# When the batteries won't charge....



## KnotWright (Nov 6, 2008)

Ok so I've got a 14.4 volt Makita drill and impact along with an older drill and flash light combo. They've all served me well, and even had one drill rebuilt because I'm just so comfortable working with them.

Here's the heart breaker, I suppose age and this 100+ degree summer has taken its toll on the batteries, they only hold a charge for about half as long now and a couple have failed completely.

I've checked online and for one battery is 74 dollars plus shipping. I hate to just put both drills and the impact on the shelf, but can't really justify spending 150 bucks on a new set of batteries when I can buy a completely new set of 18 volt Makita's for about 129.00.

So the question is, what do you do with your old outdated cordless tools? Yard art projects? Keep investing in new batteries as long as they make em? Does anyone know what ancient tool god to sacrifice the old tools to, in order for a productive year in the workshop?


----------



## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

I just took my old DeWalt 14.4 stuff to a local site that sells stuff for charity. Bought the 18v Makita. I don't have time to keep floggin' an old tool ( my humor for the day).
Bill


----------



## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Here's an alternative solution.


----------



## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

Got a welder?


----------



## Howie (May 25, 2010)

You can get those batteries rebuilt for about 1/2 price.
I had the same problem with DeWalt. The batteries were ridiculously priced. I junked the drills (3) and started buying Milwaukee.
BTW I have a Makita 14.4 that is in the same boat(anchor).


----------



## tburritt (Dec 17, 2009)

Like Bertha said - Got a welder?

Google jumping tool batteries and you will see a method to revive your old batteries.
I have done this many times and it works! Biggest thing to remember with most batteries (but not all) is to drain them completely before recharging and do not leave them on the charger for long periods of time.

I have a lot (16-18 now) of the Dewalt 18V Ni-Cad XP's and I keep reviving them every so often but one by one they are finally biting the dust so I will have to upgrade to the newer style. I really want to go get the Festool drills but cant quite afford them yet but hopefully soon.

Troy B.


----------



## sawdustphill (Jan 13, 2011)

I just sent a 14.4 volt fien battery to mtobattery.com yesterday I opted for the heavy duty rebuild; it is suppose to be better than new. because they use better parts than the chinese do. It costed $52.00
and that included shipping by ups in both directions, and the heavy duty rebuild. The reason I went this
route was because a fellow lumberjock used mto with good results but he went for the regular rebuild
which is cheaper. They posted a review on although I can't remember which post it was nor who posted
it.
Good Luck Phillip from Ky.


----------



## maljr1980 (Sep 4, 2011)

thats how power tools go, i had a large bosch 18v kit (drill, impact, circular saww, sawzall, jigsaw, planer, and radio), and whenever i needed batteries i would go to the pawn shop and buy a drill because they usually came with 2 batteries and a charger


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Been there, done that. Ridgid has lifetime guarantee on batteries.


----------



## longgone (May 5, 2009)

I have 4 makita 18v lithium batteries that I have been using for 4+ years now. there is a battery shop near my house that advertises rebuilding power tool batteries. When my batteries start to go bad I will give this rebuilding a try.


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I was lucky and bought a couple of replacement Ridgid batteries at abut the same cost as rebuilding. Those were older before the lifetime Guarantee. It pays to google the best price before you jump in with both feet or batteries ;-))


----------



## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

I have a great use for old cordless drills. I build large scale model locomotives and the motor/gear trains are ideal to power them. Old Makita's are good tools and it may be more worthwhile to get rebuilt batteries than to buy the latest versions. The new ones may not be as good as the older models. I have some Makita's that were built in Japan over 30 years ago. I would not exchange them for a newer Makita built in China.


----------



## Sawkerf (Dec 31, 2009)

My daughter and SIL gave me an 18v Li-Ion combo set four Xmas's ago when my 14.4v stuff was beginning to show it's age. When I took the 18v stuff to the shop, I went thru the 14.4v tools and gave my SIL all of the tools and three decent batteries. Two 14.4v batteries were scraped. He's an occasional user and has had the 14.4v stuff ever since. I expect that he will get quite a few years use out of it before it completely dies. - lol


----------



## Sawdust2 (Mar 18, 2007)

Took mine (Bosch 14.4v) to ""Batteries +" and had them rebuilt in a few days for less than half the cost of new.

Lee


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Lee, did they put new cells in them?


----------



## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

Dead rechargeable batteries, a welder, and a Google search…sounds like a recipe for a house fire to me…


----------



## StumpyNubs (Sep 25, 2010)

I've never tried to revive them. I used to have a power tool cemetery in my shop, but it got too big. So I started draining the acid out of them and drinking it- you know… to get the power inside me!

Here's the welder fix.


----------



## bhack (Mar 19, 2008)

How about using a corded drill? That is what I use.


----------



## Chipy (Apr 20, 2011)

I have worked in the Florida heat for 15 years installing cabinets and I am convinced that its not the heat that kills Nickle cadmium batteries but the fact that home use will not cycle down the batteries or completely drain them.I used a 14 volt Dewalt hammer drill for three years and never had trouble with the battery life in fact the motor burnt out first.


