Rebuild Screwdriver battery pack?

[Cliffmeister2000]

I have several Black & Decker 18v tools, but use the two screwguns the most. I have had one of them for 7 years. After 3 years, neither battery would hold a charge. I bought the second because it came with two batteries for the same price as two batteries. Now, after another 3 plus years, I have 4 dead battery packs.

I was looking around trying to find reasonably priced replacements, when I called Batteries Plus. They wanted $60 to rebuild them, but said they used 2100mah batteries, so the rebuilt battery pack would be stronger than the old one.

So, I thought, if they can rebuild them, maybe I can too?

I looked up batteries, and I took apart one of the packs. Looks like they take 15 of the 18v Sc type batteries each.

It would cost $133 to buy enough batteries to rebuild 4. I can buy 4 for $120. However, if I rebuild, they would have 2100 mah batteries instead of 750 mah batteries.

Question is:

Has anybody ever rebuilt their battery pack? With what success?

[asianflava]

I've never done it, I had Batteries Plus re-cell one of my drills several years ago and it still runs like a champ.

I was gonna do it, but I've never had good luck soldering batteries. I've had to do it for remote control cars. I'll bet you can go to a hobby store and they can give you some pointers on how to do it. I know that they sell the straps needed to join cells.

[steve smoot]

Cliff,

One of our members knows a good deal about rebuilding these batteries. His handle on here is "reiltear".

I tried to find the post about this, but gave up. If he does not respond, maybe you can send a PM. to him.

Steve

[steve smoot]

Cliff, I did you one better...I sent a PM to "reiltear" and told him to check out your post.

Steve

[Larry C]

I have several Black & Decker 18v tools, but use the two screwguns the most. I have had one of them for 7 years. After 3 years, neither battery would hold a charge. I bought the second because it came with two batteries for the same price as two batteries. Now, after another 3 plus years, I have 4 dead battery packs.

I was looking around trying to find reasonably priced replacements, when I called Batteries Plus. They wanted $60 to rebuild them, but said they used 2100mah batteries, so the rebuilt battery pack would be stronger than the old one.

So, I thought, if they can rebuild them, maybe I can too?

I looked up batteries, and I took apart one of the packs. Looks like they take 15 of the 18v Sc type batteries each.

It would cost $133 to buy enough batteries to rebuild 4. I can buy 4 for $120. However, if I rebuild, they would have 2100 mah batteries instead of 750 mah batteries.

Question is:

Has anybody ever rebuilt their battery pack? With what success?

I feel your pain I have been there with cordless tools. the batteries cost more than a new tool.

I have recently been looking at Lith-ion tools , but the price is not worth it for my occasional use. I really like the 18V Lith-ion Makita drill/screw gun, but not wanting to spend close to $200 had me looking for something till my favorite choice goes on sale.

While at HF a few months ago I saw their 18V (the blue one)1 battery drill on sale. With a 20% coupon, it came to $14!! I normally wouldn't buy such a tool from HF, but I needed a drill and it was only $14!! While at the check out, I was offered the usual "Extended Warranty" which is normally a scam... However, This warranty extends the tool warranty from 90 days to one year for $3 more for a total of $17. This warranty is for a full tool replacement, including the battery.

Well........ the reason I bought it is to use it! I am completely surprised, I
thought my cheapo experiment would probably be a piece of junk, but it turned out to be a great tool, SO FAR.... It's got plenty of power, run time, and handles great. I like it so much, I bought another battery for $11 with 20% coupon. If the tool or battery dies in the next year, I get a complete new tool.

In my opinion, I think it's more cost effective to toss the drills and batteries you have and just buy new tools. I doubt it will be worth all the effort and expense trying to rebuild your batteries. Look at the sales for the multi tool kits that are always running at big box stores. Now that everything is going Lithium-Ion, the Ni-cad kits are dirt cheap.

I'm still looking for my favorite Makita 18V to go on sale, but my HF $17 wonder is working just fine........

Larry

[teardrop_focus]

asianflava

I've never done it, I had Batteries Plus re-cell one of my drills several years ago and it still runs like a champ.

