Project: Cordless SDS Drill Battery Refresh Part 3

The final step. to make a charger for my new battery packs.

This came out of the old charger.   They took the charging pretty seriously.    Nice heatsinks and nice isolation.   This is why the chargers cost as much as they do.

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Its even got a micro!   ZILOG!   Proper old school!

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But its now all junk.   For now I bought a 2A 6S Lithium Ion charger and I might as well just put it in the old Ryobi charger.

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Lots of space left over.   I’m not sure this charger is as clever as the Ryobi one.   OK, I KNOW its not as clever.   A job for another time.   The LED has been remote mounted to use the existing light pipe.

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And she charges!   2 rebuilt battery packs ready to go.

Does it work?   YES!   It works very well!  I put a 25mm hole through a concrete block and it didn’t even slow down.   The cells got to about hand temperature which indicates that I’m not over stressing them.   I did have a little accident with a pack at work and got it so hot I could not touch it!   Oops!

I would have loved a brand new Milwaukee cordless SDS drill but nearly £200 for something I use every couple of months is not in the budget.   This project has cost me £14 for the protection boards (needed 2), £20 for the charger and a selection of copper wire offcuts, epoxy, hot glue and probably a days work in total.

And it appears I’m not the only one doing this.   But I would like to point out I did finish before AvE posted his video, I’ve just been too busy to write it up.

Pfft!   6 cells?   And he didn’t even get the right voltage!