How To Read A Milwaukee Serial Number?

Do you have a new Milwaukee power tool, and do you want to know how to read its serial number? You’ve come to the right place, for we have researched this question, and we have the answer for you.

The first step in reading the serial number of a Milwaukee power tool is knowing the different parts. It may look like a long series of numbers and letters, but the serial number has six sections. Here are the number of characters per section.

  • The Prefix section has three characters.
  • The revision code section has one character.
  • The manufacturing plant code has one character.
  • The year of production has two characters.
  • The week of production section has two characters.
  • The unit number section has four characters.

Identifying the different sections of the serial number makes it easier for you to locate the information that you need from the serial number.

Let’s talk more about the different serial numbers in Milwaukee power tools and battery packs in the succeeding sections.

Read on!

What is the use of a serial number?

A serial number is a set of characters that form a unique combination that identifies an individual item. Even though it is called a serial number, the characters can be alphanumeric (numbers and letters).

Some serial numbers even include non-alphanumeric characters like dash. However, most non-alphanumeric characters are separators to make it easier to distinguish the different parts of a serial number.

The primary purpose of a serial number is to provide a unique identification to each Milwaukee power tool. You’d be able to tell each unit apart even though they look exactly the same or they are of the same model.

The ability to tell each unit apart is useful to identify which item is yours. In a room with five units of the same model of a wireless power drill, you’d be able to tell which one is yours (or if any of those units belong to you) by matching the serial number of your drill from the receipt with the serial number of those units.

For Milwaukee battery packs, the purpose of serial numbers is to identify the manufacture date. This can be important when troubleshooting issues on a battery pack since the battery service life can affect the performance of the battery.

The format and location of the serial number can be different from one device to another or between different battery pack models and capacities. We will talk about how to decode the serial numbers for the different devices and different battery packs in the sections below.

 The Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation produces power tools and hand tools.

Milwaukee Serial Numbers

The serial number of Milwaukee power tools are thirteen characters long. They include letters and numbers and contain six different sets of information. Keep in mind, however, that not all the information in a serial number might be useful for an end user.

The Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation produces power tools and hand tools. - How To Read A Milwaukee Serial Number

The different information in the serial number makes each serial number unique to every Milwaukee power tool.

The serial number of a Milwaukee power tool can be found on its nameplate. This can be found on the right side of the Milwaukee logo on some models. Additionally, you can also find it above the Milwaukee logo inside a rectangular box.

Prefix

The prefix is the first part of the serial number of your Milwaukee power tool. It is the first three characters of the serial number. It is often numeric characters only, but you can occasionally find prefixes in a mix of numbers and letters.

Most of the time, the prefix does not represent any specific information that is useful to the end user. The prefix is a code that you can use to determine the catalog number of your power tool. There is a catalog number reference for Milwaukee tools where you can use the prefix to find the catalog number of your tool if it does not have this information on the nameplate.

Revision Code

The revision code is the fourth character of the serial number. It can be a number or a letter.

You can use the revision code to check for service bulletins (if one exists) for your tool. You need to combine the prefix and the revision code to check for service bulletins. However, this is often useful only for Milwaukee service personnel when they need to repair your Milwaukee power tool.

Manufacturing Plant Code

The fifth character of the serial number is a code that tells the location of the plant that manufactured your power tool. This part of the serial number is often a single-digit number only that represents the location of a Milwaukee manufacturing plant.

Year Of Manufacture

The next two characters (the sixth and seventh characters) of the serial number are always numbers. These numbers correspond to the last two digits of the year when your power tool was manufactured. Hence, a 03 for this section of the serial number means that your Milwaukee power tool was manufactured in 2003.

Week Of Manufacture

The next two characters (the eighth and ninth characters) are also always in numeric form. These two digits correspond to the week of the year when the tool was manufactured.

Thus, a 04 in this part of the serial number means that your Milwaukee power tool was manufactured during the fourth week of the year or in late January.

Unit Number

The final four characters of the serial number are always a four-digit number. This number represents the unit number of your Milwaukee power tool.

The unit number is the sequence that the manufacturing plant completed your power tool.

Therefore, a 1,524 unit number means that your Milwaukee power tool is the 1,524th tool of that model that the manufacturing plant completed for that week in that given year.

If we take the examples above, the unit is the 1,524th unit of that power tool model made in the 4th week of 2003.

How do you read a Milwaukee battery serial number?

The battery pack that came with your Milwaukee power tool has a date code that tells you its age. However, different Milwaukee battery packs place their date codes in different locations too.

Below are some examples of Milwaukee battery packs, where you can find the date code and how to read them.

14.4-Volt Ni-CD Battery Pack

The date code of this battery pack has two possible locations. The first possible location is on the top of the battery case, close to where it latches to your power tool. The second possible location is at the bottom of the battery pack, next to the data plate.

Reading The Date Code

The Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation produces power tools and hand tools.

The format of the date code is always four numbers, then a letter for the fifth character.

The first two numbers represent the week of the year. Hence, a 13 for the first two characters means that the battery pack was manufactured on the 13th week of the given year.

The next two numbers correspond to the last two digits of the year when the battery pack was manufactured. Thus, a 19 for the third and fourth digits means that the battery pack was manufactured in 2019.

Putting the two pieces of information together, a battery pack with 1319 for the first four digits of the date code was manufactured on the 13th week of 2019.

The last character of the code corresponds to the plant where the battery came from.

12-Volt 16Wh Li-Ion Battery Pack

The date code of this type of battery pack is always on the top area of the battery case. Milwaukee heat stamps the code on the top area battery case.

The date code will always contain six digits of numbers. A seventh character that is always a letter can be included too, but not always. The letter can be added before the six numbers.

This letter represents the manufacturing plant.

Unlike our first example above, the first two digits for this type of battery pack represent the last two digits of the year. Therefore, 20 for the first two characters means 2020.

The next two numbers represent the month of the year corresponding to their order. Hence, a 07 represents July since it is the seventh month of any given year.

The last two digits correspond to the day of that month. Thus, a 12 for the fifth and sixth digits is day number 12 of the provided month.

Milwaukee Warranty

Milwaukee power tools on display in retail store. The Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation produces power tools and hand tools.

You do not have to register your Milwaukee power tool to become eligible for a warranty in case it breaks. Although it is best to keep the receipt, service centers can use the date code of your power tool to determine if the product is still within the warranty period.

Knowing this, it is a good idea to check the serial number of a Milwaukee tool before you purchase it. The serial number tells you the manufacture date. If the tool has a manufacture date that is too far in the past, the warranty might not last too long anymore unless you keep the receipt.

You can read about the warranty information of your specific Milwaukee product from their support website by accessing this link.

Conclusion

An important part of reading a Milwaukee serial number is knowing the different parts. Divide the characters of the serial number into its parts to determine the location of the information that you are looking for.

If you enjoyed reading this article, you might find the articles below equally enjoyable to read:

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