Milwaukee 2845-20 M18 Carry-On Power Supply

All right everyone welcome to another product demonstration video! today we are checking out the Milwaukee 2845-20, the M18 carry-on portable power supply.

Let's start by checking out the top of the unit. Here we find our main carrying handle which doubles up as your battery lock out mechanism. We have a twist to unlock knob that allows the handle to stay in place in its short form, releasing the lock allows the handle to be extended over the batteries to secure them from being released from the power supply. However, this twist lock only serves to lock the handle in its condensed form. Once released it doesn't do anything in the sense of locking the handles into place. The only way to stop the handles from moving back and forth is to insert a lock into the hole. Which is not provided with this tool. The lock hole seems to be about 1/4in in diameter and in this case, this heavy-duty Brinks lock that I have does not fit.

Also, If I'm being honest, this lock might slow someone down from taking the batteries easily, but it will not stop anyone with any determination. The roll cage which acts as part of the lock out, is just hard plastic that can be easily cut... or you can remove the side of the roll cage with 10 - T30 bolts causing the handle to come free.
If someone is going to take the batteries, they will probably end up taking the whole tool

On the sides of the unit, we see two carrying loops where you can attach a carrying strap if you choose, we have the official Milwaukee strap for the unit, but any carrying strap should work.

Looking beyond the handle and locking mechanism we see the 4 battery bays and their respective indicators. Today we are using 4 of the red lithium xc 5.0ah batteries. Obviously, there are larger batteries that would work better and some of you might only have smaller ones, so we're going with the midrange for some average benchmark numbers. You'll have to adjust expectations according to what you insert. Installing the batteries is just a matter of dropping them in and clicking them into place. To charge the batteries, just plug in the included power supply cable or any extension cord, and the batteries will automatically begin charging when an input of power has been detected. All four batteries do not need to be inserted for charging; you can charge any number of batteries.

The indicators have four different indications. Solid red for charging. Slow flashing green for almost full, which I haven't seen, mine just jumps from charging to fully charged. Continuous green for a completely charged battery. And flashing red for a too hot or cold battery. The batteries will charge simultaneously, unlike other power supplies that charge sequentially, so that's a huge plus. When the unit is charging, it will disable all output power, so neither of the 120v outlets or the 2 USB ports will work during this time.

Once all four batteries are secured, and there is no inbound power detected, the unit will allow you to power it on. The front indicator and Power button will flash indicating the power supply is ready to use. On the top front here, you will find your power button, your battery presence indicator, the fuel Gauge and the over-temp and overload indicators. On the bottom you find your two outlets and one USB-A and USB-C port. One thing to note is that this unit requires 4 batteries to be able to work. It will not function if any are missing. And you can't get cheeky and try to load in a dead battery as a placeholder, as the unit will just beep as having no charge.
To operate the unit properly, first turn on the unit, and then plug in your device second.

The “Fuel Gauge” will light up with 4 little light bars here which act as your remaining charge indicators.
We have:

4 bars: 100-78%
3 bars: 77-55%
2 Bars: 54-33%
1 bar: 32-10%
And with the final 10% we get a slow flashing red.

As you get to near the end, you will also get an audible warning.

Overall, I've been very pleased with the power supply as it lets me get some of my powered tools out and away from outlets without having to deal with any extension cords. The only two complaints I honestly have is that there is no onboard storage cubby for the included power supply cable and that the unit doesn't have an option to function as an auto backup generator in the event of a power loss. But other than that, it's been a handy piece of equipment.

00:00 Intro
00:35 Carrying Handle/Theft Deterance
01:48 Carrying Strap
02:00 Charging
02:15 Charging - Battery Overview
03:05 Charging - Battery Indicators
03:41 Charging - Note
03:55 Power On
04:00 Power On - Indicators
04:10 Power On - Outlets
04:20 Power On - Notes
05:11 Fuel Gauge Overview
05:42 Closing Thoughts

This product is being provided by the The Home Depot Seeds Program for review. The Seeds Program provides Members with free products that have been submitted to Seeds by vendors or The Home Depot.