A Milwaukee M12 charger that’s not working and has no light on won’t be able to power your batteries. But, is that something you can fix? With my help, the answer is yes!
As long as there isn’t serious internal damage, your charger should get back to turning on and displaying lights as long as you do the right things. Let me guide you towards them!
Read: Tips for Fixing a Milwaukee M12 Battery Not Holding Charge and Not Full Bars
Milwaukee M12 Charger Not Working and No Light (4 Fixes)
- Is It Just The Lights?
Are you absolutely sure that the Milwaukee M12 charger is not working? It could be that the lights are the only thing to blame.
I read up about a few people who ran into problems like this when the light on their charger wasn’t turning on and they thought it was not working. But, that didn’t end up being the case.
When they got down to troubleshooting it, they realized the problem was just the lights. Make sure that’s not the case for you by inspecting the lights on your Milwaukee M12 as I’m doing below.
Open the covering on the charger and inspect under the indicator lights on the Milwaukee M12. You’ll see the two lights that I’m pointing at in the image above.
If either of these lights has a crack, or they burned out, that will explain why the lights aren’t working on your charger. This can happen when the charger is really old or has overheated recently.
Related: I Left My Milwaukee M12 Battery on the Charger Overnight
Lights burn out on their own after a while, or when the temperature around them gets too high. If it’s just the lights that are faulty, try to charge a battery even with the lights off.
If your Milwaukee M12 charger succeeds at providing power to the battery, that means you can continue using the charger without worry, since it’s just the lights that are acting up.
Related: How I Solved My Milwaukee M12 Battery Shows Green but Not Charging to Full Problem
- Clean The Charger Internally
Milwaukee M12 chargers may have problems turning on when there’s dust or debris inside. That’s because even a bit of dirt is enough to block off some connection points inside.
These connection points transfer power around the charger. If anything is blocking them, that stops it from turning on since power isn’t flowing as it should be.
But, these types of things are easy to clean up by cleaning internally. You’ll just need to open the covers like I have in the picture down here, and then carefully clean around the surface.
If you notice build-ups of debris in one area in particular, use a cloth with your fingers to carefully get it out. Using a blower would make the process easier, but it could ruin the parts inside.
That’s why I mentioned earlier that you have to be careful while cleaning. When you free up the components from dirt, that’ll fix the power flow, and the charger will start working again.
- Move The Connection Prongs
Milwaukee M12 chargers have connection prongs instead of cables or any other way to charge the battery. You sit the battery on those prongs, and then it transfers power.
If those prongs stop working through, that means power won’t transfer anymore. But, why would the prongs stop working on their own?
Well, one of the things that come to my mind when I think of this is rough use or just an old charger. After all, it makes sense for the prongs to start bending with time given the charger’s use.
To connect the Milwaukee M12 battery and its charger, you have to press it down quite hard. If you don’t, the battery won’t go all the way inside, which means it won’t charge.
Because of how hard you have to press down, the prongs can crumble under this force, and start bending. It’s something that happens to a lot of Milwaukee M12 charger users, and you may be one too.
While you might not see any bending on the surface, check the prongs after removing the cover to see if there’s any bending there, like I’m doing in this photo:
That’s what the prongs look like under the cover of your Milwaukee M12 charger. If yours seem bent, loose at the bottom or have any other issues, you’ll need to move them manually.
Adjust the prongs using your own hands. Bend them back into the shape and form they should be in. Doing this will fix the prongs and make sure your charging is working from now on.
- Internal Components Have Failed
A charger only has one purpose. This goes for this charger too, which is there for your Milwaukee M12 battery. Despite how simple their purpose is, the way they achieve it is so complicated.
There are so many components inside, all of which work together to generate and transfer power to your battery. That charges the battery and completes the purpose of the charger.
I’m mentioning all of this because I want to point out how important each of those components is. If even a single one of them doesn’t work anymore, the entire charger might fail.
This might result in other problems. For example, a faulty sensor or connection point could cause your Milwaukee charger to flash red and green lights even if there’s no battery connected on it.
If none of the solutions so far worked, I think something inside your charger likely short-circuited or broke. It no longer works, and that means the entire charger doesn’t function.
This isn’t something that you can fix every time. It’s natural after some years of use, and it happens to every Milwaukee M12 battery. So, what should you do now?
Well, I think the obvious answer is to get a new charger entirely. Since you can’t repair your current charger, the only way to power your Milwaukee M12 battery is with a new one.
You can purchase chargers separately online, and that will fix your issue. It shouldn’t cost you too much to purchase just the charger, and it’s certainly worth it to get rid of your charging worries.
The new Milwaukee M12 charger should work perfectly, and the lights will function as intended. But, hopefully the other fixes I talked about above will be enough to handle the issue!
