Can I use any battery charger for drill?

matty_hunt

Hi. Call for anyone with some electronics knowledge please. I have an old Black and Decker 14.4v and a 12v Ni-Cd drill and the chargers dont work. The 14.4v charger reads 0.02v when switched on and the 12v one reads 2.39v according to my voltmeter although none of the charge lights come on and the battery nevers seems to charge. Would it be possible to simply take another manufacturers 14.4v (12v or multivolt) charger, modify it so the contacts touch (maybe some wire and crocodile clips), an use it with no problems? Was thinking of something like Makita DC1414 battery charger if I can get one cheap on ebay as it does 7.2-14.4v Ni-Cd but also Ni-MH should I upgrade the cells later.
Many thanks

tony6403

I wouldn't spend probably £25+ on a battery charger not designed for the batteries.
Given that both chargers are knackered I wonder what state the batteries are in?
Recelling batteries is not an easy job (+ the cost of the new batts).
I would rather buy a cheap Parkside Li-ion drill from Lidl which carries a 3yr guarantee.
Better still ,if you are prepared to pay some more, get a Makita which seem to have endless offers at the likes of B&Q.

forgotmyname

Sell the drill on ebay, Drill works but battery wont charge. No idea if its the charger or battery.

Then buy yourself a new one.

Bought a few cordless drills over the years. Oddly when you get 2 batteries in the kit i get one good one and one crap one.

Although i have a ryobi kit and the li-ion battery works great in the drill. Not keen on the way it works great then suddenly stops though.
But stick the same charged battery in the saw and it dies in seconds.

The ni-cads will run the saw for ages. Strange one.

matty_hunt

tony6403 wrote: »

I wouldn't spend probably £25+ on a battery charger not designed for the batteries.

I was thinking more like less than a fiver.

Thanks for the reply though.

matty_hunt

forgotmyname wrote: »

No idea if its the charger or battery.

True, although I was hoping someone here could shed some light on what to expect on a volt meter from the charger.

If its the battery, no problem. I'll rebuild it with other cells. Im a bit stuck with the charger though as I dont know anything about electronics.

Cheer

Ectophile

Be aware that there are simple trickle chargers and smart chargers. A smart charger may not work at all if it can't see a battery connected.

tony6403

matty_hunt wrote: »

I was thinking more like less than a fiver.

Thanks for the reply though.

I imagine that you would pay more than that for the postage.
For info. here is a link to what is involved in recelling (assume you have a soldering iron and the solder which is a few quid).
http://www.thepriors.idps.co.uk/repair_battery_pack/repair_battery_pack.html