Drill Battery Replacement

[busastars]

I got a Draper Expert 14.4v Drill, picked it up for buttons ages ago and got my use out of it.

Batteries could now do with replacing and kind Draper only screws there battery housing together. Anyone here changed just the batteries on there Drill?

Problem is I don't have any batteries in the house to match them up with and the code is not helping when google'ing, anyone help with the size, ( B, C, D, etc )

They are Panasonic 1.2v 1300mAh P-130SCA Nickel Cadmium

Cheers

 

[Ian D]

Think they are called Sub C Cells.
Not cheap though.
And you need the tabbed ones.

 

[Wozzaaah]

I think that even if you could find them it wouldn't be cost effective to replace them. 20 of those is going to set you back a fair bit of money.
Might be best cutting your losses, buying a new drill and ebaying that one as 'spares or repairs'.

 

[busastars]

I bought it ages ago to do a few small jobs, only cost me a few pound so it has paid for it's self. Just handy as a screwdriver out doing fence work.

Sub C, that's them, just over £22 for 22.

I remember reading on the forum about resetting rechargeable batteries by shocking them, carn't find the post now, anyone know of this.

 

[gavuk]

I have posted a youtube link before showing a mig ,shocking ni-cads back to life...try this one ....linky instructables

 

[Wozzaaah]

Not too bad then, that's way less than I was thinking. You'll probably find that some are still ok but tbh at that price I'd change them all anyway.
I've tried shocking single 1.2v cells back to life with a 12v dc adapter but it didn't work.

 

[shenion]

Yes, they look like sub-C sells.

I have done some of my packs; just did the LiIon pack on my Milwaukee drill.

Here there are places that specialize in the batts. They will sell a set of batts all welded together. A set of good cells will cost you about 1/2 to 2/3 what a new pack will cost.

You need high-current batts, not generic Chinese ones.

I picked up the last cells off ebay. I did a search for reviews of cells and founs the top brands that could handle current. The LiIon packs were about $85, a set of 6 cells cost me just under $50.

On my Dewault drill, I was looking at buying a new pack. Cost $70 (9.6v), then saw a new drill with two batts for $99.

Edit: shocking cells is a short term fix. If they have shorted, they will continue doing it. Even if it works, the batt will likely have a high leakage anyway.

 

[busastars]

Cheers guys, just went out to the shed and the one battery charged up to over 12v so I am guessing I have two dead cells in there, Drill worked ok. Charging the one I took apart so will try that in a few hours.

I may hunt down the dead cells/batteries and just replace them, should take me an afternoon to do.

 

[Rick]

You can "zap" nicd/nimhs back to live with a big capacitor.

They are the same as used in model car's. Buy a couple of the cheapest 7.2 with flying leads then just join the wires.

Personally i'd buy a new drill.

 

[rtbcomp]

When my Wickes 14.4v drill's batteries failed I fixed it with a new one and connected a pair of long leads with a blocking diode installed in the now empty battery case so I could run it off a 12v car battery. Works a treat.

 

[Rick]

When my Wickes 14.4v drill's batteries failed I fixed it with a new one and connected a pair of long leads with a blocking diode installed in the now empty battery case so I could run it off a 12v car battery. Works a treat.

Haha, I forgot about that actually, I did it years ago, I just removed the battery and connected a couple of spades to the little tags inside though.

 

[busastars]

When my Wickes 14.4v drill's batteries failed I fixed it with a new one and connected a pair of long leads with a blocking diode installed in the now empty battery case so I could run it off a 12v car battery. Works a treat.

That was my second thought, I will see if I can salvage the batteries first if not use a big 12v battery.

Just don't like to waste things when I know it works. Only occasional use for fencing etc as a quick drill & screwdriver. This is why I bought it cheep, had a few small jobs to do away from electricery and I know if I bought new it would be dead by now from lack of use.

 

[shenion]

Take the good cells out of the two packs and make one good one. Then replace all in the second if you want to.

Mixing cells will cause problems with charging as they will not peak at the same time as the others.

 

[jaykay]

maplins do the cells.just need a bit of assembling.

 

[FranV8]

Used to use these model car racing back in the day.

You don't need tabbed, using at least a 40 watt soldering iron you can solder direct onto them without any harm.

Changing the lot is the right thing to do, you want the whole pack matched in condition and capacity, else the life of the cells will be reduced.

A lot of laptop batteries use the same size cells.

 

[Wedg1e]

If you get the tagged cells, you'll probably find it's nigh-on impossible to solder them together by 'normal' means.

When we rebuild packs at work we use a blowtorch and plumbers flux to flash-tin the cells, then cool them quick in a damp cloth. Piddling about with soldering irons doesn't work - in fact I think you can see in the pics further up the thread that the cell tags appear to be spot-welded.

 

[FranV8]

I used to have quite a few put together or repaired with a soldering iron, like I said, something with a bit of poke (in soldering iron terms) . I've got two of the popular red ones, name escapes me now.

 

[shenion]

Sand the ends and they solder easier. Use flux.

 

[Shox Dr]

I had read, that cells over time crystallise, to such a size they will not hold charge.

The way to revive the pack is to "shock" it with a higher voltage than the cell/pack. This apparently causes the crystals to breakup, allowing the pack to hold charge again

I'll not bother putting kinks up, as it's easy to find by google

 

[eddie49]

It's getting difficult to find loose NiCd Sub-C cells, especially at a decent price. They used to be about a Pound each, from CPC Farnell. Due to EC regulations against use of the heavy metal cadmium, they tend to be only available now as made-up replacement batteries, or the 7.2v model car packs. There are some eBay Sellers doing tabbed NiCd cells in quantity at a resonable price, but they are all based in China. When I tried that, the parcel never arrived ...