HF 20% Off Coupon. Ends 2/27

[Red Green]

And another good till the 27th.

Good in-store, online, phone.

[HeyBub]

Speaking of HF (and maybe others).

The HF rechargeable drills admonish you to NOT leave the battery in the charger for more than "X" hours. This means, I think, that the el cheapo chargers do not have a cut-off when they detect the battery is rejuvinated; they keep charging.

This continued charging severely shortens battery life.

Anyway, on a blog post, one wizard suggested installing a 30 ohm resister in series with the positive wire from the charging circuit to the battery pack. This addition turns the charger into a trickle-charger so you can leave the battery in place forever without ruining it.

'Course this drives up the amount of time necessary to actually charge the battery, but this could probably be overcome with a SPDT switch added to the circuit.

Details are left up to the reader.

[Robert Green]

rejuvinated;

Easier to just get a twist timer switch that can be set from 0 to 12 hours. Plug in the charger, twist the dial and it can't charge more than the maximum amount on the dial. Got mine from Amazon for about $10.

-- Bobby G.

[HeyBub]

>

I thought about that, but it still leaves the contacts of the battery as part of the charging circuit. I wonder if this might not DISCHARGE the battery?

[Tony Miklos]

>>

I highly doubt it will drain the battery but anything is possible. Add a diode in series with the resistor and remove all doubt. I use a similar timer and set it for __ hours to charge the battery, then leave it set to charge 15 minutes every day. It made a huge difference in battery life for the "el cheapo's".

Many years ago I used a "wall wort" to make a trickle charger with a switch to open the circuit and add a resistor inline for my 40+ year old garden tractor. I could leave it on for a day then flip the switch for just a float charge indefinitely.

[HeyBub]

A diode! Brilliant!

In life, sometimes the simple things are, well, simple.