Hello to all,
I have a 18v Dewalt kit that includes a hammer drill, circ saw, recip saw, and most importantly, a flashlight that I got a couple years ago. I tried to charge the batteries and both would just barely hold any juice. The charger had a code that indicates I should replace the both batteries. I seemed a bit strange that they would both go at the same time.
I took the drill the batteries and the charger to a repair place and was told that one of the batteries wouldn’t hold a charge while the other was ok. He also looked at the charger and said that it seems voltage was a little higher than normal.
So I decided to go to HD and get the two pack of 18v batteries for 100 bucks and just for the hell of it got a charger for 60 bucks. I got home and tried both of the new batteries in the new charger and got the same code that the packs needed to be replaced. Ditto for the original battery in the new charger and the new batteries in the old charger. I even tried the same set up on a different circuit and got the same thing.
The chargers and batteries were all room temperature.
Any advice would help, Thanks turtleboy
Replies
oh gawd turtle, I pity you for the responses you are going to get to this thread you started.
Live long and be in peace.
Did the DeWalt repair place offer to try recharging your good battery on their charger? Did they test your charger, other than for voltage? If there's no battery in it, the voltage will be higher than what is normally stated for the battery after a full charge because there's no load. When you switch batteries, do you wear them down so they're almost totally dead or feel very hot? That's about the worst thing you can do to batteries and motors. You shouldn't charge them when they're really hot or cold and if you discharge them totally before charging, they won't last long regardless of what you have heard from anyone who doesn't design or service these tools. Since you got the replacement charger and batteries from HD, there is always the possibility that you got a charger that was returned and abused, or it's just a bad one. I would return it and try it before you leave and see if they may have a bad batch. Rechargeable batteries are good for around 100 cycles, + or -, depending on how they were treated. They will still take a charge, but after their prime it won't be a full charge and the performance won't be quite up to spec, although it will still work. That's just the reality of the materials used. I would call the repair center again and ask what causes the indication you had on both chargers. "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Edited 12/11/2004 12:09 pm ET by highfigh
I recommend you approach your local friendly electrical contractor and beg a partially used container of pull-in compound< I'm partial to yellow 77 but the aqua-gel is better in really cold weather.Go to your grocery store and buy a box of regular saltine crackers and a six pack of your favorite adult malted beverage. Drive across town and acquire a cheap motel room for the day. Next you need to hunt down your regional distributor for dewalt 18volt batteries. Now that you've located the wire lube and the rep. liberally coat each 18 volt battery and return them in an appropriate manner, they're quite used to this and actually have come to enjoy it to some extent. After you've completed this task return to motel, open the crackers and a drink, lie back and enjoy because this is the only satisfaction you will recieve for the entire span of dewalt battery ownership.
If more would remember to skip the lube DW would be more prone to listen....
the batteries would be right tight against their heads.....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
I bought a pile of various used electrical tools awhile back.
I roofed a relative's place once for no pay and brother was suppose to help. Worked all day and he shows up at tail end for 1/2 hour. Sometimes I don't forget stuff.
For Christmas I'm going to give him this little used dewalt recipicating saw that was in the pile.
That oughta teach him.
good home for the DW but he doesn't deserve it...
give him a bazillion tons from the stash of coal yur getting from me..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Santa, sometimes you can be so cruel.
keep it up...
yur nieghbors are gonna be pi$$ with you because of the over flow...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
I have a recipe for 80 grit, jalapeno KY jelly for when the batteries go to their final resting place.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Im thinking it takes 24ga stainless for coal and I got 26 so I better shut up.
This coal takes a 100 story stack with multiple scrubbers...
fer starters....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Sometimes you will get that code when the outlet you are plugged into has reverse polarity. Try another outlet on another circuit in the building. DanT
"Sometimes you will get that code when the outlet you are plugged into has reverse polarity. Try another outlet on another circuit in the building."I don't see how that can affect the charger. First most of them are only 2 prong so they don't have any refernece.And even if theyb did have a ground it should not be connected to any of the electrical componets.
Just the day to debate Dan huh? At a couple of houses we worked at the charger went into the odd blink mode saying the battery was bad. But the battery was just used for a period of days on that job. So we used our handy dandy little receptacle tester and it said reverse polarity. We moved to another outlet and all was well. And I use DW 18v stuff so I thought it relavent.
