replacement battery for cordless drill

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dvellone

Feeling the Heat
Sep 21, 2006
489
My 18 volt hitachi needs 2 new batteries. The ones that can with the drill lasted just past the warranty expiration date. (I don't wonder if there's a problem with the charger)

In the past I would just buy a new drill since the batteries cost so much, but I'm wondering if there's an outlet I haven't found in my own searches where the replacements might be worth buying.
 
Actualy the bateries you have can likely be repaired by you. I know people who have done it, but can't remember the details. Probably on the interweb somewhere.
 
Have a couple thoughts . . .

we have a guy around here that is a battery repair specialist. Any battery of any type we can take it to him and he'll fix it. Very reasonable prices too. Look in your Yellow/White Pages, you might find a shop that fixes them.

I've used CPO Outlets to buy my tools. CPO stands for Certified Pre Owned tools. They carry all major brands and they are reconditioned tools w/ a warranty. I bought a Rigid 18V Lith. Ion Set from them 4 yrs ago and have run it ragged and the drill and the impact driver both run like a champ. If I remember right they sell reconditioned batteries on their websites.

Lastly, I've found recon. batteries on Flebay a couple times and they ran great. (for a craftsman drill) It's hit or miss there.

Good luck
 
I've never been in a position till very recently that I had to even consider replacing these types of batteries. The 9.6v black and decker drill I bought in the early 90's is starting to show its age finally...battery only lasts about half the time it used to and doesn't store a charge on the shelf like it used to. Best $30 I ever spent on any tool.
 
My Craftsman 19.2V batteries quit. The batteries in the pack were Sub-C nickel cadmium 700 mah. I bought 4 - 4.8V battery packs off of ebay, nickel metal hydride, 2400 mah. They fit in the same case, price about $25, and now the drill works great with 3+ times the juice as the old batteries. The hangup is that you need a charger for these as the stock charger will not work. I have a DC power supply, variable voltage, variable current, which works great as a battery charger for almost anything.
 
jebatty said:
My Craftsman 19.2V batteries quit. The batteries in the pack were Sub-C nickel cadmium 700 mah. I bought 4 - 4.8V battery packs off of ebay, nickel metal hydride, 2400 mah. They fit in the same case, price about $25, and now the drill works great with 3+ times the juice as the old batteries. The hangup is that you need a charger for these as the stock charger will not work. I have a DC power supply, variable voltage, variable current, which works great as a battery charger for almost anything.
Click to expand...

I did something similar with a mtn bike like, but 6v, I used a bunch of niMH D cell batteries in series.

Worst case scenario, you buy the battery holders that allow you to remove the batteries to charge normally or what I did with my bike lights, was hack the old connector from the dead battery pack and solder it to my new battery pack and use the wallwart charger that came with the old battery pack to charge it. You can time it to avoid overcharge.... or the wallwarts are generally low current.

Jay
 
This may sound crazy, but it will work much of the time. If you have a tool who's battery seems to go dead in around 25% of the time it used to, let it run down to the point you would normally recharge it. When this happens, put it in a deep freeze for 24-48 hours. When it comes out, put it in the charger. Sometimes it won't charge as soon as it comes out, and if not, recheck it every hour or so and attempt to recharge. When the charge is complete, you need to use the tool and allow it to discharge again, followed by recharging. What happens it that many batteries develop a memory of how much has been used. When this happens, they will only accept enough of a charge to satisfy what they had in memory. By discharging them and freezing, it tends to release the memory from them. About the worst thing you can do is to use a tool for a minute or 2 and then straight back to the charger. Another bad thing is to let the battery run down to the point the tool will not work at all. When it starts getting weak, it is time to charge.
 
boatboy63 said:
This may sound crazy, but it will work much of the time. If you have a tool who's battery seems to go dead in around 25% of the time it used to, let it run down to the point you would normally recharge it. When this happens, put it in a deep freeze for 24-48 hours. When it comes out, put it in the charger. Sometimes it won't charge as soon as it comes out, and if not, recheck it every hour or so and attempt to recharge. When the charge is complete, you need to use the tool and allow it to discharge again, followed by recharging. What happens it that many batteries develop a memory of how much has been used. When this happens, they will only accept enough of a charge to satisfy what they had in memory. By discharging them and freezing, it tends to release the memory from them. About the worst thing you can do is to use a tool for a minute or 2 and then straight back to the charger. Another bad thing is to let the battery run down to the point the tool will not work at all. When it starts getting weak, it is time to charge.
Click to expand...
BINGO! i know the memory thing from practice, gotta remember the freeze/recharge to erase the memory=thanx
 
BLIMP said:
BINGO! i know the memory thing from practice, gotta remember the freeze/recharge to erase the memory=thanx
Click to expand...
It may not work every single time, but if it works once, it was well worth the time. ;-)
 
Our local "Interstate' battery dealer will rebuild most any battery. They crack open the case and replace the cells and seal them back up. Also a one year warranty.
 
I also have bought a lot of replacement batteries from ebatts.com. Quick service and good products.
 
each pack is made from smaller batteries soldered together in series. Try a local radio control shop for batteries. I think a mag called rc car action used to have advertisements for some of the battery manufactures like sanyo. You should be able to buy the individual cells and the thin metal connectors. Rc hobbiests especially plane flyers like me need to build custom shaped battery packs to fit models. now i run Lipoly batteries(cell phone battery). Do a little reserch you should be able to find some replacement cells. Most power tool batteries are sub-c size i think. You can buy these all over the internet including ebay. You can get btteries with a higher mah rating and bake your drill battery last a lot longer on a single charge. If you can use a soldering iron you shouldnt have trouble rebuilding a battery pack especially if the case is held together with screws.
 
This could very well qualify for a "don't try this at home, kids" warning, but I have resurrected Ni-Cads by applying a short, high current forward voltage across them by putting them in series with a car battery. The very high current will burn out the "shorts" in them. There is a good chance of an explosion so heed the warning.

I have also done the freezer trick on Li-Ion batteries to get them to take a charge again.
 
LLigetfa said:
This could very well qualify for a "don't try this at home, kids" warning, but I have resurrected Ni-Cads by applying a short, high current forward voltage across them by putting them in series with a car battery. The very high current will burn out the "shorts" in them. There is a good chance of an explosion so heed the warning.

I have also done the freezer trick on Li-Ion batteries to get them to take a charge again.
Click to expand...
You put it in series with a car battery, thats a new one to me, the way I read was to zap them with a higher voltage.
 
oldspark said:
You put it in series with a car battery, thats a new one to me, the way I read was to zap them with a higher voltage.
Click to expand...
A 12 volt car battery is higher voltage than a 1.2 volt Ni-Cad cell, ten times higher.
 
LLigetfa said:
oldspark said:
You put it in series with a car battery, thats a new one to me, the way I read was to zap them with a higher voltage.
Click to expand...
A 12 volt car battery is higher voltage than a 1.2 volt Ni-Cad cell, ten times higher.
Click to expand...
Did not realize you were doing just one cell and the series thing had me wondering how it is hooked up, I have a adjustible DC power supply and I thought I could just zap the whole battery with 36 volts or so and it would do the job, seems like a lot of people are not in agreement whether it is a good idea or not.
 
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