Tool Batteries

[Nirodac]

My Makita 1210 battery pak finally gave up (actually all three did). Looking for a replacement on the web. Came across several battery supplers with great prices, but dubious creditentials. Most seem to be in California, several web sites with different names, have the same look and feel (not to mention the same bricks and mortar mailing address, and grammer errors). So the question (number 1), are these batteries any good (they have a one year warranty). They run about 1/2 price of a name branded pak. I'm guessing they are a China speacial, knockoffs.

Question two, where is a good place to buy name brand batteries. I've googled Makita batteries and found several sources, but I'd like some customer feed back. Toolbarn looks good, but doesn't appear to ship to Canada

Thanks N

[HerHusband]

A little over a year ago I ordered a couple of replacement batteries for my Craftsman drill/saw/light from:

arrived quickly, and have performed well. A bit more power than the stock batteries, and last longer. They are a generic battery (no brand name), but I'd definitely buy from them again.

Anthony

[Lew Hodgett]

Nirodac wrote: > My Makita 1210 battery pak finally gave up (actually all three > did). Looking for a replacement on the web.

Have you tried e-bay?

Lew

[Bruce Farley]

[Mark & Juanita]

I just had batteries for my PC and Milwaukee drills rebuilt by Batteries Plus. At $48 per pack, they were a bit more expensive than mail-order, but they are local and I didn't have to pay shipping.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[C & E]

You might consider having your own units rebuilt. I haven't done it yet but this company received some favorable comments on other woodworking forums. I;m planning on sending a couple of out-of-production Makitas myself.

[Upscale]

I have my batteries rebuilt by Magnacharge in Mississauga, Ontario. From memory anyway, they work better than when they were new. I've always had batteries rebuilt through my business name so I'm not sure if they'd take off the street business or not.

[Pounds on Wood]

If all 3 batteries have failed, maybe they didn't. Maybe it's your charger. Or maybe just the contacts in the charger. Something to think about anyway???

[BT98]

they will not charge in the drop in charger. If I use my model aircraft all mode battery charger it will bring them back and they will then charge ok in the drop in charger later.

Also check yellow pages under "Batteries". We have in the Cleveland, OH., area a battery dealer that rebuilds battery packs and they perform as well or better than original. I have purchased NiHd batteries elswhere and they have put packs together for my model aircraft. Bill T

[Nirodac]

Lots of good information from people, Thanks. I've bookmarked several sites for future access.

I've checked out most of the sites suggested. Pak rebuilding will be in the future. For those paks that I can't get inside

I've decided to go three ways here. With one pak I'm going to rebuild it myself. The case is just snapped together. The cells are available from Digi Key for $2.50 CDN each (10 required). Pak number two will be replaced with one of those discount no name ones.

Pak number three may be rebuilt

I want to check the reliablity of the no name pak the rebuilds and my own assembly.

I used to rebuild battery paks for the RC hobby shops here in town. I still have my battery cycler, and tester, and can verify the capacity of the battery paks as they age.

For the poster that suggested that it might be the charger, it's not. I hand charged the battery pak on my bench power supply then cycled them on my tester. The reason all three went is because I cycle through them, one after the other. They actually arn't totally dead, they just don't last very long.

By the way, The new Li_Ion battery paks won't be repairable. They have micros built right into the battery pak, no replacing of cells, when they die. The replacement Li-Ion cell for my cellphone was $79.00 CDN, and that's for a very small battery!!

[just_me]

go to princess auto ... get their cheap no-name 18volt battery for

12$ and strip it down. It uses the same 1.2volt cells as my 14.4 dewalt and prob many others .... they may have a lower mah rating but for the price, what the hell..its worth it. and you have a few spare cells left over. i have rebuilt all 3 of mine with these cells and they work just fine

[Nirodac]

just_me wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Now that sounds interesting. When you say "same cells" are you refering to the physical size, or a brand name/model.

[just_me]

they are the same physical dimensions and they are the same

1.2volts... theer was no name on the dewalt cell .. on the donor cells there was some unknown name ... the first thing to do is to open both cases. the dewalt uses torx screws btw. the cells are induction welded together with metal strips . strip down the new battery first ..you can just peel the strips off the cells with a little effort .. and position the new cells in the host case in the proper orientation. I reused the metal strips but you could use wire i suppose. DON'T use acid core solder! a bit of liquid flux is a big help too. as i said... i suspect the MaH rating of the new cells is a bit lower, but the price more than makes up for that.

[Nirodac]

just_me wrote in news: [e-mail]:

give it a try, you sure can't beat the price. I suspect these are Chinese made, as is a lot of PA stuff, but then most things are now a days. Thanks for the post

[CW]