Testing Cordless Tool Batteries

Testing Drill Batteries

Using a multimeter / Volt meter to determine if a rechargeable battery still has enough voltage to hold a charge.

You will have to first charge your battery for at least an hour. Then set a multimeter to the voltage range of your battery. For instance if your battery is 18 volts then use the 20 volt scale on your meter. Your leads should be plugged into the Red and Black or Volts and Common ports and touch the two battery terminals with the probes. Fully charged, an 18 volt battery should test 1 to 2 volts higher than the voltage listed on the battery. In your case, the battery should show at least 19.0 ~ 20 volts and maybe even more. If it’s below 15 volts, its marginal. If it's below 14 volts, the battery needs to be replaced.

If your battery shows a high voltage but still doesn't run your Drill, then you probably have a problem with the Drill. The Drill motor can wear out and may need new brushes, but on most drills these are soldered in and can't be replaced easily. You can burn the motor by using a dull drill bit or non stop drilling for long periods of time.

The main reason that Drill batteries go bad is they’re run down too low before recharging. This can cause a polarity reversal in some cells, which is why they fail to recharge to their operating voltage when recharged. A power tool battery should be charged as soon as it begins to slow down. Let it cool, then put it in the charger at room temperature. You must also maintain the battery by recharging it every 30 to 90 days. It takes that long before it will self discharge down to a voltage that it should be charged. If you let it sit for several months, the battery Will drain completely and you will have to replace it.

Some battery distributors can replace the cells in the battery and with the rising cost of these battery packs, i would recommend going this route. You can specify the amp hour of the cells to use end up with a better battery pack than you started with.

Drill battery charger doesn't work

posted by firemedic13 on Jul 03, 2007. at www.fixya.com

I have a new Hitachi portable drill that employs a lithium ion battery. The drill works fine, but the charger, that I have only used once with no trouble, no longer works. The red light went on went I plugged it in, and it stayed on, as it should of, when I put in the battery, but then soon mysteriously went off. There doesn't seem to be any power getting to the charger. I, of course, checked the outlet, in order to see if that were where the problem lay, but the outlet works fine with other electronic items. I also tried plugging the charger into a different outlet, but that too had no positive effect. Any advice that you might offer me regarding what might be wrong here, and how I might fix it, would be greatly appreciated.

Best Solution:

Hi Firemedic13;
Most chargers like yours have a fuse inside them. Remove the screws that hold the charger together. The fuse will be on the low voltage side of the transformer. Un-solder and replace it with one of the same value.
If the charger is not held together with screws (doubtfull) you will have to carefully cut along the seam where they were glued together. A dremmel tool works good for this. After repairing use some ABS pipe glue to re-seal them together.
If the fuse is not blown then the unit will require testing by someone that is proficient with a multimeter. Most times it is the transformer that has fried a wire. If the sides of the transformer have any burnt spots on it then it will be the culprit.
Hope this has helped.
Best regards; HELP2DIY

Cordless Drill Battery Blues

Published by Duane Craig

I have a cordless DeWalt drill that came with two 12v battery packs. One of them died and won’t recharge - the charger light blinks continuously and according to information on the the charger that’s when the battery pack should be replaced. I got a little more life out of it by cleaning the contacts and then charging it overnight, running it down and charging it overnight again. But, after few more charges it wouldn’t charge anymore.

This drill has done a lot of work from deck building to siding to kitchen cabinets. So, I can’t complain too much but it kind of galls me that a new battery costs about half what the whole kit originally cost on sale. These batteries ought to be $10. According to DeWalt, 85 percent of Ni-Cd batteries are used in cordless power tools and the company estimates there are 431 million of these tools in U.S. households. And that number was from 2001. You would think that economies of scale would have kicked in by now and they would be cheap.

But the first step in any battery decision is finding out what to do with the old one. DeWalt recommends recycling the old batteries through Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC). Basically it tells you where to recycle your old batteries at a facility near you. So I put in my zip code and sure enough there were more than a couple of options including Radio Shack and Home Depot. So, now I can sleep better at night knowing the old battery will be dealt with so I don’t have the fate of the human race on my shoulders if I just throw it in the trash. But, I still need a new battery. Anyone who has ever used a cordless drill knows that if you want to use it for six or eight hours you need at least two batteries.