Once again just my experience and what worked for me, your experience and wisdom may be different. DanT
http://forums.prospero.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=27798.1
http://forums.prospero.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=43731.16
http://forums.prospero.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=1202.14
You da man!
Remove the plastic caps from the terminals.
only 25 posts and yer already a wisenhiemer???
OK...you can stay.The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Way back when...
Didn't somebody post instructions on how to crack open a battery (dewalt or other), find the bad cell (or whatever it's called), replace it with a good one, reassemble, and end up with a good battery?
I most definitely might have this wrong, but I thought he wrote that inside each battery is a stack of "cells" or whatever he called them...kind of alike a stack of coins. Usually one goes bad, taking the whole battery down with it.
Essentialy, you'd have to sacrifice one bad battery and use the good cells out of that one to repair other bad batteries.
I think...therefore I'm confused...
Mongo
Most tool batteries can be rebuilt, for about 60-75% of the cost of a new battery. Places like Batteries Plus will do it for you.You can DIY, but often you really need a spot welder to assemble the new cells.It's not generally a good idea to replace just a single cell, except in the case where one fails in a nearly new battery. The cells need to be "balanced" in terms of age/capacity.There is an old (and slightly dangerous) trick sometimes used to "clear" shorted cells: Open the battery and short between the two ends of the stack for several seconds. This will sometimes "burn out" a short in a shorted cell. Note that you have to open the battery to do this since the virtually all batteries include a fuse that will burn out if you short the external terminals.
Open the battery and short between the two ends of the stack for several seconds.
That sounds vaguely familiar to stories I hear tell of people wanting special paid channels on their cable hookup without paying for it.
Something about running a cord from a 110 house line in a a standard receptacle and hooking it to the incoming cable line for a second or two thus burning out the blocker cylinder out on the pole.
No, I haven't tried it as I have little interest in television anymore.
that is not to say I would in the event
Edited 12/14/2004 4:38 pm ET by rez
Very interesting. Thanks.
Thanks for all the help even that advice from cantbuild. I have tried different circuits and then remembered that my other charges seem to work fine on that same cicuit, but just for the hell of it checked the polarity and it was ok. I will be going back to HD after i get in touch with the people at DeWaste tools.
Thanks again Turtleboy
no problem, your welcome!
Excellent, I'm in!!!!!
I left the caps on because it keeps the battery from feeling loose, if I take them off will the battery fall out? I don't want it to hit my foot because I don't wear steel toe.
"I don't want it to hit my foot because I don't wear steel toe."
In that case, jut tape it to the drill bit!
I'm in favor of trying your new charger and batteries first in a different outlet and then at another location - someone else's house, work, etc.
I have the same (or similar) DW 18v setup and have been happy with it other than the fact that someone stole my drill. I had 2 DW drills before this and in each case after 5 years or so the batteries would become weak - expected obsolescence to me.
i was hope'n someone had a real answer to this ie:recall, free replacement ect... i know i have at least 20 18v nicad dewalt batteries that will not take a charge most look like they are new... i'd have no problem at this point buy'n 1 new one from a big box and return'n one after another of my dead ones... i have several that have "blown up" heated up and split open on the charger... dewalt did replace these at no charge at the service center...
pony
Measure the voltage on your battery pack after it is charged.
The internal cells are either good or bad to the tune of 1.4 volts each.
Take the battery apart with a Torx screwdriver and test the cells individually, cut out the ones that are zero volts. Leave the jumper tape as long as you can on the good cells. Take good cells from a donor battery and solder in the tapes observing polarity. Takes 20 minutes per battery to fix if there are only a few bad cells. The jumper tapes are tinned and solder quickly. piece of cake to fix.
Just tried the charger that I got from DeWalt after writing to them. Well that too gives the same code about replacing the battery. Tried it in another circuit and still no good.
So what now? 3 batteries (2 new, and 1 old) and 3 chargers (2 new, 1 old) not one combination will work.
Thanks in again, Turtleboy
Sometimes life can be cruel and then there's more.
You could just sell the stuff to DanT, jump ship to a Bosch or Panasonic and...
be done with the tale.
it's a DW....
ya gotta limit yer expectations...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!