are your thoughts?
Ben
I think this gadget might appeal to the DIY crowd who would like to invest in a good collection of cordless tools, but may want to hold on to their tools for a few decades or until their last breath. At the moment, Dewalt 20V MAX and Milwaukee M18 batteries can be found anywhere, but who knows if those batteries will still be selling in 30 years from now. Such gadget would transform cordless tools into corded tools, and theoretically, make them last forever (or almost).
Richard G.
I had the same thought. As a DIY person, I am not going to use excessivly my tools, so I am planning to keep them for at least 20-30 years from now. This adaptor will give me an option to not use my power packs when I am working next to the outlet with my power hungry SDS or grinder, so to prolong its life.
Bashar Shalan
Agree with you with one comment only .
1- Batteries could be out of sale from the manufacturer; however still produced as complete batteries or spares by others (china…..)(OEM,……)(it could be for many many years especially for the long lasting ranges(e.g 18V LXT Makita….)and usually the new batteries are backward comparable with the old ones.
So you will always find batteries of your own tools’ models.
2-However i have one point against the comparison in this article between the adapter price and that you could buy two/three batteries instead .In my opinion ; the comparison is not apple to apple ; since
1- you have to invest in 4 bank battery charger to charge the 3 back up batteries
2-The batteries will die in 3-4 years and maybe 5 and it depends on how many charge cycles they ve been charged; however the adapter is still there for many years.And so during the life cycle of the adapter ((which we can assume it for 10 years ))if it wasn’t misused ;two life cycles of batteries are there.
The comparison apple to apple in my opinion would be like below
AC Adapter replacement could be
1- 4 bank charger (to charge extra standby batteries)
2- two batteries extra for the first 5 years
3- Two batteries extra for the second 5 years
Assuming the adapter lives at least for 10 years.
Josh
I like the idea, but not a fan of the power brick. With how small some wall wart chargers are, I don’t see why they cant fit everything into an extended size battery casing. Maybe for Version 2.0.
Stuart
Look at the size of the input power cable vs. the DC supply cable. You can’t pack a high current AC to DC converter into a teeny tiny battery pack-sized enclosure.
Li-ion battery pack cells are rated to 20-25A of current delivery. I haven’t tested battery packs to see how much current is drawn from the most demanding tools (yet), but it’s going to be a lot.
Even 6.0Ah battery packs, some of which make use of lower current delivery cells (15A max as per the specs I’ve seen), could in theory deliver up to 30A of continuous current given their design.
A 4.0Ah or 5.0Ah pack with cells rated at 20A max draw can in theory deliver up to 40A of continuous current.
Even 10A of continuous current is going to be require very beefy heat sinks. That’s 180W of power (18V x 10A). That’s less than 2A of draw from a standard 110V power outlet, but that’s still a lot of electrical power to convert.
In theory, I suppose that this could be built the size of an ITX form factor computer power supply (https://www.google.com/search?q=itx+power+supply&num=50&tbm=isch), but those aren’t designed for jobsite conditions.
Realistically, I don’t see much of a way for the manufacturer to greatly reduce the size of the power brick.
Altan
I do agree, you can’t fit it in a battery size power brick, but that brick could be 1/3 – 1/2 of the current size.
Bashar Shalan
totally agree ; it would be fake amps adapters if it is fitted within the battery space
Ralf
I think wall warts are out of the question. With alot of the Li ion cells having 25C discharge rates the brick has to be able to supply a high spike amperage. The company doesn’t know if you’re plugging in the pack to a drill or a high drain device. A saw might only need 3 amps running (just a number) but need 10+ to start or if it gets stuck.
MD
Re the brick.
A high torque tool (including thinks like power saws etc) likely need an even larger power brick. As they demand up to ~2kW of Power (electrocity).
This brick probably can only deliver a max of 500W ?? So the powertool experience may be “A little light” -great for powered screwdrivers.
Little wall warts only supply 50-250W -even a “fast”charger has very low power draw.
The Efficiency is high these days, But the power to miniature is not infinite.
