Replies

1. 
   Jeff | Dec 28, 2002 04:32pm | #1

   Doug

   A small thought.

   Most of today's electronic chargers won't go into fast mode for 3

   reasons.

   The battery is too hot.

   The battery voltage is high (in your case 14V)

   The battery voltage is too low (in your case below 3 or 4 volts)

   A test meter will help, just read the battery voltage on the contacts.

   One solution is to put a battery in the charger overnite, next day

   remove the battery for a few minutes and put it in again overnite.

   This brings the battery voltage up slowly till the voltage is high enough to start the fast charge cycle.

   If this doesn't work on 2 different batteries after 2 or 3 cycles,

   then the charger needs repair.

   Jeff

1. 
   doug07 | Dec 28, 2002 05:02pm | #2

   Thanks Jeff, I'll give that a try.

   Thanks again,

   Doug

1. 
   Stever | Dec 29, 2002 09:57pm | #4

   One other quick thought -- in case you still don't get a recharge cycle going, chill the battery pack in the freezer for a while and then give it a whirl.

   NiCad chemistry is NiCad chemistry; battery pack / tool manufacturer name doesn't have much to do with it. IF the NiCads were grossly over-drained, sometimes the freezer trick will work (sometimes not).  I've also heard of instances where one or more cells in the pack might "decide" to reverse polarity if it's over-drained.  Sometimes a single cell might simply short out (and take down the whole pack). Do a search on NiCad batteries for other ideas -- there was discussion about them on the Ryobi users forum a short while back:   http://www.ryobitools.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi

   Depending on the age/condition of the cells, it might be time for a visit to a place like Batteries Plus and have the packs rebuilt -- that's a LOT less costly than buying new a new battery pack.  (Sometimes it's less expensive to simply buy a whole new drill package (including new battteries and charger).

   Steve

   http://www.apachetrail.com/house

   Mesa, AZ

1. 
   PlaneWood | Dec 30, 2002 01:44am | #5

   I recently replaced 5 nicads in a PC 14.4V cordless drill battery pack.  Once inside the pack, I saw that the nicads were just run of the mill "C" size nicad batteries.  The 5 replacements cost me about $20 total.  Much cheaper than the $70 they wanted for a new pack.  It now holds a charge as long as the other pack.   I bought the unit about 3 years ago with two battery packs and use it every day.

   I'm guessing all cordless drills use about the same quality nicads.

   Oh yeah, I tested each of the nicads with a volt meter.  The 5 I replaced had essentially 0.0 volts while the rest showed about 1.25V each.  With the new ones I had to solder wires onto the outside case of each nicad.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_KatyPlaneWood

2. 
   wrick2003 | Dec 29, 2002 06:16am | #3

   while ryobi may be a fine budget choice for the homeowner type, you might consider upgrading to bosch or porter-cable. it would be worth the investment in the long run.