Thread: Knowing when a drill battery is charged

Sorry, I don't have one.

I have an older Ryobi 14.4V. The manual said to charge "for 5 hours".

The current manual for the Ryobi CDL1442p says "3 hours". The light comes on to indicate that charging is being carried out, only. It doesn;t go out until the battery is removed.

Considering the battery capacity of these drills is around 1.3Ah then I suggest 3-5 hrs would do it. Shame, really, because improper charging shortens the life of all battery chemistries.

I had the battery repacked on mine and use an RC hobby charger to get a proper charge.

Yeh I have an older ryobi 14.4V and when you plug it in the red light goes on and YOU have to manually keep track of how long it's charging for and remove it. The charging circuit is so basic that it will not turn off once charged nor could it even detect if it was charged. One reason to stay the hell away from ryobi products. Inadvertently over a number of charges you forget and overcharge and slowly kill the battery. It's an all round #### product for the price you pay. Both my batteries are nearly useless after very little use. Next drill will be a pana/mak/bosch blue. Drills you don't skimp on and you certainly stay the hell away from chargers which are dumb. Wish I knew that a few years back. My dad got a mak with one battery only as a present from a friend and at the same time I bought a ryobi. A few years on mine looks like rubbish and wobbles a bit with BOTH batteries nearly dead and my dads mak with only one battery is going as strong as the first day despite him using it a hell of alot more than I did mine. Ryobi = #### overpriced product. Might as well get an ozito and save the money.

Originally Posted by seb001

Sorry, I don't have one.

I have an older Ryobi 14.4V. The manual said to charge "for 5 hours".

The current manual for the Ryobi CDL1442p says "3 hours". The light comes on to indicate that charging is being carried out, only. It doesn;t go out until the battery is removed.

Considering the battery capacity of these drills is around 1.3Ah then I suggest 3-5 hrs would do it. Shame, really, because improper charging shortens the life of all battery chemistries.

I had the battery repacked on mine and use an RC hobby charger to get a proper charge.

thanks

I have probably over charged mine

one I charged for about 5 hours , maybe Ok

The other overnight , looks like not a good idea

Where can I get the batteries repacked and for how much

I have a Ryobi 14.4v unit, and the light goes out when it finishes charging. In fact, mine now buzzes when charging due to being dropped on the floor, and the buzzing stops when it is charged, so I even get an audible alarm!

Getting batteries repacked costs around $120-$140.

There are people on ebay who sell after market batteries for around $50

Originally Posted by ratchet

thanks

I have probably over charged mine

one I charged for about 5 hours , maybe Ok

The other overnight , looks like not a good idea

Where can I get the batteries repacked and for how much

I have had three batteries (for myself and others) done by http://www.akkupak.com.au/

Prices here:
http://www.akkupak.com.au/page/battery_repacking.html
Plus postage.

I usually go for the "professional-grade" cells, 2.0Ah. Although, even the "DIY home use grade" cells, 2.0Ah, will be better than what the drill came with.

You still need to make sure that you don't overcharge them. As I said I use a hobby charger like these:

http://www.rchobbies.com.au/store/pr...775ccc8eef3705

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...T&SUBCATID=295

I have limited experience of replacing/reapacking batteries, but I've had good service from Akkupak.

Cheers,

Mog4

Originally Posted by seb001

Prices here:
Akkupak | Battery Repacking
Plus postage.

At the trade grade prices it's a waste of time repacking for a ryobi product. Just my honest opinion.. If you had a good mak/bosch/metabo etc sure but not a ryobi. Perhaps the handyman repack might make some sense but from my experience I'd just chuck the ryobi and put the money towards a decent tool.

Originally Posted by ratchet

I havea Ryobi 18v cordless drill - cdl1802p , the Bunnings cheapy that comes with two batteries

Works well for what it's worth , you get what you pay for

When I put the battery into the charger , the light is red

Will it change to green when the battery is charged , yet to happen after many recharges .

Cannot find the manual , cannot dowload the manual from internet

need somebody who has one to tell me if the light goes green or some other way of knowing when battery is charged

Back to the original question..

I have a CID1802p, so assume that it is almost the same. The charger is a 2601038

The light goes GREEN, which they call "Maintenance charge" I assume a slow trickle. Should only take about 1 hour . The batteries are interchangeable with the Ryobi One+ series.

I have also have the ratchet driver and works real well. All up I have 4 batteries, but have not paid particular attention to charge life, as I have been building a deck and they are coping a beating.

RYOBI BATTERY LINK HERE also has a link for the instruction manual for the charger on this page

Should show green when you first put it in,then cycles to amber then to red ,mine usually has enough charge in it to finish a job after fifteen minutes,
Agonising over getting new lithium ion Hitachi which Gasweld have in their currrent catalogue for $329 or purchase from v8 tools (which are part of Sydney Tools) for $286,had bad experiences with them though.

My charger is a 720313001

only has one light , which is red when the battery is inserted.

does not appear to change ? , maybe stuffed

My Ryobi has a dumb charger which requires the user to manually extract the battery after the requisite time. It is a 14.4V charger with only 1 light which stays red when the battery is in, model is 1426802. I suggest the OP has a similar style charger. Certainly if it was left overnight and never went green then that also implies it.

acmegridely, I did a review in the Reviews section on my search for a new drill. I did look at that Hitachi but opted for something else.

Originally Posted by acmegridley

Agonising over getting new lithium ion Hitachi which Gasweld have in their currrent catalogue for $329 or purchase from v8 tools (which are part of Sydney Tools) for $286,had bad experiences with them though.

Ring gasweld and ask them to price match or do better. I've had good experiences when heading this route in the past..

Sorry ratchet,what I meant to say was it cycled to amber then green,then stays on red till it is fully charged then changes to green(had to have another look to refresh memory) usually takes 45 min to 1 hour to fully charge.Your charger should not be stuffed they are the same as Panasonic use,( I have that on good authority.)Had mine for over five years been trouble free.