Bashar Shalan
Even batteries can not run such power tools
What you mentioned in my opinion is a not a valid point against the power adapters; since even batteries they have more limitations that these adapters.
this is why manufacturers add two batteries to teh high drain tools
(saws,….;vacuums,…..)so-that they add more wattage to the tools which one battery can not do.
Just for your info even one high voltage battery can not be a helpto high drain situation.The watt/cell for 18650 cell is the same
if we add in series to get more voltage you will loose more amps which could be if done in parallel.
at the end you need two batteries at least to power these tools
two batteries in the best case can not deliver watts larger that power adapters
As a comparison; adapter are more convenient in large current tools than batteries.
mike aka Fazzman
Seems kinda gimmicky to me,I already have plenty of corded drills.
The whole idea of cordless is cut the cord so to speak. With todays battery tech this isnt even needed. Most folks arent gonna buy a cordless tool so they can use this with it or vise versa.
Might be good for say keeping at a certain bench all the time,but then why wouldnt you just buy a corded drill? It would have less bulk.
I dunno,honestly just not sure about this thing. Would be interesting what the quality of the elctronics are and if they are really correct.
Bashar Shalan
You have a point here ; however people use cordless tools for easy doing it
and more flexibility.
It could be also used instead of corded tools if you buy this adapter.
adapters usually dual voltage and you can use them in any country;however corded tools are specified to you r countries power specs.(e.g 120v ; 230 V mains voltage )
Hugh Murphy
I have a 20 volt chain saw and the battery’s get hot and shut down. Its a nice lightweight saw but… this would be nice.
Brian
I have been on job sites and depleted all my batteries on one task that was a bear and immediately put batteries back on to chargers (x4) with 8 batteries and still had to wait for batteries to charge to complete that one task I just had to come back to it and moved on to other things
John E
At that price it needs to do much more than just make your drill old school. $250 will buy you a pretty sweet corded drill.
scottthetech
My thoughts exactly!
William
That’s true. However, if you have a wide range of cordless tools on the same platform you effectively divide the $250 cost among the tools. If you have 5+ tools, its the same as $50 for a corded drill.
Bashar Shalan
but you wont have the option to have a cordles tools
if buy cordless with adapter it is equal to corded and cordless together
and sometimes you need cordless tools as it is more handy in the job site
moreover your corded tool works only in your country or countries with same voltage frequency ; however cordless could work any where supposed you bought the dual voltage charger or /and adapter and that the case usually for both
James C
It’s not for everybody (myself included), but think past just the drill in the picture. Cordless circular saws, band saws, and even miter saws might be options. Right now, if you wanted to take your tools to a jobsite and were concerned batteries would be an issue, your best option is to bring duplicate corded versions of your tools. This product might be a better option for certain users.
Pablo
People on forums love to demand this; my suggestion is always to buy another battery.
BigRyan
And what if they no longer make them?? Now the 15+ 20vMAX tools that I have are trash!
Alan
You can still buy replacement nicad battery sticks for 1990’s Makita cordless drills on Amazon and elsewhere. The third-party battery manufacturers will be happy to keep you running for decades.
Bashar Shalan
usually yes as you said ;however i can share with you some manufacturers supplying your battery
send me the model of your battery i will help you with buying links
Sean
I certainly don’t see it as gimmicky. I say the customer experience can only improve with more options.
While this is not the time (nor price) I want to be considering one of these, I would love to have one. It would make me feel more comfortable buying certain cordless tools.
Depending on how well it ends up working, this device can bring that peace of mind that so many “casual” tool users want when shopping for a long-term tool collection. Right now, it looks a little bulky. I’d like to know more about the effects of extension cords and the ability to switch and buy various battery adapters (I don’t want a $250 purchase being tied down to one brand/platform).
Nathan
some tools IMO shouldn’t be on battery – even superduper large cap battery.
Something like a Saw or sander for example. Maybe occasionally you want it battery run – small job, remote job. but then you have larger job in your garage – golly it would be nice to remove the battery and run this for hours.
newer cordless tools all seem to have more available grunt than their corded counterparts. (looking at you impact wrenches and drills)
so golly it might be nice to buy something like a new impact wrench – but run it corded.
