cooked cordless drill batteries

[POD]

I have a Bosch 18v cordless drill that I've had for about 3 years, been a good little unit for general use. It stopped working during the hot spell we had a few weeks ago, temp in the shed was around 47-48 degrees for 4 consecutive days. I thought something must have come loose inside the drill cos changing batteries had no effect. Finally got a chance to investigate today and both batteries have less than 2 volts, but when I put them on the charger it shows the constant green light that indicates a full charge. Can anyone tell me if there's a way to get the charger to charge them or to get the batteries to accept a charge, clutching at straws really as I'm loathe to throw another good drill away due to a dead battery.

[pop058]

get new batteries or get your old ones repacked.

[Homestar]

If you can use a soldering iron, but some sub c solderable terminal batteries - there are good and bad ones though. The cheap rubbish on flea bay is just that. Pay a few extra dollars and buy some decent ones. It will be half the price of buying a new battery for the drill. You are after 15 x 1.2 volt versions for that pack. Check what type they are - NiCad or Lion, then replace with the same type.

[uninformed]

or they could be NiMH.

Nickel-based Batteries Information (http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/Nickel_based_batteries)

they were the next big thing after NiCd. But they didn't like being worked in our summers. My old Bosch kit was all NiMH and to be honest the batteries didn't live up to the hype over the NiCd.

[Homestar]

Oh, yeah, forgot them...:D

Thanks.

[PhilipA]

IMHO It is worth paying the money for Lithium if you can get the batteries in the later format.
I have had the 18V Ryobi 1+ stuff for over 8 years and when the orignal batteries died I bought new Lithium ones .
What a difference! Where 2 batteries were needed and juuuust managed to blow the whole yard it now only takes one to do the whole job.
Regards Philip A

[Don 130]

G'day P,
This mob will repack them for you. I've had very good results in the past with this service.

Akkupak | Battery Repacking (http://www.akkupak.com.au/page/battery_repacking.html)

Don.

[PhilipA]

You probably don't have Ryobi1+ but a little googling shows Akkupak to be VERY expensive for Ryobi anyway.
2x 4AH Ryobi Lion batteries are $179 at Bunnings.
While 1x 2AH NIMH battery at Akkupak is $105!!!!.

This is ridiculously expensive and could only be justified if the batteries you want are no longer available.
You may be better to buy a new tool with readily available batteries.
Regards Philip A

[POD]

Thanks for the replies, I've always understood replacement batteries and repacking to not be economical compared to the cost of a whole new tool, hence my wondering if there's some way to redeem the batteries that seem to have been overheated. I'll look into the costs. I repacked a laptop battery a few years ago with ebay cells and it was a complete waste of time, won't be doing that again.
Makes me wonder how tradies get on in hot climates, I wouldn't have thought that a few days of 45-plus temps was that much of a rarity, surely a metal toolbox on a ute in the sun would regularly get to those temps.

[Bigbjorn]

When mobile phones were the size of a subway roll and the battery pack as big as your hand, when they got sick we would bung the batteries in the freezer over night after giving them a shock charge with the 12V car battery charger until they were almost to hot too touch. Sometimes worked, sometimes not. Worth trying.

[gromit]

When mobile phones were the size of a subway roll and the battery pack as big as your hand, when they got sick we would bung the batteries in the freezer over night after giving them a shock charge with the 12V car battery charger until they were almost to hot too touch. Sometimes worked, sometimes not. Worth trying.


I've seen problems with so-called 'smart chargers'. If the voltage is too low they won't charge at all.

As Brian stated, sometimes hitting them with a charge from a crude charger (old fashioned car battery charger) until the voltage picks up then putting them on the correct charger brings them back to life.

Won't fix a dead battery but might allow you to charge it and see whether it holds a charge.


Colin

[POD]

Will give that a try, I have an old simple 4-amp charger.

[uninformed]

IMHO It is worth paying the money for Lithium if you can get the batteries in the later format.
I have had the 18V Ryobi 1+ stuff for over 8 years and when the orignal batteries died I bought new Lithium ones .
What a difference! Where 2 batteries were needed and juuuust managed to blow the whole yard it now only takes one to do the whole job.
Regards Philip A

So your old batteries were not Lithium and your new ones are?

If so, did you get a new charger as well?

[uninformed]

POD, if you click on the link in my post #4, there is days of reading about batteries there

[Blknight.aus]

short version.

if they are lithium-anything dispose of them completely and appropriately replace with new lithium packs or buy a battery shell and repack with nicad/nimh and replace the charger if its not compatible.

if they are nicad they may respond to "shocking" which is a brutal application of voltage that breaks up the crystals that form in the battery producing the "memory" effect.

if they are NIMH or the shock doesnt work, break the pack out head to jaycar and buy the same number and type of replacement cells and solder the new ones back in the casing.