Dying Panasonic 12v Drill Batteries???
Hi,
Not sure of the problem here…seems like both batteries have lost about 75% of there capacity. Used to go for ever and now just maybe 50-100 1 5/8″ drywall screws.
This drill is about 3 years old and I’d guess only about 100 charges per battery…if that.
I’m guessing it’s the batteries even though it’s suspicious that both would go weak at the same time even considering they both have about equal time by average. Charger seems to be operating correctly.
I never run them all the way down.
I recently left both batteries on the charger for a week accidently.
Can I get them rebuilt? Or new ones? Hoiw can I make sure it’s not the drill?
Than ks,
Al…..
Replies
your charger may be corrupting yur batteries...
yes you can get them rebuilt..
try them in another drill...
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!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
IMERC, is there a way to test whether a charger is corrupting batteries? What is this corruption?
I've a 10 yo DeWalt 15 minute quick-charger that I am wondering about.
First thing is whether the charger shuts off when it should. If the battery gets too warm then the charger likely isn't shutting off. The battery should be slightly warm while charging, get a bit warmer about shutoff time, then cool down once charging is complete.Of course this is assuming that the charger's working at all, and that the batteries are getting some sort of charge. The charger can be dead, or it can have a shorted rectifier and be putting AC on the battery. Also, the internal regulator can fail, causing it to put out too much current. These latter failures will result in the battery getting hot right from the start.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Here's what's going on:
Both 12v DeWalt batteries (one is 11 yo; the other is 9 yo; yeah, I know, lol) run out of power after driving 10 to 12 1.5" roofing screws.
I rotate the batteries through the 15 min. quick-charger, and it signals full charge after 3-4 minutes. I don't know if the old batteries are refusing the charge, or if the 11 yo quick-charger is defective.
I hate the idea of getting another drill-driver; the one I have is so well balanced and fits my hand, etc. Buying a new battery to check the charger is stupid if I ruin the battery. If the charger is f'd, then I guess it is time for a new tool. But the current situation is very inefficient and costing me time and money.
Edit: the batteries get slightly warm (not even warm-hot) which is normal for this setup.
Thanks Dan.
Edited 10/9/2006 10:17 pm ET by Pierre1
Kinda sounds like the batteries are toasted. Do you have a decent voltmeter? Check the battery voltage right after charging and again after driving one or two screws. Should be 12-13V after charging and not drop below about 11.5 after driving a couple of screws. If the voltage drops off real fast then there's likely a bad cell.Panasonic makes better than average chargers, in general.[Oh, you've got the DeWalt. There were some bad DeWalt chargers awhile back. You might try calling DW and giving them the model number of your charger -- some folks have gotten free replacements.]
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Edited 10/9/2006 10:40 pm by DanH
Fully charged, one reads 14v, the other 15v. Both are warm, not hot.
Tomorrow I'll measure the voltage when they run out of torque.
Measure them at several points in the discharge.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
And also measure them tomorrow before you start using them.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
no clue how to..
when my Bosch acted up (suspect) I took it ind and they swapped it out for me...
turned out that is what it was..
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!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
BTW... Bosch swapped ot the batteries too...
I did try a different charger on the "bad" batteries and there was a bit of improvement..
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!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
All these anecdotes - yours and others from this and other threads - confirm that when it comes to electricity, we're all still standing in fields flying kites during a storm. ;)
Tomorrow, I'll chart each battery's performance in a systematic way and report back.
Ok, so I ran a test and kept track of the voltages. Geez, talk about a boring thing to do...feel sorry for the FHB tool testers.
Two 12 volt DeWalt batteries, battery I and II.
Event I II
Full charge last night. 15.8v 15.3v
11 hours later, at work start in am. 15.3v 14.9v
after driving 1st roof screw in am. 14.8v 14.6v
2nd screw 14.7v 14.5v
3rd 14.6v 14.4v
4th 14.6v 14.4v
5th 14.6v 14.4v
6th 14.5v 14.3v
7th 14.6v 14.4v
8th 14.6v 14.4v
9th 14.5v 14.3v
10th 14.5v 14.3v
11th 14.5v 14.3v
12th 14.4v 14.3v
Remove all screws from testpiece. 14.0v 13.9v
Voltage at 9pm. 13.7v 14.4v
Of course, I never used the darn things enough today to run them down, so I have no run-down data. Will collect that at next opportunity.
Battery II's recovery of 0.7volts at the end of the day is surprising.
Batt I lost 0.3volts during the same period because I used it a bit more when driving small assembly screws to make a light jig.
Both are still above 12 volts though.
Those numbers don't strongly suggest a dead cell -- there's no smoking gun so far.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Thanks for getting back to me on this Dan. I'll provide more data when I get it.
Get them rebuilt. I use Procell.com for that. It is cheaper than buying new OEM batteries and they are at least as good. Sometimes it seems that just buying a new drill is even cheaper than just the batteries.
You can get them rebuilt, usually for about 75% of the cost of new batteries.
Three years and 100 charge cycles is not an excessively short life for drill batteries. Leaving them on charge for a week didn't do them any good, but wouldn't "kill" them. It can cause them to "depolarize" or some such, however, requiring a few charge/discharge cycles to bring them back to optimal condition.
bump
be whatta ya tink
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin Laminate is just a picture of hardwood printed on countertop for your floor.We can imagine something that only exists in our heads, in a form that has no measurable, tangible reality, and make it actually occur in the real world. Where there was nothing, now there is something.
Forrest - makin' magic every day
Go away.
The funniest thing about this tagline is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late for you to stop reading it.
http://www.hay98.com/
Tried to tell ya, man.
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin Laminate is just a picture of hardwood printed on countertop for your floor.We can imagine something that only exists in our heads, in a form that has no measurable, tangible reality, and make it actually occur in the real world. Where there was nothing, now there is something.Forrest - makin' magic every day
F. U. LOL I love my little drill. Yea I got to charge the batteries up if it's been sitting for a week. But they last just fine after that. It's light and strong enough for what it is. I'd buy it again no problem. And you can't beat the price.
The funniest thing about this tagline is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late for you to stop reading it.
http://www.hay98.com/
Gotta admit the price would be hard to beat.
Now makes me wonder about that particular model and if they dumped them because of the battery thing.
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin Laminate is just a picture of hardwood printed on countertop for your floor.We can imagine something that only exists in our heads, in a form that has no measurable, tangible reality, and make it actually occur in the real world. Where there was nothing, now there is something.Forrest - makin' magic every day
http://www.voltmanbatteries.com/
You pay freight to Mansfield OH, they pay freight back to you.
Takes about two weeks.
I haven't run them much yet - had a problem with one and Voltman told me they had had a failure in their soldering machine; had me send it back and they paid freight both ways.
BruceT