I like it – it’s pricier than I think it needs to be but it is also the first on the market it seems. Design wise I like it – would like to see them rate the power output of the DC side. I suspect that fake battery pack either has a NI-CAd or Lead Acid battery in it or some super cap to help even out the loads, or take up startup load.
Bashar Shalan
totally agree
Darren
I second that.
Josh
I could see having something like this in my truck if I ran a lot of cordless tools and needed an emergency backup; especially with the new 20v cordless miter saws and stuff. It seems like just buying more batteries is a better option though. How many tools really chug more than 4 batteries in a workday? For the ones that do, if you’re running them that much why aren’t you buying corded versions?
This does seem kind of fantastic if you work with a bunch of jerks who forget to charge the batteries all the time.
Josh
Edit: Chug more than 4 batteries in the time it takes to charge a battery, which is the real metric on cordless tools.
Garrick
Agreed. I can’t think of a tool application where I could burn batteries faster than two chargers could keep up with. Two chargers and 3 batteries(one extra charger and one extra battery say) would be less money and be useful otherwise as well.
John Blair
I was one of the people who was interested in this. But I am certainly not interested at this price point.
The use case for me was to use with Dewalts 20v Max Sliding Miter saw. I have a lovely vac that turns on when the powered outlet increases its load.
I guess what I really want is the sliding Dewalt Saw to have two power sources, a plug and a battery. Then I can leave it plugged in the workshop but use the batteries when I have to “go mobile”.
Robert M. Carli
I’ve been a reader of your blogs and enjoy the level of intelligent discussions. I’m a contractor using Ridgid brand equipment (not my original choice but a gift) 10 years ago. I now have 55 Ridgid LSA’s so I’m quite vested in their devices, that said I run 14 batteries and 8 peripheral tools daily. I can’t wait for charging, and carrying in all batteries etc. so I have everything in a portable bag and make every effort to bring it in from the van in cold weather or at least assign someone to prep them all each morning. I’ve contacted Ridgid several years ago asking if they had something like this in the works but to no avail. I was told that it defeated the “cordless” technology and no one would buy it, I also asked for a mass charger (4-6) battery capacity so I wouldn’t have to drag all the single chargers, but they weren’t interested either. I’ve finally put together 4 single charging units on a board that can be hung and plugged in with a single cord. Makes me wonder why manufactures don’t talk more to professionals/contractors to understand the negatives of their products to help develop new/better products.
Ben
“Makes me wonder why manufactures don’t talk more to professionals/contractors to understand the negatives of their products to help develop new/better products.”
Well, some tool manufacturers just believe that they know better…
Dane
And some aren’t looking to sell to professionals, they just brand themselves like that to get consumers to buy them. Don’t get me wrong dewalt cordless tools are great and a ton of pros do use them, but I’ve always consider them to be a higher end consumer level company. True professional level tools I’d say are more in the snap on and hilti level. Whether they’re actually worth that extra price is a whole different debate.
Bashar Shalan
they are not of the professional range manufacturers that is why
you can invest in other manufacturers ;if you have the budget
Szymon
I think it’s a great idea
There are times where the battery runs out and having a 5 Ah battery, it takes a long time to charge it
I think what is not to appealing about this product is more of the unknown company and price
I think that it was branded with Dewalt branding and more so made by dewalt people would be more accepting of it
I like it but would wait some time for the 2nd or 3rd version to be released
Bashar Shalan
agree with you
Andy
I have posted on Toolguyd before about this concept. I’m kinda torn. This is a 3rd party, not an OEM sanctioned device. So, kinda torn in the fact do I shell out $250 now because this small start up may not be in business in 9 months; due to poor sales, or the almighty CEASE AND DESIST order from OEM’s. Or try my luck and wait for 3 years for the price to drop to the cost of a battery pack. Also, for $250 I feel it should offer cross comparability. I.E. I can use my Dewalt and Makita cordless tools on this device interchangeably, with an adapter. Good find Dr. Stuart, thanks for following the rabbit trail from your email.
