So my packs are dying and after looking into it, they use 3 1300mah 15A batteries in series…
I think it would be awesome to swap to samsung 30q’s … I wish there was a triangular holder that would accept 3 individual cells instead of me disassembling a pack, and
reusing the jumper plates, wires, etc….
There isn’t any form of bms in them, and they open up without cutting. I’m about to upgrade my cells as well. Though I think I’ll be trying a few cells for fun/experiment. 20S, 25S or H26, and 30Q. My 3/8” impact gun will probably like the 20S I’m guessing, but the 25S will probably be fine as well. We’ll see
I’ve taken a few apart, here are some pics I took:
Not same high end, Porter Cable 12V small drill. Would cut-out holding the chuck be it even in low speed mode. LVP would trip. Changed the cells from ‘red labeled’ to 25R. Now holds up even at high speed.
I’m planning to change all my Makita power packs as starting to show some wear and loss of capacity. Cells are Sony VT3 1500mAh / 20 amp. Just waiting for the right price on something equivalent as 20S. Have 10 packs of 10 cells each and 3 packs of 5 cells. Looking at quite a considerable cost upgrade plus the re-work. Have found some cheaper clones on Alibaba but doubt they use good cells. May purchase one for investigating…
I was thinking that its a PITA to remove and replace…
Could I just use a flat 3 cell holder that I wire a receptacle onto? Then it’s just a matter of popping in 3 cells
I mean I lose the universal pack function with M12 tools…… but the idea of going from 3s 1300mah to 3s 3000mah is very appealing…
There is some proprietary electronics within the battery pack to make the device safe*. Changing to higher capacity is appealing, watch out to not overdrive the switched triac in the tool. Had one fried when I upgraded a battery pack to 5 Ah when the designed value was 3. There is voltage drop when the tool is stressed. Higher capacity doesn’t flex as much so net power demand overshoots the rated components.
Addendum; Referring to 18 - 20 volt battery packs. * Usually a thermistor or like for overheating cut-out.
Looking to power a jacket actually
Those M12 battery packs look very close to this one I restored months ago:
There is no BMS in the above packs, also manufactured by Bosch I think (with references 2607336013, 2607336014, 2607336027, 2607336863, 2607336864, …). I think they're pretty much the same thing despite the slight differences.
Soon after I found some inexpensive 3rd party compatible packs which looked good, but who knows.
Take a look here: Looking for tips for rebuilding power tool battery packs.
“BMS” meaning?
If it isn’t common knowledge, a lexicon should be provided.
Battery Management System
Basically a scaled up version of what’s on a “protected” 18650