If they use new cells, your packs will perform well.

I was gonna do it, but I've never had good luck soldering batteries. I've had to do it for remote control cars. I'll bet you can go to a hobby store and they can give you some pointers on how to do it. I know that they sell the straps needed to join cells.

I've built battery packs; both 6-cell NiCd and 6-cell NiMh. The battery "bars" that hobby shops sell might not work within the confines of your batt-operated electric hand tools.

What's needed is a hot iron (at least 80W) and as little time on the cell as possible. Heat is the enemy of all batteries. Allow them to cool before charging, and if at all possible, allow them to cool before use (although in the pro construction arena, this is not possible except where there're many packs).

When I raced R/C sedans, we expected a short batt lifespan (6 months racing twice per week) because of the heat generated with our hot (higher amp-rate) charges.

Your batts will also last longer when stored w/ a full charge.

[Larwyn]

I have a slew of 18 volt DeWalt and Ryobi tools, along with a few hundred dollars worth of 18 volt DeWalt and Ryobi batteries. Most of this stuff is around 5 or 6 years old now and a lot of the batteries will no longer hold a charge. I also have some old 9.6 volt DeWalt and B&D, maybe even a Craftsman or two that are now very near useless due to worn out expensive batteries.

I used to work in a lot of locations with no power so the battry tools seemed like a good idea at the time but I now do most of my work in the shop or in homes with AC power. I think I am about to quit playing the battery game all together except where they are necessary. The corded tools are cheaper, more powerful and it is not that much trouble to plug the blasted thing in........

[Cliffmeister2000]

Cliff, I did you one better...I sent a PM to "reiltear" and told him to check out your post.

Steve

Thanks, Steve!

[Cliffmeister2000]

I think I am about to quit playing the battery game all together except where they are necessary. The corded tools are cheaper, more powerful and it is not that much trouble to plug the blasted thing in........

That's what I've been doing, Larwyn. Maybe I'll buy a corded screwgun. The drills I have don't have enough torque at low rpms.

[starleen2]

remembered seeing this a time age - I don't know If I'd want to try it - but if the batteries are dead and you have a welder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H60xtiY8gXE

[Larwyn]

I bought a corded screw gun back in 1990 when I was building a deck. I wore that DeWalt out in 3 or 4 years and replaced it with a Milwaukee. I cannot wear out the Milwaukee, so far anyway. It' has done more work than the DeWalt ever did and is still going strong.

[steve smoot]

there was this really bright light, then I smelled smoke...

[sdakotadoug]

I am also on a boatbuilding forum and a fella there recently did a tutorial on battery replacement. Checkout Duckworks magazine online. Look up Rob Rohde-Szudy series of articles.

[madprinter]

The battery / welder trick is one of those things you do when you call one of your crazy freinds over to help you. And you work the switch on the welder.
Hey Steve, can you help me with these batteries??? I found this cool video, its got to work.

[reiltear]

Hi, everyone!

Thanks for the PM, Steve. What I talked about in my post was reconditioning batteries, not rebuilding them. The Ni-Cad batteries can develop so called "memory" if they are not fully charged and then fully discharged. Partial discharge followed by a partial charge is one of the main causes. A possible way to restore capacity in a rechargeable(Ni-Cad) battery is to fully charge it, preferably with a fast charger, then fully and gently discharge it several(2 or3) times. The "tricky" part is the gentle discharge. The discharge current needs to be less than tenth of battery capacity(2100mah battery - less than 210ma discharge current for about 10hrs) and it would be nice to monitor the battery voltage too, because Ni-Cad's don't like being discharged to below 1 volt per cell. To discharge a battery gently one could try using a flashlight until it's dim, or taping the trigger on the drill at not-so-high rpm's. The battery needs to be recharged after each discharge, of course. This is kinda' crude, but may be worth a shot. Another thing to consider is that nothing really lasts forever and the Ni-Cad's life is limited to 300-500 charge-discharge cycles depending on working conditions, brand, luck, etc.

Hope this helps. Ilya