Paul
If I could get one of these for about $30 Id do it just to keep old tools alive that i cant rally justify buying new batteries for. But at $250, Id just buy a new set. I have a bunch of otherwise good cordless tools with dead batteries, but when a new kit costs less than the combined cost of batteries I just tend to buy a new kit.
bob
The problem is the price. I could see it being used in miter saws for example. When in the shop, having to pay attention to battery status is annoying and many people might not want to have both a corded and cordless versions of such a big tool.
For drills I think it will be allways easier to just buy a corded version since this power box is just as big and much more expensive.
bob
Also, didn’t Makita just launched a corded/cordless shop vac? That could become a trend for bigger/power hungry tools.
SawdustTX
I’ve long wanted this. To me it’s not a comparison to batteries or charge time. It’s that time (or those times) when I need to use the tool right now, and find that someone (usually me) has not recharged the batteries. Would be great for that situation to be able to plug in and go.
That said, for $250, not worth it. For $100, done deal.
Dylan
Way too much. 250 can almost get you the top of the line combo kits (brushless drill impact driver and higher capacity batteries. Or a boatload of batteries like you mentioned. This kinda defeats the purpose of cordless tools, imo. But like a previous poster I could see it for certain tools, like cordless miter saws and sanders, that chug batteries so you could use this after a while. But no way would I pay that much for it
Jerry
Ten feet isn’t enough cord between the brick and tool. For $250 I would want the brick, 15+ feet of cord to the tool, and adapters to at least 2 different brands. Or, sell the brick alone, and be able to purchase different adapters that would plug into it. $250 is plenty steep for the ability to use one tool at a time, of one brand with household current. However, if it let me use my brother’s DeWalt, my neighbor’s Milwaukee, my Ryobi, as we!l as Makita tools by swapping an adapter, well then they would have something.
Ray
For jobsite use this thing will be fantastic, I can’t tell you how many times while running a crew we have dead batteries in the morning. On a commercial site you can’t leave batteries out charging overnight, for both safety reasons and because they will be quickly stolen along with the charger. Also, we often have a corded and cordless skil saw on site because the cordless ones can’t handle rip cuts, with the addition of this adapter we can probably skip bringing the extra saw. I will probably order one tonight, we use a mix of 18v and 20v Dewalt, with the Dewalt 18v to 20v battery adapter we should be able to use this for both types of tools.
fred
On one jobsite the general contractor had a big Knaack Rolling cabinet that housed a computer , power strips etc. I guess that might work as an overnight charging station – but knowing what our more conventional Knaack boxes set us back- I made no inquiry about its cost.
fred
Found a link:
http://www.toolup.com/Knaack-118-01-DataVault-Mobile-Digital-Plan-Station?CAWELAID=120204890000031067&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=120204890000400121&cadevice=c&gclid=CPaEotSkmcoCFcwYHwodJTELmA
As I thought way too pricey for my blood
marcelo
It looks nice for some situations. I construct sets (commercial and tv) for a living, and some times you don’t have the time to recharge. you just don´t.
Plus not charging duplicate tools is a good point too.
it might be a just in case situation.
it´s not cheap, but it´s cheaper than duplicate big hungry saws…
glenn
I use cordless tools for a reason……………. they are cordless.
Mike
I feel like this would be great……16 years ago. A few batteries and a multi charger should get you thru the day. Battery tech is getting so good now that it isn’t really a problem like it used to . If you are killing batteries that fast that you can’t get on a charging rotation you should just buy the corded version. I bought my first 18v Dewalt when they came out and I would have bought this. I feel Li-ion killed this product.
George
For the longevity down the road, I’d rather see a Dewalt-compatible or Dewalt-made battery pack that I could drop AA or AAA batteries into. My SLR battery grip has a tray that can do just that instead of the standard camera batteries. 12 cells isn’t small or light though.
Then again, if I’m honest, I’d just use a lack of battery options as an excuse to get something new!
Doresoom
If you factor in energy storage capacity, the AA battery adapter idea is quickly recognizable as unrealistic and too costly. A 1.5V AA battery usually has a maximum capacity of 900 mAh, which comes out to 1.35 watt hours. A 5Ah 18V battery has an energy storage capacity of 90 watt hours.
