Cordless drill battery repair or replacement?

[unstuck]

[george formby]

I keep my gold under me sporran.

[unstuck]

I keep my gold under me sporran.

Must be a small pouch then.

[george formby]

Must be a small pouch then.

You saying I'm poor or under endowed, eh, eh?

[Laava]

Still.....
4 fucking pages! For batteries! Fucking awesome! Where's Ed?

[george formby]

Still.....
4 fucking pages! For batteries! Fucking awesome! Where's Ed?

Yeah. I'm disappointed with that.

I had hoped that this thread would develop the same intensity & detail as Ed's.

I reckon the vast majority of KB'ers own a " rechargeable tool ", male amd female. A topic worthy of vigorous discussion across the boards. Pics would be good.

No. Probably not. Definitely not. Don't. No pics.

[Winston001]

Like everyone else I have a perfectly good nicad drill with stuffed batteries.

So a few months ago bought a 10.8v Black and Decker lithium-ion. Wasn't certain it would have enough power but have a plug-in drill as a reliable backup. Anyway I'm very pleased.

I've used this drill more than any drill I've ever had partly because its kept in my vehicle (so its always nearby) and partly because its light and powerful.

[MarkH]

Mate in the trade reckons the lithium batteries do degrade a bit of not getting used often so make the time to vandalise something on a regular basis with them

Your mate knows fuck all about Li-Ion batteries!
They degrade over time whether used or not but do NOT degrade any faster if not used, if anything they degrade faster when they are used.

The above link will take you to Simpower who rebuild batteries. I have used them a couple of times and the batteries have performed well for me. I think they now charge around $100 per battery.

I've had a battery rebuilt by them, they did a good job but way too dear to be worth it.

I've got the same tools as this guy and have 3 dead batteries.
I will try it and post the results.

If the batteries are tired and don't last long this trick wont work, but if the charger is just not charging because the battery voltage has dropped too low then this might indeed work. The idea is simply to raise the voltage up so that the charger sees an acceptable voltage from the battery and will then be willing to charge it. The fact that the voltage is too low means that damage has already been done to the cells, but at least LiFePO4 cells aren't explody.
I'm assuming that 19.2V means 6 x 3.2V LiFePO4 cells, probably A123 brand cells since they do make cells for power tools.


I have a B&D drill and also a reciprocating saw & torch set, all using the same batteries.
With only occasional use the 3 tools all are in great working condition, but the original batteries (1 with the drill and 2 with the reciprocating saw) are all well fucked as they are over a decade old. I had 1 rebuilt by Simpower, but that was pricey and I didn't want to pay that for the other 2. I rebuilt the other 2 myself with LiPo packs that I got from Hong Kong, they work great. I can't use the original chargers though, but I have a couple of hobby chargers that can do the job. So far I've had no problems but I have to be careful because LiPo packs can be a bit on the explody side - or more accurately there is potential for a 'vent with flame' occurrence. In hindsight I should have gone with a rebuild using A123 cells, but I'm not sure if they would have fitted.

[Icemaestro]

Didn't read all of this but seems appropriate - could you put a new Lithium ion (same voltage) battery into the drill? Or do they make those battery packs different - I have a drill that's 4yr old batteries are starting to give up a bit


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[Drew]

Didn't read all of this but seems appropriate - could you put a new Lithium ion (same voltage) battery into the drill? Or do they make those battery packs different - I have a drill that's 4yr old batteries are starting to give up a bit


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They have totally different shaped cases.

Those 14.4 Makita batteries are still sold new, and they're cheap. Might as well buy another I reckon.

[Hoon]

I repacked my batteries with some 3600 mah NiMh sub c cells I had lying around from my R/C car racing days. You need a decent soldering iron. This revived my 10yr old B&D drill which still kicks ass.

One bonus is that the battery capacity is triple what it used to be (guessing the old ones were about 1200mah). Also if you are going to change to more modern battery technology (nicad, NiMh, lipo etc) then your existing charger might not work anymore. I have a smart balance charger on my bench top so not an issue for me.

[unstuck]

They have totally different shaped cases.

Those 14.4 Makita batteries are still sold new, and they're cheap. Might as well buy another I reckon.

Got one of those 14.4 Makitas, and the fucker wont die. Got a B&D 18v and a couple of Ikon cordless drills that are all under 5yrs old and fucked, but had the makita for about 15yrs and it goes every time.

[MarkH]

Also if you are going to change to more modern battery technology (nicad, NiMh, lipo etc) then your existing charger might not work anymore.

I would definitely recommend being careful with Li-ion batteries if you don't know about safe handling & charging. There is no way an older NiCd or NiMH charger is going to be suitable for charging Li-ion batteries - they use a completely different charging algorithm (CC/CV instead of delta V).

I spent over US$120 on a hobby charger that can charge up to 20A/350W which can handle NiCd, NiMH, Pb, Li-Ion, LiPo and LiFePO4 chemistries. I have no problem charging whatever batteries I use in my power tools. I can balance charge a 4S LiPo battery pack for my B&D drill, but that doesn't mean that everyone would be OK changing their old NiCd battery pack to Li-ion batteries.

For those that don't want to change chargers it would be a good idea to just buy new batteries or get the battery pack rebuild with the same type of cells. Changing battery chemistry is best avoided unless you know what you are doing.

[schrodingers cat]

Would someone please ban Hoon and MarkH.
They are guilty of making sensible posts. Off with their heads.

[george formby]

Got one of those 14.4 Makitas, and the fucker wont die. Got a B&D 18v and a couple of Ikon cordless drills that are all under 5yrs old and fucked, but had the makita for about 15yrs and it goes every time.

That's the little bugger I have with fooked batteries. Mint wee tool but getting it to go is the issue. They are cheap now, too. It's making more sense by the day to buy the same again & run two drills. $119 at ITM for the whole chibang. If I can find one for a hundy I'm in.
Oh, got the beast my G/F jacked up for me last night. All I can say at this stage is "crikey!". Comes in it's own tin...

Pics & quick review of the new Bosch posted tomoz, if i can find it again.