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I would not fool around with battery tools if i were not all over construction sites on top of ladders. In the shop and around home corded tools are cheaper and last forever ;-) well good ones do.


----------



## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

Chipy, the Dewalt books says to never completely drain your battery on their tool. At least that is what my owner's manual said. If your completely drain the battery you run the risk of charging one or more sells in the reverse polarity. The reverse polarity will drain the adjacent cells. My book says to remove the battery from the drill at the first notice of a low charge and recharge it. My charger was a 1 hour with a top off feature. I had good success with this procedure. The Dewalt company designs batteries to last 5 years. I am not sure how they put the calendar in them but they will last about 5 years. Then it is cheaper to buy a new tool than to go to Dewalt and buy batteries. Just my experience. My brother-in-law is from the old school that all batteries take a set and develope a memory. They claim technology has gotten past that. The brother-in-law has massive battery failures.


----------



## PutnamEco (May 27, 2009)

I keep rebuilding my batteries so I have backup tools, It is nice to have an extra drill/impact if you need to swap bits often. I also use my older tools as loaners. If I don't think I'll get a tool back in good condition or don't want to be bothered with loaning them again, I'll loan out my oldest tools (Makita 9.6v), if it's some one I trust, I'll lend them a more modern tool. Old tools are also useful if you KNOW your tool won't survive some abuse you may have to subject it to. Did you know cordless tools will work under water?

Cordless tools have progressed considerably since the days of the 14.4 Makita. If I was in your shoes, I would be looking at some new Lith-Ion tools as well as rebuilding the batteries. The new compact 18v Lith-Ion tools are about the size and weight of your 14.4v Ni-Cad tools, the 12v tools might be of interest to you if you where looking to match performance.


----------



## patcollins (Jul 22, 2010)

Different battery chemistries like to be treated in different ways. If you have NiCADs then by all means discharge them completely dead for storage and they will last much longer, run longer, and have more oomph. Infact if you zip tie the trigger on your drill down and just leave it that way then that is best, this process is known as dead shorting. If you have NiMH batteries their care is much simpler, leave them partially charged, dont store them dead or all the way charged. And if you have Lithium Ion batteries whatever you do dont discharge them completely, most are "smart" and cutoff befor they get to zero.

I use to race radio controlled cars competitively for many years and have spent thousands of dollars on chargers, grading machines, and other battery related accessories. The best thing about the lithium ion batteries is that all of this is obsolete and there aren't any voodoo rituals to the lithium ion batteries. It was funny battery packs that had 10 seconds extra run time would cost twice as much.


----------



## fussy (Jan 18, 2010)

I just had a DeWalt 14.4 volt battery rebuilt locally in one day for $35. (Batteries Unlimited-a national franchise) It was a heavy duty rebuild and works fine. I have 2 more I'll take in as soon as the wife gives me some money.

Steve


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Pat, Guess it is like every sport, costs big bucks to win ;-)) Wonder what they put in for that extra 10 seconds? More Gold!!?


----------



## wisconsinjimmy (Sep 22, 2009)

Go to this link and it will give you an idea also check out this instructables site it is great.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Saving-Upgrading-an-Old-Cordless-Screwdriver-to-/


----------



## mbs (May 8, 2010)

I researched all the information listed above and the best deal I found for my 12V porter cable was Batteries Plus for $43 including tax. They gave me 2.1 ma which is better than the original batteries.


----------



## patcollins (Jul 22, 2010)

IF they are NiCad batteries there is hope…..

I use to race radio control cars back in the day when NiCads were the only type of battery. We would run them down completely, I mean dead dead, then we would short the + and - together and let them sit till the next week that they were used. It was very suprising but that kept the batteries in better shape than any other method.

For a drill, zip tie the trigger to make sure the battery is at zero voltage (if its not you will damage the battery or possibly start a fire) then use something to connect the two terminals. I have had batteries that would not charge sitting like this for a year and magically they were brought back to life afterwards.


----------



## Gshepherd (May 16, 2012)

Knot, I feel your pain….. I have a bunch of the 14.4 and several of the 12v Makita kits myself. Several are still brand new and I love them. My 12v has started to give me some issues with the trigger but hey after 6 years and about 3 pails of the deck screws I would also have a few issues. I know I bought some after market 12v battery off ebay that were 3 mi-ah rated for around 35 bucks and they are great. They even fit the 14.4's so just look around and you will find them cheaper than 50 bucks for a battery and there are several sites where they show you how to even replace the battery inside as well….. There has been a ton of good info on here from shocking them back to life which I have never done but i know of a few who have done it and it does work most of the time to having them rebuilt to even better specs than before…. I be curious to what you do and how much it cost since I have so many of them self….

Just did a quick search on fleebay and a 14.4 3ah is 38 bucks brand new, 1 year warranty… not bad at all and I am sure there are other good deals to be had vs replacing the whole units…...


----------



## Loren (May 30, 2008)

There are li-on batteries coming out for some older drill
formats… they have their own charger that plugs into
a little port on the side of the battery.


----------

