All…I have 6 one hour Dewalt chargers and 14 ,18v batt. In my unscientific testing I don’t believe all the chargers , charge the same battery the same way , which leads me to believe chargers deteriorate or wear out . The batts and chargers have been purchased at different times some chargers are 3-4 yrs old.
If you know of any way of accurately test our have experienced the same possible problem I would appreicate being enlightened (which I need a whole lot of 🙂 )
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I can't answer your specific question, but the DW chargers have had several recalls issued on them so your theory is valid IMO. Try googling DW, cahrgers, and recalls. The problems are that some can cause fires
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There isn't aything in a charger that wears out or deteriorates with age. Either they were defective to start with or they became defective.
Yes, there are ways to test them, but they require some knowledge of electronics. The easiest way to do an approximate check is to charge a battery fully, then discharge it through a work light. Note the time it stays lit (amount of charge). Fluorescents are best, as they will drop out at a certain voltage. Then repeat the process with a different charger but same battery. If there is a large difference, there is a problem.
DG/Builder
Right. There's generally nothing other than the contacts that's likely to deteriorate slowly with age/wear. Most failures will be sudden -- the thing will stop charging, burn out the battery, or catch fire. In some cases, though, there may be a partial (though still sudden) failure, causing an improper voltage (high or low) or reducing charging current substantially. And of course there's always the ever popular intermittent failure.About all you can do to test the unit is to test charging voltage/current. Voltage should be fairly easy to test -- rig some small wires to the battery terminals and insert in the charger. Measure the voltage as it charges. In general, the voltage should be 10-20% higher than the battery rating after 5 minutes of charging of a partly-discharged battery, and the voltage should drop to no more than 5-10% higher than the battery rating when the battery is fully charged.Note that you always need to measure the voltage "under load" -- with a battery being charged. Many chargers won't even produce a voltage with no battery in place, and if the do the voltage is apt to be much higher than the battery rating.Current is harder to measure and harder to quantify, but should start at a peak rate appropriate for the battery type and then taper off to near nothing as the battery charges.
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<Many chargers won't even produce a voltage with no battery in place, and if the do the voltage is apt to be much higher than the battery rating.>You may be right, but just as a point of information, all of the close to 10 chargers I have lying around here, show the correct charging voltage, with no battery in place. They are all quite old, however.Thon
If you've got a digital volt meter you can easily be sure that at least the voltage they're putting out is above the nominal voltage of the battery you're trying to charge. That should get you started, and may tell you all you need to know.
Thon