What’s wrong with these batteries?
tuolumne7
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
I have been loving my Makita 18V Li-ion for the past 18 months…it’s lightweight, compact and packs a punch. However, both of the batteries quit last night according to the charger. This makes me think the charger has a problem. It just alternately flashes the red and green lights and won’t charge the batteries. Has anyone seen this problem before? Is there a fix? I can’t imagine that the batteries are actually bad. Thanks, Chad.
Replies
If the charger went kaput and tried to charge the cells over 4.35V (slightly different for different types Li-ion, the batteries are toast.
My long, thin Makita batteries from the early 80s lasted an amazingly long time v. other batteries, including my Festo drill batteries from 2003, which are toast.The big enemy of batteries is heat, so the stretched-out configuration of the early Makitas kept them cooler than other, tightly-clustered packs. But before you recycle those old packs, look in the Yellow Pages for a battery store. Here in AA, MI, I use Batteries Plus. They'll pop open your old pack and install the appropriate new cells. You don't need to pay for shiny new plastic housings (I've paid enough Festo mark-ups, thank you), your old, scratched-up ones will do just fine.That reminds me, I've got four batteries sitting on the shelf that really have to go in. Good luck with yours!AitchKay
He has LI batteries.The last I heard that unlike the NICAD they don't use a generic battery and thus are not rebuildable..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Bummer. I'll have to check with the Batteries Plus guys and see what they can and cannot do.AitchKay
And the old beat up batteries are not as likely to walk off.For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
You might want to try to pull apart the charger. Some chargers (I'm not sure if makita is one) have a replaceable fuse inside. It's worth a shot!
I had a fuse go out in my Panasonic charger. The fuse was soldered in so I just got some wires on both sides and ran them out to an inline fuse/holder.
I don't keep my batteries in the chargers all the time anymore because of that. I charge them and pull them out.
And I unplug the chargers also.
Edited 8/26/2008 10:55 pm ET by popawheelie
I started to unplug my unused chargers too. I figured it was some of that "vampire voltage" that is causing my electric bill to go up. I also stopped letting my batteries cook till I'm ready to use them. I figure once they're charged, there isn't a whole lot more the charger can do for me.
"It just alternately flashes the red and green lights and won't charge the batteries"
What does that indicate? The legend is often on the charger.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
That indicates that the batteries are no good. It is hard to imagine that they both went at the same time...unless the charger cooked them. I'll try taking it apart as I have little to lose.
Those batteries have some "smart chips" and/or temperature sensors in them.My speculation is that circuit in the charge that reads those is bad..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Plus it probably means that the fuse is not gone.For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Both batterys? Suspect the charger. Do you know anyone with the same system?
Maybe where you got the tool from will lend you a charger to check your batterys on.
These chargers have a fan in them which often gives up. I looked inside my charger and its a cheap fan unit!
The warranty is three years on all but the batts, so you might be covered.
Edited 8/28/2008 6:46 pm ET by USAnigel
That's the best news I've heard yet...I will dig up the warranty before I take anything apart. I thought it was 1 year. Thanks.