anybody ever fix or replace the innards for lithium batteries and so?

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jeanw

jeanw

Feeling the Heat
Sep 23, 2008
389
ky
Got a Rigid small rech battery Hubby messed with. Still got the non charging Roomba battery... Jus ollectig dust. Gotta downsize so we can see this "money pit" before it kills us.
well
Meantime I sent for 3 replacements Roomba batteries from Ebay.
Roomba is doing its thing right now.
Usually recycle them at Lowes..the rechargeable batteries that is
anyone ever open up rec drill bateries or say Roomba batteries and "replace" the innards?
thanks yall
 
You might be talking about replacing the individual cells in a rechargeable battery as in a rechargeable drill. I read a few extensive articles on the subject, and the short story is that there is WAY too much stuff going on to make it a good idea or significantly cheaper. Some replacement cells were excellent for delivery all their power in case you were using a saw, and others were great at just doling out the juice for a flashlight.

I also think the cells were somewhat mated to the charger. It may have been a charge sensor in the casing has to tell the charger to stop charging, and if the cells don't match... You certainly can't mix cells. Anyway, I cursed Ryobi and bought replacement batteries.
 
yeah, was in HD few yrs ago the reg knowlegeable tool guy was there. I heard him tell someone else prob someone he knew that with the right softwear somehow the batteries could last longer or better. I dont remember which. Now I wish I would have spoken up and asked. At least the Rigid has lifetime batteries if registered but must return them to service center.. we have did that quite a few times.
otherwise found out the Ryobi ones are guaranteed THREE years. wish I had known that earlier OH KEEP YOUR receipts. I found out its best to xerox your receipts as the blankety blank thermo ink comes off so easily. esp when carried in my pile of receipts in my large purse. LOL..
So I file them under "tools" in a folder in a file box....and label them
THE lady over phone said no need to register the Ryobi ones just keep track of the receipts.
Oh also buy them when its TWO for one price prob soon again since Fathers DAy is coming up. I get mine shipped to home by spending $49 free ship since we are miles from one....
just a suggestion yall
thanks
 
jeanw said:
yeah, was in HD few yrs ago the reg knowlegeable tool guy was there. I heard him tell someone else prob someone he knew that with the right softwear somehow the batteries could last longer or better. I dont remember which. Now I wish I would have spoken up and asked. At least the Rigid has lifetime batteries if registered but must return them to service center.. we have did that quite a few times.
otherwise found out the Ryobi ones are guaranteed THREE years. wish I had known that earlier OH KEEP YOUR receipts. I found out its best to xerox your receipts as the blankety blank thermo ink comes off so easily. esp when carried in my pile of receipts in my large purse. LOL..
So I file them under "tools" in a folder in a file box....and label them
THE lady over phone said no need to register the Ryobi ones just keep track of the receipts.
Oh also buy them when its TWO for one price prob soon again since Fathers DAy is coming up. I get mine shipped to home by spending $49 free ship since we are miles from one....
just a suggestion yall
thanks
Click to expand...

I think the life of the battery has to do with the charge cycle. I think these days total discharges are bad, and endless charging is bad. So I use them, top them off for 30-45 minutes, and then unplug the battery and then unplug the charger! We'll see, eh?
 
Nicads (NiCD) need to be run down fully or a memory function takes over and limits its cycle- this additive. the next generation were NiMH which are slightly less prone to the memory build, Lithium are the latest and do not have a retention problem. Most of the NiCD and NiMH pacs are made up of a stack of Sub-C cells enclosed in a housing of some sort - no electronics on that side its all in the charger. There are different charge rates for the 3 types. You can buy bulk sub-c cells with tabs off e-bay or other sources and save about 30-40% vs sending them in to be rebuilt- which is about 50% less than new oem unit. providing you have the ability to do simple soldering and a bit of know how- not rocket science.
 
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There are companies that will take the packs apart and rebuild them with new cells online- you can search around. There is no magic science or software to lithium's however they do handle different than NiCD and NiMH as mentioned above.

