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I found a few things lacking with this flashlight, such as Bosch being behind the curve in offering a LED version or conversion to LED as some conventional flashlight makers such as MAG offer. Second, is the lack of a storage place for the flashlight in Bosch drill cases. Lastly, it is only marginally bright and given all the bulb choices today this is somewhat surprising.
Also, having also ordered the Bosch 36618-02 18v Li-Ion drill kit I found there is no place to put the flashlight. The top of the well built case is molded for a side support handle that this drill/driver does not use and the bottom of the case has a molded area above the charger that would otherwise appear to fit the flashlight. No thanks to the engineer that designed this case.
When I contacted Bosch about that they did not seem to care & simply stated "that's the way it is". Wow! What contractor or homeowner wouldn't want to have a place to put an approx. #50 flashlight to keep get damaged?! Without a battery in place, the contacts of the flashlight are exposed & unprotected as many drill flashlights do these days making a place to put it desirable.
If not for the reputation and quality of the related drill that the batteries are used with, I would have chosen another brand of drill such as Milwaukee that offers a LED version flashlight. Having made the (Bosch brand) drill & battery reputation my main priority, I reluctantly chose the Bosch flashlight as my rechargeable project light. The stand is nice in a limited way as it has set detents and enables the light to be hung or hooked on a nail/screw, but it may not always offer the best angle when aiming the light and it stores folded over the lense blocking the light if used as normally stored. This also makes the light somewhat longer when the handle is moved out of the way to use which diminishes its otherwise compact shape. All-in-all, the ONLY choice for the 18v Litheon drills making it a forced choice if someone wants reasonable run time and a light powered by their rechargeable drill batteries.
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Edited for clarity: This flashlight is sold as a bare tool, designed for use with Bosch 18 volt lithium-ion batteries that are not included and a charger that is not included. This does not detract from the merits of the flashlight: it is intended as a complement to an existing arsenal of Bosch cordless tools rather than as a stand-alone product.
I purchased this flashlight two months ago to use with my other Bosch 18 volt lithium-ion battery powered tools (impact driver, compact drill, hammer drill, recip saw). My experiences with these have been overwhelmingly positive, so I had high expectations for the flashlight.
Initially the flashlight appeared to function satisfactorily, projecting a decent amount of light over a long distance; however the first bulb burned out after just a few hours of total use throughout the course of a single day. My (slim pack) battery still had some juice left after being removed from the flashlight. No bulb should be outlasted by a single charge of the battery that powers it.
The flashlight comes with an extra bulb; last week I installed it and tried again (with a fully-charged battery). The new bulb immediately began flickering and then died out completely within minutes. The battery still had a charge.
Pros:
-Flashlight has decent light projection.
-It complements the other Bosch 18v lithium tools which are outstanding in my experience.
-It won't drain batteries too quickly (since the bulbs die first).
-The awkward-seeming handle provides surprisingly effective support for the light at several different angles.
-This flashlight is actually quite useful as a work light when all of the following conditions are met: the included unreliable light bulbs are replaced with bulbs marketed for a competing 18v product line's flashlight; Bosch's compact "slimpack" batteries are used rather than "fatpack" batteries; the flashlight is on for brief periods of time, with sufficient cooling periods in between uses; and a backup light is kept on hand for the not-uncommon occurrences of Bosch flashlight failure.
Cons:
-The light bulbs included with the product are unreliable garbage and last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, failing at random with no warning whatsoever.
-This flashlight is slightly overpriced when compared to the majority of competing 18v flashlights with better or comparable functionality.
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I'm glad this came with the kit and I didn't purchase it separately. The head doesn't swivel and it's not very bright. It is ok as a secondary light but not a primary. I'll always keep my Maglite in my truck for service calls first.
Honest reviews on Bosch Bare-Tool CFL180 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Flashlight
Bought this flashlight along with a new 18v set (impactor, drill, reciprocating saw) a few weeks ago to replace an aging Bosch cordless set. Took the flashlight into the attic today to make repairs and it failed in the FIRST 5 MINUTES OF USE. So in the dark in the back of the attic I figured out how to remove the bulb and insert the spare with the help of the flashlight built into my phone and it STILL WOULD NOT LIGHT. Now that I've made it out of attic without falling through the ceiling I've had a chance to check the flashlight out. Batteries are fully charged, so no problem there, and the flashlight has never been dropped or subject to any abuse. Again, this is the first time it's been used. DO NOT PURCHASE. I'd give it zero stars if I could. A candle on a windy day would be more reliable than this piece of junk.
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I got this light as part of a refurbished 18v combo kit. It quit working before I could use it enough to recharge the battery 2 times. The problem is at circuit board level and no part is available to just replace the board. If I have to pay shipping and hassle to send it back in for repair I might as well throw it away. I would rate this extremely poor in the reliability catagory.