So for ONE equivalent charge of your 5Ah battery, you’d be looking at using 67 AA batteries. That’s about $22 in batteries, weighing 3.6 lbs. I’ll stick with buying an extra 18V Lithium Ion battery.
George
Don’t know what rechargeable AAs you’re using but the ones I use all over are rated at 2 Ah which while not hitting close to a 5Ah Dewalt battery would provide a reasonable charge. 12 would make a passable 2Ah source for an aging piece of equipment.
Doresoom
You didn’t specify rechargeable – I based my numbers off of Duracell’s standard copper top AAs. Rechargeable NiMH AAs might be a more realistic solution, after looking at this data sheet Energizer has: http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/nh15-2300.pdf
They say the 2300 mAh capacity ones can output 4.6 Amps for just under 30 minutes – the performance loss is probably because it’s outside of the ideal discharge rate. So you’re right, a dozen cells could work for low current draw tools.
..but then you’ve still got to carry another charger around and pay for the charger and three packs of batteries, which will come out as much or more than the price of most manufacturers’ 3 Ah batteries anyway.
George
The point was to think of a solution to a battery pack for an older tool where batteries might not be available any more and not keep one tethered to the wall. Not to provide an alternative to readily available items. No use of individual cells would ever do better than a purpose-engineered solution that’s still available.
Jon
A battery eliminator on a cordless drill does not equal a corded drill. For a quarter of the cost you could go buy a corded 7 amp hammer drill that chews through material like it’s not there.
Will my Makita 18V hammer drill allow me to drill a 1/2 hole in concrete? Sure, but if I have more than a couple to drill I’m going to break out my corded hammer drill and knock them out in half the time.
Norm
Skil had this on tools in the late 90s early 00s. Not sure if they still do. I’m not sure what models. My friend had one.
http://i.imgur.com/2fYjfGj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/i5sr2oo.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skil-Cordless-Bundle-Combo-Drill-Air-Gun-Flashlight-charger-case-cord-backup-set-/181845045444
Benjamen
This was the first cordless drill I ever bought back in the late 90’s when I had my first apartment out of college. I bought it because I knew the NiCads of the time were horrible and I wanted to be able to use it when they died.
Battery technology has come a long way since then….
Miss Franciene
I have many corded and cordless tools. When I’m in my shop I always reach for a cordless tool over a corded one unless, it is something specific. From a price point It is too high of a price for me….
Bill K
IMHO I like the concept. Would it be more cost effective for 12 v tools? I’d love to have the ability to convert a dead 1.5Ahr battery to wired source. Would a 12v auto power supply be adequate as a power source without elaborate interface electronics? (The one I have is 13.8 v and 3 amp.)
David
Dewalt and others really should make the cordless miter saws to accept 110v AC like Ryobi has been doing with some of it’s tools like the fans and trimmers.
Rick
At 250, its a lot. Not when the battery packs are considerably less. Also not with only a 10 foot cord. There is a good purpose for this (SDS drill, hammer drill), but it has to be a tool of which the battery drains super quick. Even the sliding miter saw doesnt fit that category. It may save some space on the truck though, just depends.
Bradley Hanstad
Like others have said, this makes zero sense.
Corded drills can have a massive amount of power to them in a light package with longer cord. If you are doing enough drilling or driving to require something like this, get a corded tool.
Nick Marques
I made something like this by gutting a Bosch 12V battery and putting a DC jack in it. It works fine for the 12V FL12 which is what I made it for (so I’d have a wired worklight), but it did NOT work for the Bosch PS22 or PS41 drivers. I’ve read that the inrush current far exceeds what a generic even 12V/4A PSU can provide.
So I wonder how this gadget is getting around this…
Kevin
Greenlee ALREADY makes an ac to DC converter for its cordless tools (they use a makita battery) and it is NOWHERE near as big as that.. Their converter is the same size as a battery pack and just has a cord coming out of it..
