To refurbish/Replace (Dead Horse)

[crankshaftdan II]

Have a couple battery operated drills/drivers w/7.2 volt to 24 volt older tools(Not Litium) batteries are tired from limited use and setting. Q--is it better to send in your older battery packs for renewal or DIYwith the purchase of on line batteries and solder together yourself if handy enough and can open the packs yourself? Or just buy a newer lithium powered unit? Are the pro refurbished ones better than the original units? Any help appreciated!.....Cranky

 

[mossyboy6]

What brand/ type etc??


I would probably recommend upgrading to lithium.

 

[crankshaftdan II]

What brand/ type etc??


I would probably recommend upgrading to lithium.

Skilm 7.2 drill-internal battery in handle
12 volt Makita impact driver 2 seperate rechargable units
14.4 c-man angle w/2 sep. units
18 volt skill drill w/2 units
24 volt c-man w/2 units
? milwaukee straight handle w/flex feature--2 side by side in handle batteries

Cranky

 

[JASTECH]

I'm going to replace the batts in my older Bosch with upgraded batteries. Kind of depends on how much the service center will charge you to do it and how beat up your pwr tools are.

 

[StaggeringGoat]

Do it yourself if you know how to solder. If you're capable of using a drill you should be capable of opening the battery pack. You can probably find new cells that hold a lot more power than the old ones ever did. I have a drill with an 18v pack that I want to rebuild, it uses NiCD sub C batteries rated at 1.2AH...newer NiMh sub C batteries are like 4.5AH or better...

 

[trebomb]

I'm all for preserving a repairable tool, but replacing the cells is not cheap. I would take a hard look at using this as an excuse to move to a lithium-ion based platform (and consolidate brands that share batteries). You could sell your old stuff, too.

 

[ddawg16]

I would be inclinded to suggest that you sell all some of them and buy a set of cordless that are the same voltage.

Nothing worse than having cordless tools that have different batteries.

I have a bunch of the Ryobi 18v cordless tools....and 3 batteries....along with 2 chargers. I am hard pressed to wear down a battery faster than it can be replaced with a charged one.

 

[Davefr]

Have a couple battery operated drills/drivers w/7.2 volt to 24 volt older tools(Not Litium) batteries are tired from limited use and setting. Q--is it better to send in your older battery packs for renewal or DIYwith the purchase of on line batteries and solder together yourself if handy enough and can open the packs yourself? Or just buy a newer lithium powered unit? Are the pro refurbished ones better than the original units? Any help appreciated!.....Cranky

If you like the tool then I'd do the following:

1. Try to zap the battery pack with a voltage spike to burn out the crystal dendrites. It really does work on some packs so give it a try because it costs nothing and you have nothing to lose. (there's tons of how to's so do a google search).

2. If #1 doesn't work then rebuild the packs with solder tab replacement cells from Ebay.

There's nothing really wrong with Ni-Cad technology. Lithium has it's disadvantages too.

 

[rslaback]

Another option is a DIY core. Basically the company makes the pack in the configuration you need and mail it to you. You put it in the case and solder the final connector on.

http://www.battery-tek.com/DIY-Rebuild-Battery-Cores-c75/

 

[Danglerb]

First check for cheap aftermarket battery packs on ebay. Patents sometimes run out and generic packs show up cheap.

Opening packs can be a PITA, some cells are also MUCH preferred to be ultrasonically welded instead of soldered. Generally places that rebuild a lot of packs may have newest and freshest cells, where those on ebay are often date expired being dumped.

Third option, open the tool up and bring out a pigtail with a quick disconnect connector and use a different battery to power the tool.