Milwaukee battery drm: Difference between revisions

Line 31:

==Consumer impact==

Consumers have expressed concern that undisclosed logging could void warranties for circumstances outside of their control, such as environmental heat exposure. Community projects have since published open-source tools that allow end users to read diagnostic registers from Milwaukee batteries, giving them access to the same information the manufacturer uses internally.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/m18battery/diagnostics |title=Milwaukee M18 Battery Diagnostics Project |website=GitHub |date=2024-08-20 |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718105511/https://github.com/m18battery/diagnostics |archive-date=2024-07-18}}</ref>

Consumers have expressed concern that undisclosed logging could void warranties for circumstances outside of their control, such as environmental heat exposure. Community projects have since published open-source tools that allow end users to read diagnostic registers from Milwaukee batteries, giving them access to the same information the manufacturer uses internally.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/m18battery/diagnostics |title=Milwaukee M18 Battery Diagnostics Project |website=GitHub |date=2024-08-20 |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718105511/https://github.com/m18battery/diagnostics |archive-date=2024-07-18}}</ref> The "M18 HD12" battery series from Milwaukee currently has a 2.1/5 stars score from 522 reviews [https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Batteries-and-Chargers/M18-Batteries-and-Chargers/48-11-1812 on their own website], and the "M12 XC6" battery has a 1.7/5 stars score from 321 reviews [https://www.milwaukeetool.com/products/48-11-2460 on their own website] and the company's [https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.milwaukeetool.com Trustpilot reviews] currently sit at 1.6/5 stars for their entire product line and after-sales service, with many consumer complaints that warranty claims on Milwaukee batteries have been denied, even though their batteries were still within the warranty period. Presumably, Milwaukee is downloading the usage logs from consumer's batteries and looking for any possible data-set to deny a warranty claim, since the usage logs track over 60 different statistics, such as total lifetime discharge, low voltage events, total charge count, total charge time, time on charger whilst full, overcurrent events, short-circuit events, days since last charge, overheat events, etc.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 Sept 2025 |title=Full M18 diagnostics revealed |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHj0-Gzvbeo |url-status=live |website=YouTube}}</ref>

==Industry comparison==

The use of embedded diagnostic counters is not unique to Milwaukee. Reports indicate that competing brands such as Makita have implemented similar protocols in their lithium-ion batteries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hackaday.com/2024/01/22/makita-battery-protocol-reversed/ |title=Makita Battery Protocol Reversed |website=Hackaday |date=2024-01-22 |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712104842/https://hackaday.com/2024/01/22/makita-battery-protocol-reversed/ |archive-date=2024-07-12}}</ref>

The use of embedded diagnostic counters is not unique to Milwaukee. Reports indicate that competing brands such as Makita have implemented similar protocols in their lithium-ion batteries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hackaday.com/2024/01/22/makita-battery-protocol-reversed/ |title=Makita Battery Protocol Reversed |website=Hackaday |date=2024-01-22 |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712104842/https://hackaday.com/2024/01/22/makita-battery-protocol-reversed/ |archive-date=2024-07-12}}</ref> Ryobi (which is owned by Techtronic Industries, which is the same parent company that owns Milwaukee) also uses the same embedded diagnostics in their batteries.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Badar's Workshop |date=25 Aug 2025 |title=Ryobi Doesn't Want You To Know |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ_lyDyzEHY |url-status=live |access-date=15 Sept 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

==Company response==

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ==Consumer impact==
-Consumers have expressed concern that undisclosed logging could void warranties for circumstances outside of their control, such as environmental heat exposure. Community projects have since published open-source tools that allow end users to read diagnostic registers from Milwaukee batteries, giving them access to the same information the manufacturer uses internally.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/m18battery/diagnostics |title=Milwaukee M18 Battery Diagnostics Project |website=GitHub |date=2024-08-20 |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718105511/https://github.com/m18battery/diagnostics |archive-date=2024-07-18}}</ref>
+Consumers have expressed concern that undisclosed logging could void warranties for circumstances outside of their control, such as environmental heat exposure. Community projects have since published open-source tools that allow end users to read diagnostic registers from Milwaukee batteries, giving them access to the same information the manufacturer uses internally.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://github.com/m18battery/diagnostics |title=Milwaukee M18 Battery Diagnostics Project |website=GitHub |date=2024-08-20 |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718105511/https://github.com/m18battery/diagnostics |archive-date=2024-07-18}}</ref> The "M18 HD12" battery series from Milwaukee currently has a 2.1/5 stars score from 522 reviews [https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Batteries-and-Chargers/M18-Batteries-and-Chargers/48-11-1812 on their own website], and the "M12 XC6" battery has a 1.7/5 stars score from 321 reviews [https://www.milwaukeetool.com/products/48-11-2460 on their own website] and the company's [https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.milwaukeetool.com Trustpilot reviews] currently sit at 1.6/5 stars for their entire product line and after-sales service, with many consumer complaints that warranty claims on Milwaukee batteries have been denied, even though their batteries were still within the warranty period. Presumably, Milwaukee is downloading the usage logs from consumer's batteries and looking for any possible data-set to deny a warranty claim, since the usage logs track over 60 different statistics, such as total lifetime discharge, low voltage events, total charge count, total charge time, time on charger whilst full, overcurrent events, short-circuit events, days since last charge, overheat events, etc.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 Sept 2025 |title=Full M18 diagnostics revealed |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHj0-Gzvbeo |url-status=live |website=YouTube}}</ref>
 ==Industry comparison==
-The use of embedded diagnostic counters is not unique to Milwaukee. Reports indicate that competing brands such as Makita have implemented similar protocols in their lithium-ion batteries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hackaday.com/2024/01/22/makita-battery-protocol-reversed/ |title=Makita Battery Protocol Reversed |website=Hackaday |date=2024-01-22 |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712104842/https://hackaday.com/2024/01/22/makita-battery-protocol-reversed/ |archive-date=2024-07-12}}</ref>
+The use of embedded diagnostic counters is not unique to Milwaukee. Reports indicate that competing brands such as Makita have implemented similar protocols in their lithium-ion batteries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hackaday.com/2024/01/22/makita-battery-protocol-reversed/ |title=Makita Battery Protocol Reversed |website=Hackaday |date=2024-01-22 |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712104842/https://hackaday.com/2024/01/22/makita-battery-protocol-reversed/ |archive-date=2024-07-12}}</ref> Ryobi (which is owned by Techtronic Industries, which is the same parent company that owns Milwaukee) also uses the same embedded diagnostics in their batteries.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Badar's Workshop |date=25 Aug 2025 |title=Ryobi Doesn't Want You To Know |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ_lyDyzEHY |url-status=live |access-date=15 Sept 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref>
 ==Company response==