Finds: Black & Decker’s Multi-Voltage Fast Charger
By Sean O'Hara
With all the battery/charging systems out on the market today the shelf starts to look like a small electrical city of red and green blinking lights. (And if you think your shop’s bad, you should see our test bench!) Each tool with its own battery system and respective charger makes placing a new charger on the shelf the beginning of a load vs. structural stability calculation. Black & Decker is among the first to at least try and address some of these issues with the FSMVC 9.6v - 18v Multi Voltage Fast Charger.
It’s capable of charging all Firestorm and Black & Decker spring-loaded style batteries 9.6V through 18V in 90 minutes with a computerized charging system that optimizes charging of battery cells.
This seems like a pretty straight forward approach to the mounting battery charger dilemma in the shop.
So, if the tools in the shop or at home say Firestorm on them and are between the ranges the FSMVC can handle, then you’re set. Too bad the other tools in the shop that aren’t labeled with the B&D brand are still stuck in the old grind of too many chargers not enough space.
Multi Voltage Fast Charger [Black and Decker]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
PS: Before you write to tell us, we do know that Milwaukee and others have created multi-voltage chargers. However, most of these units are designed specifically to achieve backwards compatability for a single battery set — like Milwaukee’s V18/18V set. The Black & Decker unit spans an incredibly wide range of tools, and seems particularly appropriate for home use considering B&D’s focus on home-use tools. Hence our interest.