Dewalt also made their own a while back for their 24V platform. It had a cooling fan built in, and was also about the same size as their battery packs.. Why they couldn’t package this into each tools battery pack is a bit of a disappointment, and I’m sure done so the cam just add an empty battery shell to fit whatever platform they want.. Easy for them, but leaves everyone else with a product that leaves much to be desired.
brian
I would like to have this option.
but not if this is the way … too expensive, too big, cable to the big box too short.
I cant say Ive done the math on what amperage a powertool draws, but damn if I didnt think it would be less than this… considering the size of the electronics in the charger… heck, make it a hybrid, put a 1AH battery, and a small charger so it will charge in between uses…
I like the idea, but I dont know why, I have 2 batteries and have never once been stranded.
Nigel
I can see that “shore power” makes sense for certain applications. Plus it might save you from having to have both cordless and corded tools – one circular saw that you can run from battery or corded.
It might have made more sense when battery packs were 2Ah or 3Ah. Maybe less so now when there are 5Ah, 6Ah packs even 9Ah battery packs on the horizon.
I don’t know if the Los Gatos adapter would give more torque/power i.e. can you make a long rip cut without the saw bogging down. Or with a reciprocating saw can I use a pruning saw blade to trim a 14″ dia, 12″ thick bowl blank. I don’t have a band saw so I use a corded rep saw, a Ryobi cordless doesn’t have enough “power.”
I believe that Dewalt used to offer a 110V adapter brick for their 18V line.
Greenlee for their 18V cordless tools has the EAC18120 adapter.
On eBay one seller used to offer an external belt battery pack and adapters for various brands.
Nigel
Also the Los Gatos would be much more affordable if it was the transformer and multiple adapters. So $250 for transformer and an adapter then $50 for other adapters.
Bill K
CRAZY replacement battery prices. Learned today my 18v PC drill has one dead & one almost dead battery. Replacements are $250…. that’s crazy. More than the price of a new better drill. As a result I’ll likely by a new drill and will likely go with Bosch this time. So this perfectly good drill housing goes to the trash. To bad there isn’t a cost effective wired power adapter to maintain some value. Crazy waste!
Jason
You can find some deals on the Nicad packs on Ebay. Are they all factory probably not, but the PC 18v lineup was killed for the PC 20v max line up of tools . http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC2.A0.H0.Xporter+cable+18v+battery.TRS0&_nkw=porter+cable+18v+battery&_sacat=0
Stuart
If you’re talking about semi-recent Porter Cable 18V batteries, Amazon has replacements for decent prices, both NiCd and Li-ion, at least in compact battery sizes.
kersley
Nothing new here.. I made my own adapter to run my cordless mitre saw over a year ago and works really well giving me full power all day.
This will not catch on or sell well unless of course they copy what I did!!
one power pack but various adaptors to fit most brands you use.. so far I can run all my Dewalt XR,s + my Dewalt plunge saw.. all Metabo’s and all the Worx range with the 20v system. but I’m working on a system that use one battery platform that can run all brands.. just by inserting an adapter..feel free to contact me and see them working
cur cho
any way to contact you directly?
Jon
I see it as a bigger benefit to the smaller pro/remodeled market than the DIY’ers. It’s not a big deal for homeowners to either drag a cord out and not even purchase a cordless option, or go cordless and just take a break when the battery needs to charge.
Using a drill in the advertisement picture was a poor choice, think outside the box. Cordless SDS rotary hammers, reciprocating saws, grinders, oscillating tools, etc, have become powerful enough and have long enough run times that they are sufficient for most jobs. There are times where you work outside of your niche though and might be installing a lot of concrete anchors, demoing a large deck, removing a bunch of grout, etc and need continuous run time without swapping batteries every 20-30 minutes. This box could feasibly replace needing many corded tools for a lot of guys, especially when they are upgrading or replacing their equipment.
The second major use would be for the cordless miter saws and soon table saws coming out. They are currently limited due to batteries but handy for making quick cuts on the tailgate or jobs with limited/no power. Having this would allow it to become an “all-purpose” tool that could replace corded miter and table saws on the jobsite.
I agree that it needs to be sold as a power supply with adapters for different brands available individually, as well as being able to plug in extension cords between the power supply and tool, even if they used proprietary connectors.
