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I have a Makita Drill/Driver/Flashlight set. One of the batteries is showing an error when I try to charge it. It will spin the tool and light the flashlight (it is nearly out of juice). However, I cannot charge it. I put it on the flashlight and let it run down until the protection circuit cut the flashlight off. However, it still gives an error when trying to charge.
I believe it is about 7 years old. Shall I assume it is done/dead?
I took advantage of the 2 battery, 5AH $99 HD Christmas special in 2014, thinking the batteries were EOL, so I still have a workable tool :-) .
I tried not believing. That did not work, so now I just believe
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Don't you love posting one question, and getting an answer to a different one? Here ya go -- if you need them rebuilt, these guys are great, and not very expensive.
MTO Battery
[url=https://www.mtobattery.com/][/url]
Are they dead? I bet they are. But I'll let the experts give expert answers.
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Aram, always learning
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I would think it is toast. Battery Plus does it too, if a local one no shipping. I am assuming the previous post involved shipping. So a price comparison.
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MTO battery does not list the Makita battery on their site. So I started searching (should have done that before posting). Apparently there is a design flaw in the Makita batteries. The circuit used to protect the battery pack from being totally drained is connected to a single battery cell. When battery is left setting, the monitoring circuit drains that single cell. This then throws the Makita charger into error mode.
I can charge it with non-Makita equipment. I have a variable voltage bench top power supply. I can try charging the battery with that, to see if I can bring it back to life.
I went back and checked my receipts. I bought it 7 years ago. Seven years life on a battery is not bad. The old ni-cads would not go that long.
I tried not believing. That did not work, so now I just believe
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Last I knew, MTO was not rebuilding Lion batteries.....7 years is a good run, time to move on.
Ed
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Very interesting timing of this post. I bought the 18v Makita drill and impact combo from CPO as a rebuilt set back in January 2009. The drill just quit back in the summer. The impact, charger and 3 batteries are still going strong. Now for the interesting part. Back in Dec of 2015, I bought 3 bare tools and received 2 new 4ah batteries and a charger. When some of the batteries (new and old) are charged using the new charger, the lights show defective. If I put them in the old charger, all is well. I just use the old charger more than the new. Oh, in case you are wondering, these have been have been my daily work tools almost constantly since buying them in 2009. All of the batteries fit all of my tools except for the new drill. Only the new batteries fit. I'm very pleased with everything so far. 7 years on the drill before it died, not bad.
I no longer build museums but don't want to change my name. My new job is a lot less stressful. Life is much better.
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(10-31-2016, 09:01 PM)museumguy Wrote: All of the batteries fit all of my tools except for the new drill. Only the new batteries fit.
You can make the batteries fit the new drill. I don't know what the long term ramifications are.
I tried not believing. That did not work, so now I just believe
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I had the same thing happen recently with aboutthe same age batteries. Turned out my charger was the problem. Batteries charge perfectly with the new charger I bought.
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(11-01-2016, 08:05 AM)cvillewood Wrote: I had the same thing happen recently with aboutthe same age batteries. Turned out my charger was the problem. Batteries charge perfectly with the new charger I bought.
That is interesting, especially since I read about one other person who solved the issue with a new charger. I am not blaming the charger yet. I have 4 batteries and 3 charge just fine. Of course I could buy my son a set for Christmas and borrow his charger, pre-Christmas, to see if it works.
I tried not believing. That did not work, so now I just believe
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(11-01-2016, 05:22 AM)Cecil Wrote: You can make the batteries fit the new drill. I don't know what the long term ramifications are.
My original batteries are the smaller 1.5 ah batteries. I have the newer 4 ah batteries and they fit the drill. I prefer the bigger battery in my drill and a smaller one in the impact for doing hardware.
It's also interesting that others have said that a new charger solved their problem. My old charger works better than the new one.
I no longer build museums but don't want to change my name. My new job is a lot less stressful. Life is much better.
Garry
