DeWat Cordless Drill 12 volt Powerpack

[rick7938]

I have 2 DeWalt 12 volt cordless drills - 1 is a standard drill, the other is a nicer XTR. Wouldn't you know that within the same month 3 of the 4 powerpacks either completely quit or had very reduced voltage. Only one still shows 12 volts or more on the voltmeter.

Batteries Plus in Fayetteville will rebuild them for $35.00 each which I hope is a better value than $64.00 each at Lowes and HD. The two standard powerpacks are screwtops so they are not problem to work on. The XTR powerpacks are glued together. The technician at Batteries Plus said that he could try to get it apart to repair it by tapping it with a rubber mallet until the glue released or the housing broke.

My question: Does anyone know how to go about getting these things apart? Even if I have to use my rubber mallet, I would probably be more patient with my powerpack than someone else who doesn't care. Even if I break it, it can't be any less useful.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Gofor]

I have the same thing: 2 DeWalts: one regular 12 v and one XRP. Got two batts with each. Just checked mine and at first thought all were glued. Then I noticed that all have one screw in the center of the bottom under the label.
My XRP came with the "quick" charger (45 min instead of one hour) As these batts are getting older, I have found that the older long-charger puts a better charge on the XRP batts. I built a couple decks and ramps this summer, and found that the first use each day didn't go far, but the battery went to full charge after the second use.
Let us know how the rebuild goes, as I might send a couple myself. Can't believe the 12 v batts cost more now than the 18v did when they first came out!!

Hope this helps
Go

 

[chris99z71]

Just curious, are you batteries kept in a climate controlled area?
I just ask because when I had a detached (not climate controlled) garage, I always brought my corless stuff inside to keep warm. I've heard that temp extremes are bad for any kind of battery, just as it is for car battery.

 

[Tarhead]

Rick,
Over at the woodnet forum a guy named Jason frequently contributes advise about rebuilding batteries and has good things said about his rebuilding service. May want to contact him .
Battery Rebuilders Battery Builders www.batteryrebuilders.com

 

[NCPete]

There is a guy here that used to post kind of regularly that does batteries...lemme see if I can find him...

here he is: junkman ! ok, I had expected the system to link to him??? let me go find him again, and that old thread....

I, too, am interested in hearing how this 12 Volt DeWalt battery saga plays out, as I have an older 12v DW which needs a battery rebuild, and possibly some brushes???

 

[rick7938]

Chris,

As to your question about controlled climate, you raise a point that I had not even considered. For the first few years that I owned the drills, they did, in fact, stay inside the house. However, once I got my little workshop, which is not climate controlled a couple of years ago, they have stayed in it.

Very interesting and something I need to consider when the new powerpacks are repaired. I will let every one know how the repaired powerpacks perform.

 

[Bernhard]

I am running in the same problem with my battery packs. Luckely mine a re all screwed together. Since the cells are shot anyway, you may try to heat the glue with a hot air heatgun. I had good success with a similar problem. It will take awhile, but eventually I could pry apart with a knife.

As for rebuilding: Just bought a couple of packs 2400 mAH Sub C cells of ebay. I think I got them for for 1.20/piece on ebay. So I am going to rebuild mine this weekend. There are a couple of thoings to be careful about: Commercial battery packs are 'spotwelded' together with tabs, this will produce much less stray heat than soldering, since it is quick. When soldering need to use 50W or higher solder iron preferably with a 1/4 " spade tip. Smaller irons do not have enough heat capacity and take too long to heat the tap and solder, so too much heat will be dissipated into the battery (battery in effect acts as a heat sink). Even with a larger iron you need to be quick; heating NiCad's is bad. Also, these cells have a little vent hole to let gas escape in case of a fast or catastrohic discharge, don't plug it up>> they can and will explode. I usually place same tape around my solder points to prevent hot solder from running off into the vent or -worse- short the battery.There is very little (depends on the brand of the SubC cells) separation between the two poles.

I got the 18V DeWalt, so it takes 15 subC cells per battery pack. $35 form Battery Plus is not a bad deal, I would just make sure that they use at least 2100 mAh subC's. So far I accumulated 4 18V packs and 2 14.4V packs...only have one of each that still holds charge. To save a little money I am rebuilding it myself.

Also, I'd stay away from metal hydride batteries (i.e. lithium ion). They tend to produce higher power but are more expensive, drain faster and cannot be recharged as manty times as NiCads.

'nuff said

Bernhard

 

[rick7938]

Got my two DeWalt 12 volt powerpacks back from Batteries Plus on Tuesday. They both charge up to over 13 volts on the meter and seem to hold their charge about as long as I remember that they did when new. They were $35.00 plus tax each with a 3 month warranty. I'm happy so far. For those interested, the 18 volt pack rebuilds are $50.00.

 

[NZAPP1]

Thanks Rick I have some 14.4 packs that need to be overhauled