Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?

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dude Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
February 28, 2007, 12:33 pm
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Hi,
I have recently purchased an 18volt Ryobi cordless drill with two
battery packs and was wondering if there is a simple way to fully
discharge the battery packs before placing one of them into the charger
unit?

I previously owned a Makita 12volt cordless drill (which was stolen from
the rear of my ute) and that particular drill had a discharge button on
the charger which you pressed as soon as you dropped a battery pack into it.

I only ask about discharging the battery pack before re-charging,
because it's supposed to increase the life expectancy of the cells by
doing so.

thanks.

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Phil Allison Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
February 28, 2007, 1:08 pm
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?



"dude"

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**  Yep  - open up the pack and discharge each cell in tern with a 1 ohm
resistor until the voltage is 1 volt.


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**  Then what ????

 Some overweight tooth fairy arrives in a tutu and does the dance of the
Sugar Plum Fairies ??



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** Fraid it is far more likely to do the exact opposite.

Beware what is actually a genuine technical feature and what is merely a
cynical sales gimmick designed to hoodwink the gullible.




.....   Phil






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Adrian Jansen Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
February 28, 2007, 9:02 pm
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


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With a good design charging circuit, it should make no difference
whether you start with flat or part discharged cells.

Whether the charger in the unit in question is 'good' or not is another
matter...


--
Regards,

Adrian Jansen           adrianjansen at internode dot on dot net
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Phil Allison Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 12:41 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?



"Adrian Jansen"

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** Likely to use a timer circuit to cut off the charge -  hence the apparent
need for the pack to be flat.

The  PROBLEM is that one cannot discharge a series pack of cells reliably by
loading the whole pack, especially one with 15 cells in it.



.......   Phil



Ross Herbert Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 2:33 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?



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charger
from
on
into it.

If this is one of Ryobi's "budget" or home handyman drills then
neither the battery pack or the charger is worth a pinch of salt
unless things have changed recently. I had an experience with one of
their cheap drills and the battery just wouldn't hold a charge (the
cells were cheap chinese junk) and the charger was crap. They finally
decided to give me a free higher quality so-called professional model
as a replacement and this was very good quality. It used Panasonic
(Japan) cells and the charger, while still not state of the art, was
adequate.

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quietguy Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 4:23 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


Fortunately my experience with one of those drills has been quite
positive - bought it about 8years ago, and the battery is still going
fine - holds its charge well and gives me no grief - maybe they have
changed batt suppliers, or you were just unlucky

David

Ross Herbert wrote:

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Ross Herbert Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 9:16 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


On Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:23:42 +1100, quietguy

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Techtronic Industries (HK), I think only started to take over Ryobi
brand power tools divisions for North America, Europe and Australia
around 2000 so you were probably lucky and managed to get one of the
"genuine" Japanese Ryobi drills before Japan stopped supplying these
markets. My brother has one of the Japanese Tradeline (blue thermo
plastic) power drills from pre 2000 and it has performed faultlessly
in all regards.

Ross

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of
finally
model
was

Clifford Heath Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 9:59 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


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That would gell with what I was told in Bunnings, that a German had
bought the Ryobi name and almost nothing else, before setting up
with entirely different manufacturing in China. Just hearsay, but
it adds up.

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quietguy Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 4:20 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


Leave it in the drill and tape the on/off switch to on?


David

dude wrote:

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Two Bob Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 10:16 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


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That is only relevant with nicad batteries.



Jonno Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 10:47 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


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Supposed to help a bit if the packs arent balanced....

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dude Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 12:13 pm
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


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I'm pretty sure if you peeled open a battery pack, you'll find nicads in
there.  Not sure about the professional range of cordless drills though.

Thanks all.  Judging by everyone's comments, i shouldn't worry about
"memory effect" as it's probably just a marketing gimmick and there's
not much i can do about it anyway.

atec 77 Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 1, 2007, 1:01 pm
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


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If your really worried by it ( I am not) then discharge the pack with an
incandescent bulb and throw it in the freezer for a couple of hours ,
then warm it in air before charging.

Jonno Contact options for registered users 's Avatar (by Gravatar) posted on
March 2, 2007, 1:10 am
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Re: Is it possible to discharge cordless drill battery packs?


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DONT throw it in the freezer. It can blow the seals.
Cool it in the tray under the freezer. Its less likely to do so.
Its slightly warmer.



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