Makita 18v Battery Replacement

[doobin]

49 minutes ago, Stere said:

Only thing that  puts me off is the stories of   them catching fire when recharging....

 

 

No issues here. Maybe with the real cheapies- Waitley are the top end Chinese knockoffs, if that's not too much of an oxymoron!

[Mark Bolam]

Here’s hoping mate, mine should arrive tomorrow.

18v 5A for £23 is about 2/3 less than Makita.

 

I’m sure they’ll be fine if you squint!

[aspenarb]

6 hours ago, Matthew Storrs said:

. Good to hear the aftermarket batteries are good cos they’re much cheaper. Even if they don’t last quite as long it’s still worth it

Excessive and unnecessary charging cycles can kill batteries, not easy to know when a battery is half way down or still fully charged unless they have the charge indicators built in. I chopped up a knackered dewalt torch just for the battery carriage and fitted a two bob voltage gauge, takes the guess work out of charging and is a good battery saver. just saying

 

Bob

 

 

[Matthew Storrs]

18 minutes ago, aspenarb said:

Excessive and unnecessary charging cycles can kill batteries, not easy to know when a battery is half way down or still fully charged unless they have the charge indicators built in. I chopped up a knackered dewalt torch just for the battery carriage and fitted a two bob voltage gauge, takes the guess work out of charging and is a good battery saver. just saying

 

Bob

 

 

Is topping up a charge not very good for batteries then? Guilty of this as always want to turn up to job with full charge.

[Stubby]

10 hours ago, Matthew Storrs said:

Is topping up a charge not very good for batteries then? Guilty of this as always want to turn up to job with full charge.

I know with the old Nicad batteries you could get a " memory" affect in them if you charged them up when not fully discharged .  I thought with the new LI that was not a problem ?

[NFG]

3 hours ago, Stubby said:

I know with the old Nicad batteries you could get a " memory" affect in them if you charged them up when not fully discharged .  I thought with the new LI that was not a problem ?

Its been found that Li-on batteries can suffer similar memory effect, by frequent partial discharge before re-charging but not to the same degree as Ni-Cads. I believe it is best to use them almost completely before fully re-charging although this is not always pratical, but not be completely discharged flat. There is an issue with internal crystal growth caused by rapid charging if the battery gets too hot, hence the fairly powerful cooling fan on the Makita LXT charger along with temp monitoring during charge. The crystal growth eventually leads to an internal short and battery fire. Whilst no one likes the 'battery intelligence' these things have when they refuse to accept charge there is a reason for it!

It would be useful if the Makita charger had a selector to provide a lower charge rate when rapid charge was not needed and a 'refresh charge' option to discharge to minimum then re-charge at a slow rate to maximum capacity.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

N

 

Edit: I have a few Makita LXT tools and batts, including a 36 V (2 x 18V) strimmer, which despite initial reservations is actually very good.

Edited January 11, 2020 by NFG

[Stere]

 

dux60z look handy bur dunno why the attachments for multi tools are so pricey....

 

Makita DUX60Z Twin 18v Brushless Split Shaft Power Unit (Body Only) | Fastfix

WWW.FASTFIX.CO.UK

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The Makita DUX60Z is the main drive unit for a family of garden attachments including line trimmer, hedge trimmer...

 

 

£200 for the hegde trimmer attchment

 

 

[Mark Bolam]

This arrived yesterday and so far so good.

Had 45% charge and Makita charger soon topped it up without a single fire!

Used it in the drill and driver today and seems fine.

 

Thanks for the heads-up fellas.

[NFG]

13 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

This arrived yesterday and so far so good.

Had 45% charge and Makita charger soon topped it up without a single fire!

Used it in the drill and driver today and seems fine.

 

Thanks for the heads-up fellas.

Yes, they are usually shipped with about 40% charge which provides optimal storage life

They look a good alternative to the Makita ones

[NFG]

I did a bit more research on Dandrite, the crystals that build up in Li-on cells which can lead to a fire. I read a number of publications on the subject and also prevention of it occuring with the development of a graphene skin to contain the crystal growth.

 

AFAICS any Li-oN battery which has a significantly reduced capacity or appears excessively warm whilst charging or discharging then consider it may be best to avoid using it as a fire could occur, which seemed more common during charging.

Hopefully, the inbuilt battery protection sould cut in first!