# Be careful of recharging your batteries



## JimmyC (Jan 31, 2009)

Hey All,

I went out in my shop today and went to take my 14.4V DeWalt battery off the charger, when I grabbed it I almost burnt my hand. The battery had gotten so hot that after I pulled the cord and let it cool down, the battery had permanently fused itself to the charger. I've read where there have been problems with batteries left too long in the charger, but I've never had a problem and this was charging for about 6 days. I usually only leave them overnight, but I forgot about this one. The battery was 4 years old, but I don't know how old the charger was as I have a couple of them and they all look the same.

Anyway, the good news is that's as far as it went towards damage. If it got hot enough it may have been able to ignite my bench and from there…..? Now I 'm off to the store to find a timer for my chargers .

Becareful out there.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

a great tip re: timer!! 
glad that nothing serious happened. Phew!


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## JimmyC (Jan 31, 2009)

I found out that the charger was on the recall list and brought it into DeWalt and they gave me a new charger and battery immediately. Great Customer Service.


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## buffalosean (Feb 15, 2009)

Thanks for the tip. I have quite a few dewalt cordless tools. I forget about the batteries in the charger overnight all the time. I'll look into gettin a timer for my charger also. THanKS


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## Woodshopfreak (Feb 26, 2008)

Just to let you know most rechargeable batteries start developing a memory once they have been left on the charger for about 8 hours, so that would make another reason to take it off the charger. At least the battery didn't blow up!


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## oldskoolmodder (Apr 28, 2008)

Hmmm, makes me think I need to see if the DeWalt I have was recalled and I just didn't know about it. When mine gave out wiht less than 30 charges on it, I gave up on DeWalt products.

I rarely if ever leave my batteries on for much longer than the time needed for charging, but have witnessed HOT batteries from just a few hours on the charger.


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## woodyoda (Dec 7, 2008)

Wasn't it dewalt that had a cold charger that would charge any battery? It would charge a dewalt battery in about 15 minutes, without heating the battery. They discontinued it, because it was too good a product, I guess…..yoda


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## chriswright (Nov 13, 2008)

Yeah, I try not to leave my batteries in the charger for more then a day. My dad had an old Porter Cable 14.4v drill and one of the batteries ruptured in the charger. It didn't blow up and no one got hurt, but needless to say, the battery was worthless after that.


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## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

I try to leave my batteries in the charger for only 30 minutes. If I leave the shop or jobsite for lunch, I remove them. Getting the batteries hot also destroys the cells.


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## dalec (Oct 3, 2007)

I did some research into rechargers and rechargeable AA batteries a couple of years ago. Todd is right, chargers that are not "smart" ones that are programmed to switch over to a tickle charge will continue to operate on full charging mode and will overhead your batteries, shortening the battery life.

I don't know if I would necessarily assume the "smart" chargers to be any safer or will reliably cut back to a tickle charge. I am usually around while my batteries are in the charger and will take them off the charger as soon as the fully charged light comes on.

The idea of using a timer is a good idea and a nice back up. I can be distracted and get into a task and forget little things like these.

Dalec


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

Thanks, yet another reason to add to why I stay away from cordless tools


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## Blake (Oct 17, 2007)

I've been meaning to get a timer for a long time. Besides safety, it also increases battery life. Thanks for the reminder.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

same here *marcb*. I try to keep myself from anything that uses batteries…


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Woodyoda. i've got one of the Dewalt high Tech chargers. But it's only up to 14 Volts so it won't work for the newer batteries.

And yes it was about 15 minutes to charge.


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## MyOldGarage (Jan 6, 2009)

I had a similar experience with a Sears one -but my battery case ballooned out and it deformed the charger. Thankfully the transformer went kaput before more damage was done. Now I have one good (?) battery and no way to charge it. Grr. Leaving them on the charger is my biggest problem . . . I killed a whole set of the Versapack batteries that way. I now just have two "gold" Versapack ones that I keep around because I just can't give up all my old tools.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

I remember reading somewhere that the lithium ion batteries have a non-zero risk of over heating even if not being charged. As I understand it it is one of the limitations from stopping Li batteries from being used in larger applications. Were these Li ion batteries or NiCadmium?


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## GaryD (Mar 5, 2009)

Good idea on the timer. Had a friend who lost his house because of this. I never leave mine plugged in now only chrge them when I am going to use them. Thanks for the tip.


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## DannyBoy (Oct 26, 2007)

A good tip for any recharging station is to have your power supply on a timer. Set it and forget it so that you don't end up with a fire hazard.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

"Home Shop Ideas", 2009, a special interest publication by Wood Magazine, has a very informative article on page 116, titled "Understanding Tool Batteries".

This article is the best practical education on shop tool batteries that I've ever seen.


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Great tip!! One does not think about this too much. Good catch, and thank for keeping us all safer.


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## dustygirl (Mar 11, 2008)

Thanks for the safety reminder.I sometimes forget mine too and leave it overnight to charge.


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## Dustmite97 (Aug 1, 2009)

Thanks for the tip. I guess I will have to check my batteries that are in the charger more often.


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## herg1 (Mar 27, 2008)

bentlyj - In answer to your question you might call the number at the end of the recall notice.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), DEWALT Industrial Tool Co., of Baltimore, Md., is voluntarily recalling about 1.7 million battery chargers used with cordless power tools. The battery chargers include two models of DEWALT (DW9107, DW9108) and two models of Black & Decker Industry & Construction™ (97015, 97016) brands. The battery charger can fail to automatically shut off after the battery is fully charged, which can cause the battery to burst, and poses fire, burn and electrical shock hazards to consumers.

DEWALT has received two reports of batteries bursting and consumers suffering injuries, including minor lacerations and a minor burn.

The DEWALT battery chargers have model numbers DW9107 and DW9108, which is written on the front of the charger. The recalled DEWALT chargers have date codes from 9616 through 9752 located on the bottom of the charger. The DEWALT chargers are black with yellow lettering. "DEWALT" is written on the front of the chargers.

The Black & Decker Industry & Construction battery chargers have model numbers 97015 and 97016. The model number is written on the front of the chargers. They have date codes from 9616 through 9752, which is located on the bottom of the chargers. The Black & Decker Industry & Construction chargers are black. "Black & Decker Industry and Construction" is written on the front of these chargers.

Home center and hardware stores sold these battery chargers nationwide from May 1996 through August 2000 for between $50 and $60. During the same time, these chargers also were sold with some DEWALT® and Black & Decker Industry & Construction cordless tools.

Consumers should stop using these battery chargers immediately, and take them to a DEWALT or Black & Decker service center for a free replacement. To locate the nearest service center, or for more information, call DEWALT toll-free at (866) 543-3401 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or go to DEWALT's web site at www.dewalt.com.


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## joe47 (Aug 8, 2009)

I had a battery charger die and ordered a new one. They guy that I ordered it from told me not to run the charger longer than three hours or it would burn out. I went online and ordered a four hour mechinical timer. I wired the timer ahead of an outlet and mounted it on a "charging board". I have my chargers mounted to the board also. When I need to charge a battery, I just plug in the correct charger for the battery and set the timer to three hours. No more burned out chargers. Problem solved (for me at least).

joe47


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