What did you mod today?

Agreed on all points djozz. Money for hobbies just isn’t there all-at-once, so if I can drib and drab it out over a few months all the better. In the next couple of weeks and I’ll put in an order with Cutter. Thanks djozz!

Thanks kiriba, so I suppose that this charger relies only on using a batteries from same batch, matched and with similar internal resistance.

I’ll have to test it somehow before ordering new batteries. If termination is based on time I can use only same batteries as before because drill is used in workshop with many same battery packs. To keep track this single one would be impossible. Batteries inside this pack are Samsung 18650-13L. Don’t know how old this pack is but it is few years old for sure.

For a hobby machine is good enough and , as Kiribaru said , is doing the job...But I have to disagree about protection and balancing system that it is attached to almost all the battery packs for professional machines ( heavy duty ones ,with several charging and discharging cicles per day ...) , exactly for the reason NOT to let the cells being unbalanced and spoiling the whole pack !...

Pairing the new cells before installing ( capacity and internal resistance ) would be a good path to follow...

Regarding the charger with a fixed time ( 1 hour ) charge , this could be easy modified from the internal electronics , usually is about a capacitor charged via a resistor until the voltage reaches the triggering point . Double the value of capacitor should double the charging time ...

I completely agree about balancing cells.
If charger terminates charging after, let’s say an hour, then that means you have to discharge battery pack completely before charging again. What would happen if you began to charge it when half discharged?

You can check batteries after some time of real usage. Ask to bring it discharged, check cells voltage difference and then charge and check one more time.
Complecated circuits can balance charge cells, but often kill cells by discharge one or few units witg extra lvp.

Lets clear some things about BMS ( Battery Management System) . There are 3 different types of modules used for the battery packs , as following:

Protection Modules , that are meeting the basic requirements :

Over current protection at charging & discharging ( any value from 1-100A and above , chosen by the manufacturer of the battery pack )

Over charge protection for each cell , at a max. 4.25V

Over discharge protection , at 2.9V.

Balancing Modules ,that actively stops the charging and discharging of a weaker battery from the pack, and adjust the charging current in order not to undercharge some and overcharge some others .

BMS Modules , that are combining in one, the 2 described above.

These modules are a must in the laptops and professional cordless machines , in order to expand at maximum ,the life of a battery pack.

On the other hand , for the hobby machines is accepted not to have this modules , due to the lower price and the fact that , not being heavily used , the unbalancing process will be slower .

About the chargers :

A professional one will have a feed back from the battery pack ( via 2 extra slots ) , stoping the charge process as soon as the charging current is dropping under a certain value.

A hobby charger is likely to have a timer for charging process due to the fact that is missing the feed back , and as a protection measure. For this particular type is more likely to get an incomplete or overcharged battery pack

As a simple rule : if you have a battery pack with all 5 slots populated with connections ( not only 3 like , like in your case ) , and the charger with the same number of slots connected to the internal PCB , there is a good chance to have a reliable charger and a protected and balanced battery pack .

But , most of the time , the price will tell you what you paid for...

Discharging completely a li-ion pack is not a must , by contrary , only the Ni-Cd ones has to be like that , due to the well known memory effect of those .

In your particular case I have to ask you one question : does your charger have some indication about the charging process ( ex. red led = charging , green led=fully charged ) or something else ? Even on the cheapest chargers an indication of this type is present !!!...

Thank you for that comprehensive info about this topic :+1: .
I don’t have charger now but I’ll get it this weekend so we will see.
Funny thing is that this tool (wurth impact drill) is sold as a professional tool and just this battery pack costs around $170-$180 so go figure. I’ve seen BMS modules in much cheaper tools.

You're right , for this price you would expect a much better quality .., but , as sometime is happening , you pay more just for the name of a tool (or a fake one !!!) , with all the counterfeits all over the world is hard to know , for an average customer... ( who would disassemble a tool right in the store ?...)

As a good example , I got 2 Bosch screwdrivers ( needed for a house restoration ) , one made in Hungary and one in China ...Both of the them were looking the same , on the outside , same box package , made in the same year , 2017 , same price and bright new both of them . Long short story , in normal use the one from Hungary was , by far , better.., more powerful , longer battery standing , in a word , much better ! After the job was finished , I had the curiosity ( kill the cat ?...) to open both of them.., and then I understood that the China one was a ordinary fake ( smaller motor and driver , no BSM in the battery pack , internal charger with ONLY a resistor for limiting the current...!!!! But I paid the same amount of money for both ! Later , and too late , I noticed the " Made in..."

And right again , myself I saw better Quality in much cheaper tools... This is the world we are living in...

My Charger has both.
It has 4 battery contacts and is time based with a display showing the remaining charging time.
Its a “18V Ferm Premium Power” Charger.
I have to charge my new build Samsung 30Q Pack two times. If I charge it a third time, the display shows only 3-5 Minutes remaining time.

I think good and relative cheap equipment from the Netherlands.

Today the Boruit RJ-02 hypetrain chooched in to my station. I eBay-privacy film’ed it into a buttery smooth beam.

A Sofirn C8 with a LUXEON V, MTN-17DDm driver with Bistro and a Foybezel™ style bead-blasted Convoy stainless steel bezel.


How does beam look like?

Pretty nice khas, would like to see beam shots and you thoughts on the throw compared to other LED like XP-L HI. Heat and runtime on high?

Here is some crappy beam shots taken with my phone


Sofirn C8 Luxeon V


Thorfire C8S XP-L HI


Sofirn C8 Luxeon V (left) Thorfire C8S XP-L HI (right)

Both with a MTN-DDm driver and a VTC5. The XP-L HI draws 5.78A on high, and the Luxeon V 10.22 A, dropping to 9.33 @30 seconds.

The XP-L HI has the most throw and the Luxeon V has the most output. I am not the best photographer, but I will describe the beamprofile of the Luxeon V as a XM-L2 turned up to 11.

The Luxeon V puts out quite a bit of heat , I have just taken my old dog for a small walk maybe 10-15 min . I started out with a fresh VTC5 and ran it on high the whole time it did get hot but not to hot to hold. When I came home the battery was @ 3.66V and it pulled 6.22A on high.

I like the Luxeon V the tint and output is really great, but I don’t think a DD driver is best suited this LED. I have build a Eagle Eye X6 with a LD-B4 6A driver and I think it’s the perfect match for the Luxeon V because it gives you the ability to adjust the current in UI and chose between CC and DD on high mode.

very beautiful results!

Swapped the driver in mu Tool AA !
Big thanks to Giorgoskok for sending me a 15mm driver rocking Biscotti firmware !
Now all my Tool AA is missing is a decent clip to become my new EDC :

Nice one X3 !

DQG Slim Ti extension piece light

Based on this comment on another thread I got an Eagle Eye 18350 tube and tested with my HC30. It didn’t make contact, so I used thin strips of aluminium foil roled in positioned around the driver contact edge and a strop on the tail for it to work.

What it looses in waterproofness it gains in cuteness

Hey guys, need advice, have here JetBeam RRT-2 Raptor that I need to open (driver craped out). I have general idea how to do this but that implies applying force and I wouldnt want to screw something up (wrong way) :smiley: