Makita Battery Charging Problem

[wiz561]

Hi!

I just bought a Makita BDF452HW about two or three months ago and having a problem charging the battery. The one battery charges fine, but when I put the other battery in, the charger lights flash green and red alternately. From what I can see, this means that the battery is broke.

The battery model number is bl1815. I was wondering if there was a simple way I can "reset" the battery to fix this. I bought the drill from home depot and I suppose I could go back there, but I doubt they will do anything to help me. I also could not find a customer service email on the Makita page. There's service centers, but I would hate to bring the battery there because it is a drive from my house.

Thanks in advanced for any help! Mike

[dpb]

...

Battery infant mortality is a fairly common problem. Should be replaceable under warranty. Normally box retailers don't do warranty service but you might get them to trade the whole thing out if you try. Otherwise, whatever Makita says for warranty service rules...

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[dpb]

ransley wrote: ...

Pretty much make the tool worthless, wouldn't it? :(

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[ransley]

Its easy to kill a battery, a Nicads are discharged just when the drill slows, running it down more can reverse a cells polarity, it is also best to let a pack rest a day before recharging constant use is hard on it.

[Pete C.]

Pretty much. Also one of the reasons everyone has moved away from ni-cd batteries for cordless tools. I think most are ni-mh now with lithium ion appearing on some now.

[Richard J Kinch]

You just need a battery of batteries.

[Jim Yanik]

Richard J Kinch wrote in news:Xns99B3933D6DF09someconundrum@216.196.97.131:

IMO,letting the pack rest for say,30 minutes(enough to cool down,if overly warm),before recharging,is sufficient. "rest a day" is a waste of time.

[willshak]

on 9/22/2007 7:13 PM Jim Yanik said the following:

My wife just bought 2 new battery packs for a Ryobi 12v drill. The instructions said to 'condition the battery' by charging the battery for

4 days with a day of rest between each charge!

[tom]

Have had one of those for many years also. Have bought other drills after using up Makita batts but always seem to go back to the 9.6 and new batts. Like an old girlfriend I just can't seem to dump.

[SteveB]

I have an OLD Makita 9.6v. drill. I have had these things since they were new, and have used up at least a dozen of them, wearing many of them out from commercial use. A few died from falls from the top of carports and second story windows.

I now have one of the survivors with FOUR batteries. It takes two chargers and four batteries to get a days work done. And a pisser when you have six screws to go and not a battery in the crew up to the job.

One of these days, I am going to take my long handled ball peen hammer and have an orgasmic good time killing the whole lot of them. Then I'll drive to the borg and buy a decent drill.

I guess Granny's on life support, and it's time to pull the plug.

Steve

[dpb]

Ayup... :)

The charger w/ the Milwaukee has a temperature sensor built in as I suppose most better/higher-priced units do. Cheaper, probably "not so much"...so, I stick it on the charger, when it's cool enough, it starts charging...