Cordless palm routers - charging/runtime

[R D S]

I haven't kept the manual and can't find info online.....

Has anyone got a cordless palm router? I have a Ruyika 21v 6000mah, it hasn't a charging station but a power pack and DC plug that goes into the battery. I've had it a while and never used except to test it and got about 5 mins out of it yesterday before it went flat, but I charged it for a couple of hours this morning and got about 10 mins.

I'll leave it on charge for longer obviously but what should you expect from these runtime wise? I'm reading online tat it should go for 250 feet depending on the job, i'm getting about 20.

[Dave Plowman (News]

21v 6 amp.hr? That is a vast battery.

[Theo]

You can get two, and a router, for £80 allegedly.

is what everyone else calls 18v or 20v)

Since, even on offer, it's hard to get Makita batteries for less than £10 per Ah, I suspect they are lying about the capacity.

OP: look at the rating of the battery charger and do some sums. For example, if the output is rated at 21V 1A you're not going to be able to charge a 6Ah battery in less than 6 hours. If the battery goes from empty to full in less time, the capacity is lower.

Theo

[R D S]

Yeah, I had that epiphany, it is a 1A charger, I can't remember the last time I was expected to wait 6+ hrs for something to charge!

I'll see what sort of life I get after an all nighter, but I'll probably get a compatible battery and/or faster charger if I feel like i'm going to use it more often. I think it will take Makita batteries but i'm not paying that money, I wonder how one would sort the wheat from the chaff buying unbranded online?

[R D S]

Actually, I might just buy that, it looks the same unit, it would be handy to have 3 batteries and not need to change blades when you are doing more than one profile.

[John Rumm]

IME, buy the Makita batteries, they work out cheaper in the end!

If it has a brand name on it you recognise, or you built it with Samsung, LG, Sony etc cells, then it is probably ok.

If it claims 6Ah and costs £30 then it is probably at best ok for very light duty.

I have noticed that a number of chinesium tools seem to be coming with what looks like a Makita 18V LiIon battery fitting these days. The other day I was partly tempted by a cordless router offering from Rutlands, that looked like it would use Mak batteries, but their tech support was managed a spectacular answer that managed to be completely information free, so I did not bother!

Perhaps we should start a wiki page of what tools work with what batteries?

[Theo]

+1. The Chinesium batteries can actually cost more per Wh, and possibly don't last for as many cycles. 18650 cells: power tools:

It is also very likely not 6Ah, possibly more like 2Ah maybe with some extra 'ballast'.

You know you want to :-) (unless such a list exists elsewhere)

One thing that would be interesting to know is whether the tools do the right thing with battery management. The Makita batteries have a third contact which is a simple 12v output that goes low when the battery decides it's had enough, which is to tell the tool to shut down. If the tool ignores that contact it's possible to brick the battery by over-discharging it. I suspect the tools don't use that, perhaps because the BMS of the clone batteries doesn't do it that way, which makes them risky to use with genuine Makita batteries.

Theo

[John Rumm]

Well It would probably be nice - alas I have no first hand examples to go on...

I have seen some youtube vids where they have tested tools that use Makita pattern batts (with varying degrees of actual compatibility)

Yup I have a couple of battery adaptors that let me run my old 18V Makita tools that were designed for NiMh batteries on the current LXT ones. You have to take care to stop draining the battery as soon as it shows indication of fading since the tool has no way of knowing it ought to cut out.

The other thing I have noticed with most knock off versions is that the chargers don't include the forced air cooling that is present on the real ones. So you would also have to be careful using the clone chargers on hot batteries (real or clone). It also probably suggests that they can't charge as quickly either.

(The advice from Makita for dealing with hot batteries these days runs contrary to the older wisdom about not charging a hot battery. They now say you should place them on charge ASAP while still hot. The charger senses the temperature and then runs the fan to cool the battery before it starts charging it)

[John Rumm]

Or you can get it with 15Ah batteries, and a 1000W input power... :-)

Let's hope those batteries can supply 55A!

(FWIW the Katsu branded knock off of the Makita seems to get some reasonable reviews)

[Andy Burns]

Just replace the 18650s with 15,000 mAh MegaDeathFire cells from Wish or AliExpress

[wasbit]

I mark the length of time to charge on the mains adaptor with a silver marking pen. Nothing worse than hoping the battery will charge in an hour but having to wait 3 or 5 hours.

[R D S]

It does die instantly from full speed rather than wane. Hopefully that's a good sign.