# Milwaukee 28v bulb upgrade



## toolboy (Feb 14, 2006)

Has anyone out there found a brighter bulb for the milwaukee 28v light. The stock bulb has 28v on it. I'm not sure if that is a proprietary stamp or if it actually accepts the full 28 volts from the battery. If you've found a brighter bulb, not that the stock one is bad, let me know. With that many watts and battery you should be able to really power up some more lumens.


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## Vbeez (Feb 14, 2006)

Hi Toolboy,
I'm curious what kindda Lith ion batts inside your Milwaukee power pack ?
Ever try to peek inside the pack ? How big is the power pack ?
Thanks


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## toolboy (Feb 14, 2006)

I can't peak in. Reason being that I was told by the milwaukee rep when I got these that the batteries were sealed and that any tampering would void the warranty. Yes warranty, I was shocked that the batterieswere warrantied for a full two years, and the tools for 5 years. The rep said the batteries had a chip that recorded the time and date of the first charge, and each subsequent charge after that. I can't remember all the features the chip performed for dianostic purposes, but they were proud of it and if I had any problems, don't touch, just return for a new one. I use them too much to play inside of it, sorry. If I talk to my contractor supply that services them I'll ask what types and model lithium batteries they are.


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## daBear (Feb 14, 2006)

The 28v Li-Ion battery units are $100 apiece if bought separately, so I do not monkey with mine. The light has a good flood and not much throw by design I am sure. I recently needed it while helping change a steering wheel at night and the light performed quite nicely. I had a Quad LuxIII and a Mag85 with me and only really needed the Milwaukee work light. Don't get me wrong, I'll mod and monkey with most anything, but for it's intended purpose and run time this light works fine stock for me.


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## toolboy (Feb 14, 2006)

I'll mess with the bulb as I don't think you will hurt anything but the bulb. I just don't know of any 28v bulbs that are brighter than the stock or if anything smaller like a 14v bulb in if it will just burn up or worse blow up. Any ideas.


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## missionaryman (Feb 14, 2006)

Osram make a few bulbs that are rated at 22.8v that would pump out some serious light overdriven at 28v and the V28 pack can easily handle it. The only issue is that you can melt the head if you let it run too long and you will need to get a Bi pin-PR adapetor, fivemega had them but I think they've run out now.

That set up would put out some very serious light but like I said the plastic bits were never meant to handle the heat.


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## toolboy (Feb 14, 2006)

Thanks, I'll keep looking!


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## Brighteyez (Feb 14, 2006)

Not having ever used one of these packs, I'll still go out on a limb and say that the rep. was probably pulling your leg on that date and time stuff.



toolboy said:


> The rep said the batteries had a chip that recorded the time and date of the first charge, and each subsequent charge after that.


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## toolboy (Feb 15, 2006)

I don't know, milwaukee has it in print literature given to me by the rep (glossy, professional stuff, not something he might have typed up in his hotel room. Their website shows the great big circuit board in the battery that controls the power flow, charging and everything else. I could not find this in their features of the batteries on the website but the service techs knew about it for repair purposes.


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## Vbeez (Feb 15, 2006)

Hmm, I think the battery pack is way too expensive to play around with. Thanks 
anyway.


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## andrewwynn (Feb 16, 2006)

I own 2 of the lights.. and the sawzall that came with.. I 'voided my warranty' by ripping open one of my batteries to see what's in there. 

They are 7 26700 cells.. made by molicell in Canada.. they are wired strictly in series.. no parallel charging or indiv. cell voltage monitoring. 

I tested the voltage on the lamp and it has a buck circuit inside.. i forget the voltage and i didn't figure out if it was a constant-current or a constant voltage solution. 

The problem with putting in a higher-power lamp.. is that it's a plastic host.. i think the reflector is stamped steel which will help.. 

-awr


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## Vbeez (Feb 18, 2006)

andrewynn : do you think this batt can be withdrawn more than 3 C ?


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## andrewwynn (Feb 18, 2006)

the internal cell is designed to handle 33.3C. 

the battery pack.. i've pulled 13C out in testing... with no-load on my saw. Each cell is good for nearly 400W, just a bit tricky to get a load with low enough resistance to pull it off. 

-awr


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## Vbeez (Feb 18, 2006)

Thanks Andrewwynn. I don't expect Lithium ion batts can be drawn that much. I guess better technology made it possible. Where can I find the spec ? Don't mind spending extra $$ for these batts. Are they available in market yet, instead of buying battery pack ?


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## andrewwynn (Feb 20, 2006)

you can't find batteries like the molicel batts anywhere i know of.. it sounded like saphion was supposed to, i haven't seen any materialize. DeWalt also has a competing battery pack with similar strength. These are not normal LiONs that is for sure.. 33C (100A) output vs the typicall 1.5 to 2C is amazing.. even LiPo cells are only 12 to 20C. 

0-awr


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## wtraymond (Feb 20, 2006)

If you can indeed buy those Milwaukee V28 battery packs for $100 then 100/7 cells would equal less than $15 per cell. That's about how much AW is selling those protected 'C' li-ions for in the Dealer's Corner.

Andrew, do those 26700 have any external protection circuits? What is the capacity? Two or three of these cells in a 'C' Mag would be really great for ROPs and Mag85s.

I've seen these battery packs for sale for $155 online, but if we did a group buy and bought a bunch and disassembled them for the cells, this might be an affordable option.


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## aosty (Feb 20, 2006)

wtraymond said:


> If you can indeed buy those Milwaukee V28 battery packs for $100 then 100/7 cells would equal less than $15 per cell. That's about how much AW is selling those protected 'C' li-ions for in the Dealer's Corner.
> 
> I've seen these battery packs for sale for $155 online, but if we did a group buy and bought a bunch and disassembled them for the cells, this might be an affordable option.



 http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&from=R10&fstype=1&catref=C6&satitle=milwaukee+v28+batt*&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&bs=Search&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=90045&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1 




> Andrew, do those 26700 have any external protection circuits? What is the capacity? Two or three of these cells in a 'C' Mag would be really great for ROPs and Mag85s.



I'd be surprised if they were individually protected. Andrew... got a cell handy with the model number(s) and such... so we can see what info Google digs up?


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## andrewwynn (Feb 21, 2006)

certainly not individually protected.. of course the pack is protected, but what limit i'm not sure.. i've pulled 40-50A out of the pack. 

The cells are only 3AH... the D cells in LiON are more energy and probably even the C cells.. so the cells in the v28 have no advantage since they are like 5/4C size.

you can go to molicel's website and try to track down contact info for procuring such a cell but i'm pretty sure that Milwaukee is the exclusiver buyer of that cell. 

http://toolup.com has the v28 battery for $120. 

-awr


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## Vbeez (Feb 23, 2006)

Aosty : type IMR26700 on google, you'll find what you're looking for.
Thanks to andrewwynn, found what I need.


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