Super Battery pack hand tools

As with most Battery pack tools, they are great when they are new, then the battery goes to crap and you have to buy a new one. And these battery packs are expensive and generally proprietary so each tool manufacturer needs a different battery type. The batteries also have a short life span and end up in the land fill. I have a couple ways to service these tools making your battery costs very low and the battery tools much more versatile. Not only is this a GREEN project, but it also keeps GREEN in your wallet.

The best parts of this are,
-The dead packs are modified, not the tool, so I can pop out My Modified pack and put in a regular battery if I need to get to a tight area where the cabled battery would be tough to work with.
-This battery has a much higher amperage than the standard battery packs. I find it lasts more than 5 times longer than the standard packs on a single charge.
- The actual life of this battery is longer than the regular battery packs.
-Cheaper and universal. One battery, several tools.

Step 1 SAFETY NOTE!

Always work safely with safety eyeglasses and gloves when working with these packs. A slip of a tool while prying could hurt you.

Comments

[evolyourmindorthintheheard]

Nice instructable! Just an idea for organizing your cord. I also hate getting tangled up in cords, if you have an old shop light that automatically retracts the cord with a quick tug on the cord you could repurpose this and use it as the cord between the battery pack and the tool. This way you could easily retract the cord when you are moving around. The ones that have the ball stop on the cord would also allow you to set a cord length. You could incorporate this into a floor box or a backpack to keep the portability. If you have an old canister vaccum cleaner they also had cord retractors. Just a thought I had after reading through the comments. Great Job on the instructable!!!!

[mapmaker54]

I tried this with a 12 volt 7amp battery and it did not give me the needed power.  what 12 volt battery are you using?

[TheOutLawCarpenter]

Thanks I'm going to do this with one of my old dewalt raido's and hard wire it into my truck. probley need some kind of a fuse though. I love this web site!

[dirtleg]

I have a 19.2 volt, where can I get a battery and how do you recharge it?

[lewinskys]

With any of the tools that are 14.4 volts or higher, it will take a little bit more power to work properly. You would have to use 2 - 12 volt batteries and wire them in SERIES to give you 24 volts. to do this, just connect the (+) terminal on one battery to the (-) terminal of the other. Then fasten the two batteries together so they stay as one unit. I have used HOT GLUE to glue these battery types together and it is very effective. Then use the remaining (+) & (-) terminal to connect to the tool. This makes a battery that is 2x as heavy so it wouldn't be suitable for on a belt, unless you are comfortable with that weight. But it would still be good for a remote battery pack for your 19.2 tool. To charge this, you would have to charge them with your car battery charger individually, OR you can use alligator clips and put the two batteries in parallel during charge then switch it back to series wired during use. Sounds like a PITA but the length of time you get use out of one charge is so long that it is well worth it.

[dirtleg]

ok so to recap I can wire to two batteries in series, use a quick connect to plug into drill and use same quick connect to connect to charger and charge in series?

[lewinskys]

No. When you use it with the drill the two batteries have to be in series. THis makes the battery output to be 24 volts. But during the charging, you have to either charge the two batteries individually, OR rewire them into parallel> charge them> then swap back to series to use in the drill. In Parallel the two batteries are 12volt output and can be charge with a 12 volt charger. When they are wired in series, they have 24volt output, and can't be charged with a 12volt charger in this configuration, so you have to change it to Parallel.

[Fixerdad]

This is a great idea which I will do when I finally kill my battery packs. Since I often end up feeling like a contortionist in some of the tight spaces I have to work in, I'm going to put connectors on each end of the cord and figure out how to run it inside my clothes, strapped to my body or my clothing so that there's just enough cord coming out of my sleeves to let me use the tool with either hand. With a connector at the battery, I could put that aside while doing other tasks. I'd quickly go haywire it if I had to constantly stop to de-tangle or free up the cord in some tiny attic space or such. It's AWESOME that the gel cells are SOOOOO much cheaper than new batt packs! Thanks for that piece of the puzzle! Waytagoman, peace!

[lewinskys]

I am glad people are actually enjoying this idea. Thanks for the positive comments.

[jtlien]

Cool... Hope the heater belt i did for the "Keeping Warm" contest was some inspiration. The lead acid is a bit heavier but if you have it in a belt or sling you should get MUCH longer run times out of it than the tool battery pack variety with not much inconvenience. If you are holding the tool above your head it should be a lot lighter now without the battery. I like it....

[lewinskys]

Yes in fact the tool is much lighter. And the battery lasts for a couple days of good use before any charging is needed. Thanks

[Lighthouse]

not sure WTF you did here. how about some more exposition?

[G.O. Bluth]

He Dismantled the cordless drill to expose the leads that connect directly to the drill's motor. He then took these leads and connected them to the terminals of a 12v7 Battery. I hear there's a company making 12v7 batt's with lithium ion cells - really really light.

[Lighthouse]

thanks. that what i thought he was doing, but he really doesn't say much about the new battery. only at the beginning where he says it has higher amperage, longer life, etc. than the original pack

[lemonie]

You should show the belt strap harness, it keeps the thing truly portable. L