Putting Dewalt Batteries in the freezer.

galwaydude18

Hi has anyone on here any experience in putting Dewalt batteries in the freezer to restore the cells when the battery wont hold it's charge for long? I have an 18v battery that wont charge completly like it used to and only will drive a few screws before you have to charge it again.

I have hear that putting it in the freezer for 24 hours and then letting it thaw naturally for a further 24 hours will help restore the cells in the battery.

Is this an old wifes tale or does it actually work?

aerosol

Certainley heard of it but never tried it.If your battery is that far gone give it a go,its fecked anyway!:D

galwaydude18

The battery is in the freezer now! Hope it works.
Has anyone used the nano batteries as replacements instead of the nicad batteries?

jack of all

That nano battery technology is new to me, sounds promising. If the freezer doesn't work you could try disassembling the old battery and replacing the individual cells with new cells from someone like eurobatteries. A little tedious and probably require some soldering work but it might make a relatively cheap job.

galwaydude18

O right that sounds like a good idea. Have you ever seen this done before?

jack of all

I did it a few years ago, with a battery pack for a rechargeable mini-vacuum. Hardest part was opening the battery pack without making s***e of the case! It's not particularly difficult but only really worth it if doing so is significantly cheaper than buying a new battery altogether.

galwaydude18

Grand. Il try the battery tomorrow evening after its charged and report back. Where did u buy the new cells?

saltandpepper10

galwaydude18 wrote: »

The battery is in the freezer now! Hope it works.
Has anyone used the nano batteries as replacements instead of the nicad batteries?

i bought two nano batt last year off english website [on special offer cant remember price still big money]anyways discovered they dont fit any of my chargers which i am kicking out of my way,had to buy another charger for 100 sterling,too answer your ?very good batteries but any 2.6 batt are also nearly as good

galwaydude18

do they fit any dewalt drills?im sure they could be bought cheap enough on ebay. Thats were I bought nearly all my dewalt tools from.

saltandpepper10

galwaydude18 wrote: »

do they fit any dewalt drills?im sure they could be bought cheap enough on ebay. Thats were I bought nearly all my dewalt tools from.

they fit all 18 volt cordless tools.i find it much cheaper to buy a tool with batteries supplied ie jigsaw 3 batt if on offer,by the way did freezing work

jack of all

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Grand. Il try the battery tomorrow evening after its charged and report back. Where did u buy the new cells?

I bought some loose cells from this crowd:

http://shop.eurobatteries.com/batteries-nicd-nimh-lion-c-25_67.html

Obviously it's important to check voltage, A/h, physical dimensions etc....

sundula

I havent got around to trying this myself but a plumber told me that what he does is connect the dud battery to a know good fully charged battery for a few seconds to shock the memory on damaged cells into life.
He told me it works. Works better if you are using a new battery with a higher voltage. Say connecting a 18v good battery to a damaged 12v battery + to + - to - for a few seconds.

You could try this.

galwaydude18

I wonder what would be the chances of damaging the good battery by doing that? I would have to wreck a good battery by accident if something went wrong.
Its a good idea though

jack of all

galwaydude18 wrote: »

I wonder what would be the chances of damaging the good battery by doing that? I would have to wreck a good battery by accident if something went wrong.
Its a good idea though

Would it not be similar to jumping a flat car battery from another car battery? Still, those cordless batteries are so expensive you would be understandably a little apprehensive!

galwaydude18

well guys battery seems to last a tiny bit longer but its only minute. The battery just doesnt appear to deliver the same power as it used to!