Milwaukee 48-11-1830 V18 18-Volt 3.0 Amp Hour Lithium-Ion Slide Style Battery

I chose to give the V18 3.0ah Milwaukee battery a 2 star review because... When you're in the middle of drilling a 4-1/8" hole in a piece of 3/4 plywood you don't want you battery to shut down. When I say shut-down I mean completely quit working.

Here's my story - I am in the construction industry; framing, trim, cabinetry, remodel, whatever... I've have a set of Milwaukee V18 cordless tools for at least 2 and 1/2 years - that includes: the hammer drill with 550 in/lbs of torque, impact driver with 1,440 in/lbs of torque, recrocating saw (sawzall), 6-1/2" circluar saw, flashlight, and impact wrench with 240 ft/lbs of torque, and I have 7 BATTERIES - (4) V18 3.0ha and (3) NiCd 2.4ah batteries.

All of these Milwaukee tools have a tremendous amount of power for 18V - The drill is unbeatable (although a little heavy), as is the impact driver (that is a little louder and heavier than other brands - however more powerful, the circular saw and sawzall don't see...Read more

I bought these to provide an upgrade over my old 18v nicads. Number one, 3.0ah vs 2.4 on the old. Really, the old ones run longer than these. Secondly, I have gone thru 4 of these lithiums in under 3 months! Milwaukee has a great waranty that they honor but come on! My last one died because the trigger on the drill was pressed while the drill was in my tool bag. I heard some clicking noise and traced it down to the drill. Guess what? now the charger won't even recognize there is a battery loaded on to it. Charger works with all my other batteries. Over draining a battery will kill it? Sounds like junk. Lastly, these are BULKY. Why? They are very light but awkward, like they are filled with air. They don't seem like they need to be this big.
I too am angry about the new M series lithium tools that won't work with older batteries and visa versa. I read on Milwaukee's tool site that they have "perfected" the lithium ion battery. Do they know these are really bad...Read more

Part of the reason I chose Milwaukee was reviews saying the batteries were all compatible. This item (V18 3 amp hour LI battery, 48-11-1830) claims to fit all Milwaukee tools except 1108, 3108, 5364, and 6516. Well, that's nonsense. My new 2601 drill has a completely different 18 volt lithium-ion battery, and the charger that comes with the drill isn't compatible with the spare battery I ordered. BUYER BEWARE - update as of Nov 18: Milwaukee confirms the new "compact" tools use a completely different 18 volt battery. New tools require 48-11-1828 or 48-11-1815, old tools will fit this battery (48-11-1830). They're not making it easy to know which batteries will fit, and the "customer service" person I spoke to at Milwaukee said they will not swap for a compatible battery... nor will they update their WRONG packaging that says the old batteries are compatible with all 18 volt tools. Quoting now: "Take it up with the seller." Not a good attitude.