Dead DeWalt Batteries

[simonl]

Could well be a myth.

But the guy that repaired my Ni-MH ones talks about it on his web site, Li-ION section copied below...I had no reason to doubt him.

As a battery repair man it would be a bit short sighted of him business-wise to limit his potential repair service unnecessarily.

Do you have any reason to think he is mistaken?

Alan

Lithium Ion- Advantages, disadvantages
Advantages are no memory effect, much greater capacity for same weight as Nimh or Nicad. Ability to hold full charge for long periods. Disposal is non toxic.
Disadvantages include - liable to explode if overcharged, or damage if cell voltage drops too low. For power tools this can be an abrupt stop as sensors detect this. Generally not as good power output as Nicad or Nimh (tends to die under heavy loads). Complicated charging circuits with circuit boards inside the battery.
What equipment should I buy - NICAD, NIMH or Li-ION?
My advise would be to avoid Lithium Ion batteries and stick to the traditional HQ NICAD or NIMH type.
Reason for this is because manufacturers of Lithium Ion batteries have become very clever in their design of protective circuits that are necessary but easy to include extras that prevent repairs, thus ensuring you have to buy a replacement from them at their price - which will be high!
Makita for example on their 14.4V and 18V, 3Ah range the circuit locks up after 750 charges, it will no longer charge on a Makita charger again, regardless if the battery is still good. Or if it detects a fault on the cells, after 3 attempts to re-charge, locks up and will never charge again on a Makita charger, even if the cells have been replaced. There is no way round this and Makita will not even answer queries about it. There are also 3 different types of Li-Ion cells used by various manufactures which are all difficult to obtain in the UK.

Most, if not all of that can be discredited frankly. Bit of it might have been valid in the early days of Lithium Ion but it looks as though he's trying to cling onto the technology that he knows how to replace. With nickel based batteries all you needed was a spot welder & a hot glue gun. It's possible to replace a cell in a lion battery, but it needs to match with the other cells, so needs some expertise.

 

[Jon Smith]

As a side note, I bought a heap of Milwaukee cordless tools - they are fantastic however I needed a small part for the electrics on an impact gun the other day and Milwaukee supplier over here only do the complete electrical unit so that would cost £74 + delivery, the impact gun could be replaced completely for £109, not sure how they justify not keeping a £2 switch in stock!

I have had De-walt in the past for cordless drill/driver but they didn't last, I have not had an issue with the Milwaukee version although I still use dewalt for a cordless framing nailer as they are the only people who do a decent one without having to use gas and battery (Paslode) although the framing nailer has a pretty small battery and seems to last ages.

Regards,

Gixer

Most common make in for repair nowadays, not many parts available so mostly scrap.

 

[75]

I had the same with a DeWalt battery - I left it in the charger for ages when it wasn't plugged in and there must have been a very low drain on it. Battery was totally flat and the charger wouldn't even recognise it. I bought a replacement DeWalt battery off eBay or somewhere, thinking I'd have to chuck the old one.

Whilst the new one was charging and the charger light was flashing, I thought I'd give the old battery one last chance and I quickly swapped it into the charger - hey presto, that one started to charge too! That was about 2 years ago and both batteries still going strong - can't even tell which was the old one and which is the new one!

 

[Essex stalker]

I have resurrected them by flashing them across a car battery but you do need to be very careful and it's not recommended as they could in theory explode