I read some opinions (expert testimony) regarding the concept of buying refurbished batteries and they were not favorable. If any of you have a contrary opinion I’d like to hear it, but by my readings refurbished is questionable. There is another option where you send in your battery and they rebuild it (isn’t that refurbished?). The one place I looked at, ToolBatteryRefill.com called it “Refilling” the battery and claimed the process they use gives you a battery that will run 20-40 percent longer than the original equipment. I used the form that narrowed down just what my battery was and the cost was $41.25.

An Internet search showed the battery available at a couple of places for $46 (I always round up since the whole 90-something-cent concept used to price things just means it’s going to cost the next dollar anyway).

So, shipping, handling and other expenses considered, buying new appears to be the way to go.

So, now I come back to costs. In a world that is well polluted wouldn’t you think people would be offering solutions that encourage you to recycle, or reuse your old batteries? The incentive comes in the performance, but the price has to match up as well. Okay, so maybe I’m being too stingy what with the costs of having to dispose of the waste material so let’s say it costs $20 for a refurbished or refilled, and I’ll even factor in another $6 for shipping and handling, both ways. That’s $26. If you know of someone who will deliver to my door a $26, 12v, NiCd battery that will fit my DeWalt drill, and that will last at least as long as original equipment, let me know. Comments are welcome for this post and all the others, too.

Convert a drill battery to wall power

In the spirt of Instuctables, I'm adding some of the sugestions for improvement and why I didn't do things that way in the first place. Some I had considered, others i had not.

Q. Why not just put in new batteries?
A. Too expensive. The drill was $5 (with case, extra drill and 2 battery packs) and worked for a while. The wall wart was free at another garage sale. Brand new unit would be about $20 and be ready 'out of the box.' A new set of batteries and a charger for them would not be worth the time or money. If it was a good brand name on the other hand...
A. While trying to find out which cells in the battery were live and which were dead, I lost the parts. Thus, no battery shell to reload : )

Q Use a Zener transorb/5 f. capacitor/ect.
A Aint got one. Too expensive to go out and get some just to play with. I don't feel comfortable enough with electronics to risk the parts.

Q Use a more powerful transformer.
A Aint got one. That and i don't know how much I can pump threw the motor before it burns out. I may end up finding a bigger transformer, or trying it on AC current-but not untill I don't need this one any longer.

You may notice a theme here-this is a cheep fix with what I had on hand. Nothing fancy, not a lot of pre-planning to get in the way of getting something finished. Are there better ways to do this? Absolutely : )


Convert a battery drill to wall power

step 1Research!
wall transformer for project power supply http://www.instructables.com/id/EQ3VVA5ZVKEYF7HZ0W/ or Reuse "Wallwart" transformers http://www.instructables.com/id/EC1BYG2…

step 2gather your parts (and tools)

First, look at the drill. On the side it will (hopefully) have a description of the battery pack. If it doesn't, look up what a replacement would be. In this case, an ol…

step 3Void your warrenty

Open up the drill. It's useful to figure out which leads on the drill and power supply are which. If you don't, and the drill doesn't work, try switching leads around…

step 4Playing with fire

Cut the end off the power supply. If I had the parts, I might have put a jack in the drill. Instead, it's perminent. Strip and tin the ends of the wire. Sand, flux an…

step 5Conclusions

Put it all back together. It works! Well, it works as a drill, which is what i needed. It only overpowers the first setting on the clutch, otherwise I can stop the …

Articl from Instructables.com

How to Improve a Cordless Drill Battery

A cordless drill can be an excellent tool for home improvement jobs or commercial jobs. There are many different volt sizes of batteries for a cordless drill. They come in 9 volt, 12 volt, 18 volt and some 24 volt. Of course, the higher the voltage, the stronger the drill.

1.Improve a cordless drill battery and make it last longer by charging your battery completely when you first buy a cordless drill. Many people make the mistake of charging it for only 10 or 15 minutes. This actually lowers the life of the battery. Manufacturers recommend a full charge the first time you use a cordless drill because the battery has a memory. If it's not charged completely the first time, the battery's memory will consider that a full charge, and the battery won't last as long as it should on a charge.

2.Keep your cordless drill battery strong and improve its performance by charging it completely after your battery runs down. The way to tell if your battery is fully charged is to look for a red and green light on the charger. When the red light is on, your battery is charging. When the green light is on, the charger has cut off and your battery is fully charged.

