1. Home
  2. Electronics Repair
  3. Recharging li-on batteries

Recharging li-on batteries

I just was given two 36 volt Dewalt drill batteries that would not take a charge. I opened them up and found what looks like the charger unit built right into the battery pack. These batteries are about the size of C batteries but a little bigger. They measure about 3.2 volts apiece. I know that these are li-on cells because there are 8 monitor wires going into the charger unit. One pack has one bad battery and the other has several bad ones. I also have a set of these type of batteries that came out of a laptop. The shame of it is I really can't do anything with any of these good cells because I have no way to recharge any of these. Does anyone know of a generic charger for li-on cells or some way that I can recharge these? Thanks, Lenny

Reply to
klem kedidelhopper
Loading thread data ...

Model airplane and model car LIPO packs are usually just the cell, without the electronics to keep the weight and complexity down. You might want to Google for the chargers they use. eBay has plenty:

Or, just build your own:

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com               jeffl@cruzio.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com               AE6KS
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Per klem kedidelhopper:

If they are DeWalt DC9360's, what looks like a charger unit is for cell protection. Each cell's voltage is monitored, and the pack is shut down before it can be drained to the point where cells are damaged. Might have more functionality to somehow work with an external charger, but I am unaware of it.

The cells are A123's and I *think* they are a variation on the Lithium chemistry that is not subject to bursting into flame if/when things go wrong.

I charge mine with a DeWalt charger dedicated to DC9360 batteries. Can't recall the price, but it was quite reasonable.

For chargers that will do individual cells, look to the model airplane suppliers.

--
PeteCresswell
Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

You can build a single-cell charger for under $20. SparkFun has the basic Li-Ion/LiPoly charger unit for $10 and you can power it froma USB port on your computer or one of the plug-in USB power packs (~$5).

formatting link

John

Reply to
news

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.