Cordless power tools, battery not charging tip (1 Viewer)

[DanielFord]

OK, before I go any further, this tip is probably extremely dangerous, so I only offer it for those brave enough to try it.

This weekend I have got some jobs to do on the van, which require the use of my trusty Black and Decker Quattro. I dug it out from under the huge pile of junk in the garage, and got the battery and charger to give it a full charge.

The charger went straight to fully charged! Thinking this was unlikely I tried to use the drill, battery totally dead. So connect it back to the charger, which instantly shows that the battery is fully charged.

I did some google research, and found this tip. What you do is identify the positive and negative poles on the battery, next connect a car battery charger to the correct poles on the battery, and leave it charging for about 5 minutes. Now connect the battery to the proper charger, and hey presto, the charge cycle begins!

I am led to believe that this works because a NiCd battery develops crystals internally if not used for a long while. This technique dissolves them? As I said, probably not particularly safe, but it saved me £50 for a new battery.

 

[teensvan99]

Best bet is to get new drill. £50-60 can get you a good drill. Screwfix do good drill/drivers. Have had one of theirs for over 3 years and it has had heavy use. Worst things for this type of battery is left in the cold in the shed all winter with no charge in it.

 

[DanielFord]

Best bet is to get new drill. £50-60 can get you a good drill. Screwfix do good drill/drivers. Have had one of theirs for over 3 years and it has had heavy use. Worst things for this type of battery is left in the cold in the shed all winter with no charge in it.

Indeed, my tip is only helpful if, like me, you are extremely tight and you don't want to spend any money at all

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[Tootles]

Indeed, my tip is only helpful if, like me, you are extremely tight and you don't want to spend any money at all

Great tip! I found the other day that the battery for my explosive body belt is completely flat. I'm in the garage now, and so will just try your tip....Right, connecting to the car battery.......Pos first, now ne.................................................................................................................

 

[teensvan99]

Well done Tootles. B Positive BANG

 

[tonyidle]

It's a well-known trick with NiCads - but the connection must be very brief otherwise you encourage reactions like Tootles'. TBH it isn't worth buying any portable power tool, especially for home use, that isn't fitted with Li-oN or LiPo batteries. Despite them being aimed at professionals, and therefore being more expensive, their batteries survive the intermittent use they receive at the hands of the average user. NiCads don't.

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[chaser]

Something similer also works for supposedly dead flat battery's, if you get a battery that is so flat that it won't charge, get another battery and connect them with jump leads then put your battery charger on the flat one , take off the jump leads and lo and behold it will charge up, not saying it will stay charged or that in ain't knackered, but it does sometimes revive a dead flat battery, worth a try before you scrap it.

 

[Jaws]

We always stuck a bit of AC up the bum of dicky NiCads' to rejuvenate them ( usually about 4 x the battery voltage seemed to work well !! )]
Never hard connected tyhem though, just sort of brushed the wires over the terminals to shake them up a bit !

I do not think I would put a double rate charge on hard on to NiCads' for 5 minutes though.. A good home made bomb could proly be the result !

 

[DanielFord]

I do not think I would put a double rate charge on hard on to NiCads' for 5 minutes though.. A good home made bomb could proly be the result !

There you go, I did say it was probably dangerous

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