Craftsman gives quick boost to power tools

Craftsman is bringing to market a charger called the QuickBoost that brings dead batteries up to 25% power in three minutes. 

The QuickBoost Charger represents a time saving technology for the Craftsman brand's cordless line of 12-volt lithium-ion NexTec power tools.

The product "was developed in response to our customers' desire for innovative time-saving solutions," said Kris Malkoski, VP and general manager of the Craftsman brand. "When a battery runs out of power, it can be frustrating to have to wait 30 minutes or more for a charge when the project is almost complete. Now the user only has to wait three minutes and can get back to work right away."

While in use, the charger's on board diagnostics monitor the battery's progress, indicating the battery's status in the process including "charged", "charging", "complete" and "over temperature" using red, yellow and green LED lights.

The company debuted the product line at the 2011 International Builders' Show in Orlando.