While it’s not “cutting edge” technology, it opens up a lot of other options. I wish more construction types would embrace new products and think about the future improvements they provide rather than immediately saying. “I don’t need that”. There is a reason Bluetooth has been out for 25 years and has been available in almost every car for 10 years, yet we are FINALLY getting Bluetooth on jobsite radios this year.
Bill
Cordless tools are designed to a specific duty cycle that is based around pack capacity and average number of packs that might be inserted to complete a job. They are not designed to be continuous duty or run for extended periods of time, as could be the case if run on a power supply. For example, the cooling fans of cordless tools are much smaller to conserve energy but big enough to cool the tool through perhaps 3-4 pack discharges, unlike the much larger fans on continuous duty AC tools. If you run a cordless tool on a power supply, you run risk of overheating the motor, transmission and electronics. Also for lithium battery powered tools, there is a complicated hand shake between the battery pack and tool electronics that most likely was not duplicated fully for proper tool operation.
Tim
There has been a makita plug in already. Look at Greenlee they use Makita batteries on their cordless tools. It is a long cord don’t think there is a power box
Sledgecrowbar
Finally someone has made a business out of offering these that DIY people can just buy instead of making. My big gripe with cordless tools, which seem to be in every homeowner’s kit, is the life span of the batteries versus the lifespan of the tool, and how the tool becomes useless even if it would last a lifetime of their type of usage because the batteries are obsolete.
If no manufacturer will standardize batteries, because it adds so much to their bottom line, then this is the only solution. The problem is, this solution is for people who maybe bought a fixer-upper home and bought into some cordless line of tools for the purpose of fixing and maintaining it, and now their investment is useless. This buyer may not be willing to shell out another $250 to bring them back to life if that much will buy them a complete set of homeowner-grade cordless tools enough to satisfy their occasional repair needs.
I’m not saying this is overpriced, I think a good transformer like this, plus the cost of making a business out of building and selling these, easily makes this a reasonable price for what you get. Any time you’re dealing with electricity like this, you have to remember the liability to the company because of end user incompetence or even just plain accidents. Still, look up what the parts would cost you and start hacking open a dead battery pack if it interests you, I guarantee someone has done it with every brand’s packs at this point.
Michael
I found this blog after finding the Los Gatos folks who now have a wider range of adapters and longer cords with better pricing.
In any event, I have a mishmash of cordless tools some of which sit on the shelf because batteries die (won’t recharge) so quick. A real disappointment have been the Ridgid batteries with the tools being so robust and having thier variety pack with circular, jig and recip saws along with impact driver and drills, it would seem a big waste of resources to keep buying batteries.
I use impact drivers quite a bit in the shop and have not found a corded equivalent. If there were an equivalent corded impact driver, I’d be interested.
I Was hopeful there would have been a review on this power supply by now.
dan schindler
Any idea what happened to this company. It doesn’t look the website or any information is available anymore. Novel idea that might work for someone like me who is all in on one company and battery technology.
Juan
>Is 10 feet long enough, from power brick to tool adapter? It seems that only the AC input cord can be lengthened using an extension cord.
>What are your thoughts?
That’s the way it should be, DC, particularly at low voltage, suffers from more power loss on the wire due to its resistance and radiation, than AC, particularly if high voltage. The power supply will adjust to loses on the AC side as part of its normal operation, since the power grid is not constant. Adjusting on the output side is a hassle, you need an extra wire and circuitry, which means more cost and things to break. KISS principle applies.
John
The protection chips in the batteries are there to protect the battery.
There are 2 reasons a company makes it so a device doesn’t run with out their chips.
1 u have to buy their brand
2 a 6 year old in China who was paid 29 cents to design the pack probably didn’t know the max draw of the entire line of devices. If a tool pulls too much current too long… Pack go boom.. Again protect the battery
Assuming a ul certified non garbage ac to DC switch mode supply there is no risk.