There are ta few challenges with trying to rebuild a liIon pack at home:
1- First you have to determine what type of cells. Is it Lithium Cobalt (typical laptop cell)? Lithium Cobalt polymer? Lithium Managese? Lithium Iron Phosphate (LIFePO4, A123 Systems)? there are about 3 or 4 others...
2 - Loose Lithium cells are not nearly as easy to obtain as loose NiCD/NiMH cells (can buy from any hobby supplier)
3 - The packs were factory assembled with spot welded metal tab connections. At home you will have to solder the cells. If you are a novice to soldering this can be tricky as you want a good solid bond while avoiding damaging the cells by getting them too hot.



To add to the above responses, some general comments about the different battery characteristics:

- Unlike NiCD (and to a lesser extent NiMH) Lithium Ion do not tolerate ANY overcharge. You can not just slow charge them all the time, the charging devices for LI tools are always smart CC/CV chargers that sense the max voltage and stop

- Unlike NiCD, packs of lithium will not self balance among the cells while charging. For this reason all lithium chargers sense the voltage of each cell independently and use techniques to vary the current and balance cell by cell (that why the packs sometimes have 6/8/10 pins on the connector). In either pack type replacing one bad cell in a brand new pack can work, but replacing once cell in an older pack can be problematic due to mismatch under charging.

-NiCD are tolerant of being stored at pretty much any state of charge. Lithium Ion last the longest when stored around half charge, and will have severely shortened life when stored full. Some devices try to extend their life by only charging to 80% full and limiting discharge depth to 20% full. ( LiFePo4 is an exception to this rule)

- Lithium Ion lifespans in both cycle life and calendar life are much lower than NiCD. Typical specs are 300-500 charge cycles depending on usage and only a year or two of calendar life before significant capacity loss is evident. I suspect a lot of power tools use the 80% max charge trick to achieve these 3+ year warranty lives.

If you want to learn all about batteries, the http://batteryuniversity.com/ website is a good starting point.
 
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I personally have given up on the battery units - too much trouble always discharged when I need it ect. Now I just get corded units. If I have to go mobile I have a small genny for that purpose. If and when I find a small genny set up for lpg that will be the next thing I get- idiotic EPA fuel drives me almost as nuts as dead battery powered tools. Is it handy no but they work every time I plug them in. And yes I have a pretty good assortment of muscle powered items for when nothing else is feasible.
 
Iv mostly all LI-ion now since most of my NIMH-Nicd have all died. (Craftsman ones lasted longer than Dewalt) IV had excellent service from my craftsman LI-ion Batteries. Just got a big Royobi asst tool kit to replace my Dewalt tools, mostly because a 4AH battery can be had for about $50 vs $89 for the same in craftsman or dewalt. Also royobi has that 3 yr warranty that was mentioned earlier and they have a broad selection of tools including a great 1700 Lumen LED work light ,a Zenon spotlight and a mid size weed whacker to name a few. Royobi seems to have well thought out designs these days.
 
I can't believe I'm seeing TWO expert level posts in dealing with these battery packs. Any day I get to do learning such as this is a good day!
 
Rigid has a lifetime warranty on their portable rechargable tools and batteries. That should be worth something. They also have a 5Ah battery largest iv seen so far although it $113 for 1 vs $99 for 2 of their 4Ah bateries which is a much better deal. I use my royobi LED worklight for camping so its nice to dual purpose these tools. I get about 4 hours at 1700 Lumens on a single charge,lights up the whole place.
 
Makita has had an 18v 5ah battery for some time now. Mine are 5 yrs old and have done a lot of heavy duty projects that I never thought could be done with a cordless drill. They are still going strong. You've inspired me to look into a camping light. Their 600 lumen lantern lasts for about 11 hrs in 360º mode and double that in 180º mode. That should be perfect and will double as a good emergency light.
 
Iv got an old makita set for about 20-25 years now was my first rechargeable tool set. The batteries still work although they dont hold much charge anymore. It was stolen recently ,and its comforting to know the thief went to a lot of trouble to steal a worn out set of tools and left behind much newer and more valuable tools that were better concealed.
 
We got into some Milwaukee stuff this spring. Fuel. M18, 5ah batteries. Seriously impressed with their strength & run time. Now to see how long the batteries hold out, but the 3 year warranty on them was a plus. Now I'm on the lookout for things to build out the collection with.
 
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