3.Clean the cordless drill battery contacts as a way to improve its performance. Batteries usually have two contacts (one negative and one hot). Use a rag and clean away any dust or debris on the contacts. Make sure that your cordless drill contacts are also clean of debris

4.Know that you can improve a cordless drill battery by upgrading the battery that comes with the drill you've bought. Some companies have started making lithium batteries for your cordless drill. These batteries are stronger and last longer, therefore you can do more work with less charges.

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Drill Batteries

Drill Batteries

Recently Bosch drastically reduced their price on the 36 volt Lithium tools to the point they are actually cheaper than some of their own 18 volt Ni Cd tools. In addition to these new low prices they have also supplied Ohio Power Tool with an additional FatPack 36 volt battery for every drill/driver kit and 4 piece combo kit sold. (Get the battery with kits, no mail-in rebates) I am having a tough time finding comparable brands that have a better deal on 18 volt Ni Cd Drill/Driver kit with three batteries.

My assumption is they are basically giving these tools away at little profit or most likely a lose. This is a common practice in other industries such as video game consoles where they lose money to get you into the system but then make up for it over the next few years with video game sales. Bosch makes exceptional power tools and the 36 volt Lithium tools are probably their most impressive line up. These tools have not however made their way into most peoples hands. People tend to be loyal to one brand until compelled to make a switch. I think Bosch is trying to make that compelling argument, a 36 volt drill/driver kit with 3 lithium ion batteries priced at $229.00 is pretty compelling. A full 4 tool combo kit with 3 lithium ion batteries is only $499.

Clearly the goal here is to get more 36V tools and more importantly batteries into the hands of as many consumers as possible. Bosch is looks to the future and plans to expand their Lithium tool line up. Future success with any cordless line is very much dependent on how many users currently have the batteries. Lose some money upfront, gain more users for years to come.

Bottom line is if you are looking to upgrade some older tools or looking for a completely new cordless combo kit, now is the time to take advantage. These tools give you the same power as if you were plugging strait into the wall and with 3 batteries there is essentially zero down time. The Bosch 10.8v tools also get a price drop PS20-2 to $119 and PS40-2 to $169.

If you have any questions about Bosch Tools or any other tools call the experts at Ohio Power Tool, 800-242-4424.

Get the Job Done with Drill Batteries

By Ken Morris

Cordless drills of all shapes and sizes line the shelves of hardware stores and home improvement stores everywhere, and they are the must have tool for all kinds of DIY projects. With so many different kinds of cordless drills and battery drills to choose from, you'll have to do a little bit of shopping around to make sure you are getting the very best drill for you. Like all cordless tools, fit is the most important thing - you want a drill that feels comfortable in your hand and one you can use easily. However, there are some other factors you should consider, like the features of the drill.

Cordless Drill Features

If you want to be able to use your drill for a variety of different projects, then you will need to look for a drill with multiple speeds. Your hard materials will need a slow and steady drilling speed, while soft surfaces need to be drilled at high speed. Of course, you can take all of the guess work out of the equation by choosing a battery drill that senses what you are drilling and sets the right speed automatically.

The battery in the cordless tool is always a major concern. Tools require quite a bit of power, and you need a battery that can stand up to your needs. Drills that have two batteries are the best choices, because they extend the life of the drill. Also make sure you choose a drill with rechargeable batteries.

Drill Manufacturers

In wood working shops, Makita drills are the cordless drill of choice, and for good reason. Makita literally wrote the book on cordless drills, as they were the first company to create one. Makita drills are durable, dependable, and thanks to their two rechargeable batteries, they are long lasting. As the creator of the cordless drill technology, Makita always stays ahead of the curve when it comes to new drill features and functions.

Ridgid drills are another kind of cordless drill that is popular with users. These drills are known for their power - their inch drill packs a whopping 18 volts of power. Further, their batteries are among the longest lasting of all of the power drills out there, and the drills can be run on two speeds, depending on what kind of job you need to do. The only downside here is that some Ridgid drills can be extremely heavy, so make sure you test them out in the store before you buy.

About the Author:
Ken Morris publishes mainly for http://www.insidewoodworking.com , an online site with information about cordless drills and cordless tools. His comments on batteries for cordless tools can be found on his site . This and other unique content 'cordless drills' articles are available with free reprint rights.