Under rated supply may burn out but it’s not gonna shock u u less u got it for 5bucks on ebay. Assuming the most common topology there is no electrical path to mains… Exception possibly being how earth ground was handled but I’m not gonna go into that because even there u would need to plug it into a outlet with hot and neutral swamped or a live esrth ground blah blah and it’s easy to test with a meter in continuity mode. Probe neg of DC out and earth g. Then try the neutral on the plug..
In reality 10 thousand times… 1 person might get a tickle if the outlet is backwards.
Most people would be just fine wirh say a 18v 20a to 25a supply for 20 to 40 bucks. Assuming the tools doesn’t require Corp fuckery to run.
Ti and and a few other bms chip makers are offering an encrypted authent system and it would immediately rule out any tool brand that did that… At least for yours truly.
Ymmv… do your homework but please do t promote that 18vdc is dangerous to the user. Or electricity is black magic. Either do your homework or leave that part out.
Or I suppose play drama for views and help erode the self competency of an already brain numb populous if it gets u a few cents in add Rev.
U want to
John
Ack not sure where the u want to came from.. Writing on phone.
But great case in point of how much more economical this could be… Look at the Milwaukee box vac. 100bucks certified hepa… Priced with out bat.
30min run time on 9ah m18 pack. Costs about 2x the tool. 300bucks if u want 30min of run on that otherwise nifty vac box.
120 total if u can figure out a battery that supplies 9a for an hr… Runs 30min on said pack… Hmm 8th grade says it’s averaging 18 amps to drain that pack in 30min
So if u get a supply that can give u 18v 25a…. Or even 30 u can run the sucker as long as u wish assuming they didn’t cheap out on heat disaoation of the motor driver or motor… But with 12ah packs avalible and a quoted 30min on 9ah… Safe to say it gets as hot as its going to well before 30min… If u see where I’m going there.
Remember more amps on a power adapter will not hurt the device. It will be a cooler adapter because it’s not maxed
Tool draws what it needs.
Voltage must be wirh in 10 percent of design expectation as a general rule. V=amps*ohms and every other permutation… Ie that tool has an internal resistance that doesn’t get lower because the supply can output more amps. It only is at risk with a higher voltage.. See 8th grade algebra if u don’t follow. The actual equation is e=i*r for those looking to know more 🙂
Sven
Now milwaukee released their new table saw with the 21A battery. If I had the possibility to use this saw with grid power when it is available it would make my life easier. Battery tools just get bigger and bigger, this should be an opportunity.
manu morais
we have a dewalt drill and would like to get an ac adapter. it’s a 18v dewalt cordless drill. I would like to know the price and whether you ship it to Sri Lanka.
Jared
Just FYI, Tool Guyd reviews tools, it doesn’t sell them.
Also, Stuart posted an update to the original post which reads:
“Update (March 2019): the Los Gatos Power website is defunct.”
Thus it doesn’t appear this company exists any longer.
Peter
Any update on the Milwaukee M18 adapter?
Stuart
No.
Steve L. coulbern
Where can I buy one?
Stuart
Unfortunately, as mentioned in the post update, the company doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
Brian
Everybody’s missing the most common reason guys want this. DUST COLLECTION. Granted I didn’t read all the comments, but I’ve been looking for an adapter like this for a long time so that I can run dust collection on site. I use a Dewalt 7-1/4” 20v miter saw for a lot of finish work. Shoe moulding, scribe moulding, and any other small and delicate trims do not cut well on a full size corded chop saw. The jobsite is now a clean(er) environment once we’re at this point on a job and it is very necessary to run dust collection if there is no garage or outdoor space to use the saw. There are remote switches for dust collectors or you can always do it manually but at the end of the day, guys just don’t take that extra step. I don’t always remember and employees are far less likely to stay on top of it, especially when we’re all used to the automatic dust collection we get when running a corded tool.
Other than miter saws, jig saws, circular saws, and many other 20v cordless tools make a lot of dust and contractors that work in some more high end environments usually need to do a great job of controlling dust. Dewalt makes one for their 60v saws. I just hope they catch on that some of us need it for the 20v units as well.
Austin
Anyone can recommend to products for Bosch 18v and Bosch 12v?
I would love to get my hands on these.