Skil PWR CORE 20 20V Charger

First impressions and setup

I put the Skil 20V charger on my bench expecting a basic, no-frills unit—and that’s exactly what it is in the best way. It’s compact, stable under the weight of a battery, and the six-foot integrated power cord reaches the wall outlet behind my bench without an extension. Plug it in, slide on a PWR CORE 20 battery, and the LED status lights wake up and make it obvious what’s happening. There’s no app pairing, no mystery buttons, and no buried modes to worry about. It’s a simple AC charger that does its job reliably.

Design and build

Skil keeps the footprint small, and the case feels sturdy enough to live on a shop floor or in a contractor bag. The base doesn’t rock or skate around, even on smooth surfaces; once a pack clicks in, the weight of the battery plants the charger securely. The integrated cord is a plus in my book: fewer parts to lose and less fiddling. I wouldn’t mind a little cord management on the back, but the length is generous and easy to route along a bench or shelf.

The LED indicators are straightforward. You get an at-a-glance read on whether the pack is charging or ready, and the indicators are bright enough to see from across a garage but not so bright that they glow through closed eyelids at night. In the dark corner of my shop, I appreciated that clarity more than I expected.

Charging speed in practice

Skil rates the charger at 60W with a max charging current of 2.4A, and the real-world times matched the spec sheet in my testing:

• 2.0Ah battery: consistently right around an hour from empty to full, sometimes finishing in 58–63 minutes depending on ambient temperature.
• 4.0Ah battery: roughly two hours from empty to full.
• 5.0Ah battery: a touch over two hours on average.

Those times make sense for a single-bay, 2.4A charger. If you’re running compact tools—drills, impact drivers, oscillating tools, a jobsite fan—the pace is perfectly workable with one or two packs in rotation. For heavier draws like a mower, string trimmer, or circular saw with a large pack, you’ll want to plan accordingly. A 2.0Ah battery will be back in action in about an hour, but larger packs scale up in time. That’s not a knock on this unit so much as an acknowledgement of what a 60W charger is designed to be: steady and safe rather than blisteringly fast.

Heat, noise, and battery care

The charger runs quiet. In my shop I never noticed a fan spool up, and all I hear is the ambient room noise while it works. Surface temperatures stayed warm to the touch but not concerning, even when topping off a larger pack. I deliberately charged a battery right after a series of high-load cuts with a 7-1/4-inch saw. The charger did what it should: it recognized the pack, eased it into charging without drama, and finished on time. Modern lithium packs have their own protection electronics; paired with a conservative 2.4A charge rate, this unit errs on the side of battery health.

The LED status cues are simple enough that I never had to guess what was going on. When the battery was full, it indicated “ready” and stopped pushing current—no surprise trickle that keeps things hot on the bench. If you’re in a hot garage in peak summer, give the pack a minute to cool before charging; you’ll get more consistent times and less heat soak.

Day-to-day usability

Most of my use has been a rhythm of work, swap, and charge: one compact pack on an impact driver while the other sits on the charger, then swap again an hour later. The single-bay format is predictable and easy to live with if you maintain a small rotation of packs. The battery slides into the rail smoothly and locks with a positive click; removal requires just enough force to feel secure but never feels sticky or misaligned. I hate wrestling with chargers, and this one stays out of the way.

The six-foot cord deserves another mention. On a crowded bench or in a garage with limited outlets, that extra couple of feet makes it much easier to place the charger where it’s convenient rather than where the outlet dictates.

Where it fits in the Skil ecosystem

This is a PWR CORE 20-only charger. It doesn’t cross-charge other Skil voltages, and it’s 120V/60Hz input, so it’s designed squarely for North American power. If you’re already running Skil 20V tools, this is a sensible base station. It pairs especially well with compact packs and mid-size 4.0Ah packs for drill/driver kits, impact drivers, oscillating tools, and lights/fans. If your kit leans toward high-draw lawn tools or saws and you burn through multiple large-capacity batteries per session, I’d step up to a faster “rapid” charger or add a second charger so the workflow keeps pace with the work.

What could be better

• Faster option for big packs: At 2.4A, the math is the math. If you run 4.0Ah and 5.0Ah packs all day, a higher-amp charger will shave a meaningful chunk of time. Skil offers faster units in the lineup; pairing this standard charger with a rapid charger is a smart move for heavy users.
• Single bay only: I like dual chargers for overnight top-offs. If you keep three or more packs in rotation, a dual-port solution cuts cord clutter and wall space.
• No extras: This is a purely functional charger. There’s no USB passthrough or other quality-of-life features. That keeps the price and complexity down, but it also makes the unit strictly task-focused.

None of those are deal-breakers for what this charger is meant to be; they’re simply considerations based on how much battery you intend to cycle in a day.

Reliability over time

Over several weeks of regular use, the unit has been consistent. No false “ready” lights, no mid-charge cutouts, and no odd behavior with partially depleted packs. It doesn’t mind a top-up: if I drop a pack on at 60%, it completes the cycle and indicates full without overshooting or staying warm. That consistency is what I want from a shop charger—quiet, predictable, and safe.

Battery longevity is a function of the whole system: cell quality, how hard you run the tool, ambient temperature, and how you store the packs. This charger’s moderate current and straightforward profile are friendly to battery health. Common-sense habits—avoid baking packs in a hot car, let them cool a bit after heavy use, store them around half charge for long periods—will do more for the life of your batteries than any “fast” mode ever could.

Who it’s for

• DIYers and homeowners running one to three PWR CORE 20 tools who value predictable, one-hour turnarounds on compact packs.
• Anyone buying a Skil kit who wants a dependable bench charger that’s easy to read and use.
• Light-to-moderate jobsite users who can rotate a couple of packs throughout the day without needing rapid charge speeds.

Who should look elsewhere: Pros and lawn-care users burning through multiple 4.0–5.0Ah packs back-to-back. The standard 2.4A rate will work, but it may not keep up with aggressive schedules without a second charger or a faster model.

Pros and cons

Pros
- Honest one-hour charge on 2.0Ah packs; times scale predictably with capacity
- Clear LED status and simple operation
- Quiet, with minimal heat buildup
- Compact footprint and a generous 6 ft cord
- Solid value as a reliable single-bay charger

Cons
- 2.4A max isn’t “rapid” for larger-capacity packs
- Single bay only; no dual-port option on this unit
- 120V-only input limits travel or international use

Recommendation

I recommend the Skil 20V charger for anyone invested in the PWR CORE 20 system who needs a dependable, everyday charger rather than a high-output rapid unit. It hits its one-hour promise on compact packs, stays quiet and cool, and the straightforward LED feedback makes it easy to live with in a garage or small shop. If your workflow involves constant cycling of 4.0Ah and 5.0Ah batteries on high-draw tools, supplement it with a faster charger or a second unit to keep pace. For everyone else, this is exactly what a standard charger should be: simple, consistent, and kinder to your batteries over the long haul.