18 Volt Lithium battery rebuild?

rvr6000 · May 1, 2011

Anyone know if it's possible to get lithium tool batteries refurbished....and if it's even worth it? Have an 18V battery from a drill that went bad.

Was looking to maybe order a couple new ones but for not much more I could just get another drill kit with two batteries included.

6t7gto · May 1, 2011

JD in DFW · May 1, 2011

know there is a company on e-bay that does it. might search there.

tdkkart · May 1, 2011

Google "batteries plus", if you have a local store they can usually disassemble your battery pack and put in new cells.

Chloe Taylor · May 1, 2011

If the cell of the batteries aren't damaged there is a chance as to the drilled lithium batteries can get recovered. But if the cells are damaged you would have to buy a new one....

mdbeck1 · May 1, 2011

tdkkart said:
Google "batteries plus", if you have a local store they can usually disassemble your battery pack and put in new cells.

I had these guys rebuild one for me years ago. It cost a little bit less than I could have bought a new one for. YMMV

03ranger · May 1, 2011

Try "https://fixmybatteries.com". Josh and Brad are both former US Marine Corp Infantry and both Service Disabled Veterans. They do a great job of rebuilding batteries; they recently rebuilt two of my batteries. I can't say enough about the quality of the batteries or these two guys.

BajaScout · May 1, 2011

Saw them on the news a couple weeks ago

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Fix_My_Batteries_San_Diego-119745169.html

GSteg · May 1, 2011

I wonder what brand of battery cells they use. I know a lot of companies rebuild nicad packs with cheapy BYD cells.

rvr6000 · May 1, 2011

Thanks everyone. I knew NiCad batteries could be rebuilt but wasn't sure about the Lithium Ion.

kbs2244 · May 1, 2011

The "batteries" are just a collection of "cells."
You can open the box, find the bad cell and replace.

Jim Johnstone · May 1, 2011

Anyone know if there is a similar battery rebuilding business in Canada? By the time I ship my packs to the U.S. I'm better off just buying a new pack.

Aspen RT · May 2, 2011

I used MTO Battery. I had them put NiMH batteries in my Milwaukee drills and I'm very happy with them so far. It was about a year ago when I had them done, and I think it was about $60. Going from Nicad to NiMH will just about double your usage time. The web site says they can rebuild just about any Battery, Lithium included.
mtobattery.com

sams · May 2, 2011

you could do something loopy and do what I did:

http://s-86.com/s-batterypackupgrade.html

sure it's crude but cheap batteries with a 5A/h capacity and a big increase in torque is quite alluring to me

TOOL MASTER · May 2, 2011

you can always get a drill that you plug in ;-p

mslisaj · May 2, 2011

Great job Sams.......... I have been looking for a good solution as everyone else has. I have used my welder to "shock" the batteries back to life but eventually they give up the ghost. But I'm NOT opposed to doing something like you did to get the tool to work. If fact, when I get some time I'm going to experiment with a couple of dead battery packs that I have. I like this idea and you have to "think outside the box" to really make this work well...........

Love it...........

Lisa :thumbup:

gmm213 · Jan 10, 2013

Not one place here mentiond can refurb Li Ion batteries like the op asked just NiCd and NiMh. I am also looking and have not found anywhere. If anyone finds a place let me know. That MtoBatteries doesnt.

kesslerbmw · Jan 10, 2013

I've got a IR Li Ion battery I'd love to have rebuild, they are stupid expensive new.

sophijo · Jan 10, 2013

BTW Ridgid at Home Depot has lifetime guarantee on their tool batteries. I've gotten two so far....five years old and lotsa use. Real hard to beat that.

Nethers · Jun 9, 2013

gmm213 said:
Not one place here mentiond can refurb Li Ion batteries like the op asked just NiCd and NiMh. I am also looking and have not found anywhere. If anyone finds a place let me know. That MtoBatteries doesnt.

I am now rebuilding Lithium ion tool batteries. Lithium ion batteries are far more complicated than the old Ni cad. The first problem is that all lithium ion batteries have a circuit board in them to protect the cells. This board communicates with its charger. The manufacturer doesn't sell this circuit board so if its bad it can't be fixed.
In some cases i would have to have your charger with the batteries that need rebuilt to make sure your charger will accept the new rebuild.
Never try to shock a lithium ion battery back to life like the old Ni Cads. Doing so may make it explode and has no chance of making it charge again.
Anyone interested in this service can email me [email protected]
Thanks
John

Kevin C · Jun 9, 2013

kbs2244 said:
The "batteries" are just a collection of "cells."
You can open the box, find the bad cell and replace.

From what I have read the tough part is sourcing cells with the same peak current as the ones that came with the tool.

18 Volt Lithium battery rebuild?

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Banned

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

New member

Well-known member