I saw an 18V cordless drill body for $6.99 with no battery can i wire it for li ion?

[Bort]

I already have this identical drill with a battery so this is a thought experiment more then anything

Yesterday i was at a clearance store and i saw an 18V NiCad drill body for $6.99. How well would it work (discharge curves and all) if i used 5 li ion batteries for it, i don’t have a carrier that plugs in to the drill but perhaps i can make one, but how would i handle charging the batteries, preventing reverse current problems and keep the batteries from over discharging?

[xmint]

You could wire them up with balance leads protection circuit and a socket for a hobby charger’s balancing plug. Been playing with similar for an old black and decker 18v.

Went down the path for an experiment of using a couple of laptop batteries, worked ok but the control mcb of the packs got very hot fast LOL.

[Bort]

@xmint

You could wire them up with balance leads protection circuit and a socket for a hobby charger’s balancing plug. Been playing with similar for an old black and decker 18v.

Went down the path for an experiment of using a couple of laptop batteries, worked ok but the control mcb of the packs got very hot fast LOL.

i wonder if i should just buy a depleted li ion battery pack and replace the batteries since it will have the balance and over discharge circuitry

[Werner]

There was a thread here were someone wired old lithium batteries from an MacBook in the old batterycase. He used it with a bunch of tools.

Something else to use salvaged cells in - powertool packs!

I’ve been wanting to do this for ages and I’m extremely pleased by how well it turned out. I have a whole bunch of B&D 18V powertools (drill, sander, saw, strimmer, hedge trimmer, hand vacuum) and although I think the tools are great, I’ve never been very happy with the batteries. The don’t hold their charge very well, weigh a lot, take ages to charge and don’t last very long, especially in the strimmer and hand vacuum. As they all use the same battery, I figured that converting some of them …

[xmint]

@Bort

@xmint

You could wire them up with balance leads protection circuit and a socket for a hobby charger’s balancing plug. Been playing with similar for an old black and decker 18v.

Went down the path for an experiment of using a couple of laptop batteries, worked ok but the control mcb of the packs got very hot fast LOL.

i wonder if i should just buy a depleted li ion battery pack and replace the batteries since it will have the balance and over discharge circuitry

Would be the easiest if it were similar voltage. But where is the fun in that :bigsmile: 0:)

[Bort]

@xmint

@Bort

@xmint

You could wire them up with balance leads protection circuit and a socket for a hobby charger’s balancing plug. Been playing with similar for an old black and decker 18v.

Went down the path for an experiment of using a couple of laptop batteries, worked ok but the control mcb of the packs got very hot fast LOL.

i wonder if i should just buy a depleted li ion battery pack and replace the batteries since it will have the balance and over discharge circuitry

Would be the easiest if it were similar voltage. But where is the fun in that :bigsmile: 0:)

These guys had lots of fun

Samsung Galaxy S5 Hammer Smash Fail = Battery Explosion

[xmint]

@Bort

These guys had lots of fun

As long as they did not file a PayPal claim saying it was delivered like that >) :face_with_monocle:

Next time my phone plays up I will show it that video J)

[Jerommel]

I was thinking the same, as my cordless drill has ancient NiCd cells…
It’s also 18 Volts.
But decided to buy a new one with 3S1P Li-Ion pack, containing 3 cheap 1300mAh 18650s.
They may be especially suited for high current though, because a cordless drill can be up to 150Watts (or something like that) when it it’s tough going.
I don’t think laptop pulls are high current cells usually.

I would have bought it though.
Probably a 2 gear machine, nice.

[Bort]

@Jerommel

I was thinking the same, as my cordless drill has ancient NiCd cells…
It’s also 18 Volts.
But decided to buy a new one with 3S1P Li-Ion pack, containing 3 cheap 1300mAh 18650s.
They may be especially suited for high current though, because a cordless drill can be up to 150Watts (or something like that) when it it’s tough going.
I would have bought it though.
Probably a 2 gear machine, nice.

I can still go back and buy it but is there a reason to, i have one already and its got about 10 hours of use on it.

I don’t think laptop pulls are high current cells usually.

very, very good point