Black & Decker FSMVC 9.6-Volt to 18-Volt Slide Style Battery Charger

Brand: Black & Decker
Feature

* Charges 9.6, 12.0, 14.4, and 18-volt NiCad battery packs
* Charges batteries in under 90 minutes
* Rough and tough plastic construction
* Weighs 14.7 ounces
* Includes a 2-year warranty

Product Description
Firestorm, 9.6V – 18.0V, Fast Charger, Charges All Firestorm & Black & Decker Spring Loaded Style Batteries.

The convenience of using cordless tools can be compromised if you’re always standing around waiting for the batteries to recharge. To get you up and running quicker, with less down time, Black & Decker has developed the FSMVC 9.6-Volt to 18-Volt Fast Charger. This cleverly designed plug-in charger accepts a wide range of nicad batteries, including 9.6, 12, 14.4, and 18-volt packs. And it will recharge a battery in less than 90 minutes, as compared to the average three-hour recharge time of the chargers that came with the tools. The FSMVC 9.6-Volt to 18-Volt Fast Charger accepts all Black & Decker and Firestorm spring-loaded (slide-in) type batteries.

What’s in the Box:
Black & Decker 9.6-Volt to 18-Volt Fast Charger

Black & Decker FSMVC 9.6-Volt to 18-Volt Slide Style Battery Charger Review
I have a set of 18-volt Black & Decker yard tools (hedge trimmer, line trimmer, and blower) that came with a regular slow charger. By the time I get about 2/3 done with any yard work, all 3 of my batteries are empty. I work through one battery at a time and drop it on the charger as I grab the next one. But the regular charger just can’t do it fast enough. So I was thrilled to find the Black and Decker fast charger. It works great! Now when my battery runs out while I’m doing yard work, I stick it on the fast charger and by the time the third one is emptied, the first one is charged again. Hooray!

This 90 minute charger sometimes indicates that it is charging for 6+ hours on a brand new battery. Generally it works fine and does charge my batteries in about an hour but there are those few times that just sits there and just blinks away for hours saying that it is charging. Because of this, I never use it unattended. The batteries that it tried to charge for a long time got pretty hot but probably still well within the safe zone. It just made me nervous enough to only use it while I am home.

We have both 14v and 18v B & D drills. The charger on the 14v quit working. When I saw this charger, I liked that it can charge both of our battery sizes. Also, my husband had always left the batteries charging for far longer than was recommended. This charger does the job in 90 minutes and then puts the battery in a storage mode so that it is not over charged. Well worth the money even if your B & D charger is still working.

I am somewhat of the “Impatient” type of people that can’t wait, what seems to be forever, to re-charge a Ni-Cad battery using the charging device supplied with your tool purchase. I found this charger and said, “I’ve got to give it a try.” What a great decision! Simple to use and I haven’t really timed it but it has to be 3x times faster than the cheap re-chargers I mentioned above AND it gives you a full charge. Do yourself a favor that you won’t regret. Excellent unit for the price and Amazon had it to me a day before I was expecting it to arrive.

The charger is described by its manufacturer as being for all black and decker 9.6 – 18 volt batteries, when it is not. The charger does not work with certain newer batteries that have 4 prongs to them, just “older” ones with 3 or 2 prongs. A call to B&D support got me a reply that the charger doesn’t work with the 4 prong batteries (which BTW have the same part number no matter how many prongs) and that I should return the item as it doesn’t do what its advertised to. So, if your tools use the 2 and 3 prong batteries, this charger is GREAT. If your tools use the 4 prong batteries, save your time and aggravation and just charge them with the slow chargers that came with the tools. Beware buying extra battery packs as you cant tell till you get the package open if the batteries have 2, 3 or 4 prongs and the 4 prong ones dont fit into the older tools either!

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