How to properly charge the battery of an electric screwdriver

What types of batteries are there?

What types of batteries are used by screwdrivers?

Bosch IXO 3.6V Changing the battery of the charged screwdriver Bosch IXO 3.6V Batarya değişimi.

• Nickel cadmium (NiCd). The first type of devices, holds a charge for a long time, is equipped with sufficient capacity. There is a memory effect that prohibits charging when the battery is not fully discharged. Therefore, frequent recharging is unacceptable, this leads to a reduction in the battery capacity. Before using for the first time, first fully charge the unit, then start using the tool. Nickel-cadmium are used with budget-class screwdrivers. They are cheap. Suitable for infrequent use.
• Nickel metal hydride (NiMH). They replaced nickel-cadmium. environmentally friendly and weigh less. Worse keep charging when idle, which can quickly deplete battery capacity. It is advisable to recharge before each use, always take the charger with you.
• Lithium-ion (Li-Ion). They are characterized by sufficient battery capacity. Free from memory effect, designed for intensive and regular use. They are quickly charged, cycles are up to 1000. They are distinguished by a relatively high cost. Discharges faster when operated at low temperatures, giving an unstable flow of energy. Store such batteries half-discharged, periodically replenishing capacity.

Charge the battery before storing?

As with the previous point, it depends on the type, whether it makes sense to charge the battery before storage.

For storage, the lithium-ion battery must be removed with a charge of 50%, periodically (1 time / 1-2 months) removed and recharged.

Maintain charge level at all times, periodically replenish.

Checking the battery condition with a multimeter

It will be helpful to determine the reason why the battery is not charging. The procedure will reveal the health of the batteries. Here are some easy-to-implement methods that you can use at home. Prepare the equipment: in addition to the multimeter, you will need tools for disassembling the battery (pliers, soldering iron, screwdriver, knife.

• Check the battery on charging by taking readings at 30 minute intervals. The voltage should rise steadily until fully charged.
• A quick method to check the condition of the battery. We measure U with no load. We compare the result with the real voltage and the number of elements. The indicators differ. the battery has non-working parts that need to be replaced.

Replacing an IKEA FIXA cordless Screwdriver Battery

Electric screwdriver battery device

• The case on which the contacts are located (connected to a charger or a power tool).
• “Banks” (as a rule, there are several of them), united by a common chain.
• For safe operation, there is a temperature sensor to prevent overheating.
• Voltage (V) is an indicator that characterizes the capabilities of the tool. It affects how difficult tasks can be accomplished with it. The voltage can be described as the equivalent of the power of network devices. The indicator is not constant: it reaches its peak when the battery is fully charged, gradually decreases during the discharge process. That is why it makes sense to perform work that requires a high impact force, at first.
• Capacity characterizes how much energy the device stores. Affects the duration of work on a single charge. We must remember. one device with one battery will work for different times (depending on the complexity of the tasks).
• Weight and dimensions affect how comfortable they are to use with the tool. It will be inconvenient to hold a device with a heavy battery on the weight for a long time, which will affect productivity and quality of work performed.
• Additional functionality. The indicator reflects how much energy is left before a complete discharge. Useful to plan working hours. Some manufacturers produce batteries that are compatible with a wide variety of tools: trimmers, screwdrivers, power saws, jigsaws.

How long does it take to charge the battery of an electric screwdriver?

Before charging a cordless drill or electric screwdriver, you need to determine how long this procedure will take. The period is prescribed in the instructions attached to the instrument. Some models have a light indication. it will show when the device is fully charged. After charging is complete, immediately disconnect the battery from the charger.

Typical charging times range from half an hour to 7 hours, depending on the type of battery and charger. Nickel-cadmium batteries are fed with energy for the longest time. 3-7 hours.

Charging methods without using a charger (non-standard methods)

NEED TO KNOW! We do not recommend using the information from this paragraph in practice. We provide for informational purposes.

There are non-standard methods on how to charge the battery of an electric screwdriver without a charger:

• car charging,
• universal charger,
• external energy source.

The effectiveness of such actions can be justified if there is no proprietary charging. Safety questionable. recharge possible. We do not recommend using these methods. they can lead to failure, damage to the battery and are dangerous for the user. Purchase a branded battery of a brand similar to the screwdriver or suitable in terms of characteristics.

How to properly charge the battery for an electric screwdriver?

The cordless tool is convenient in nature, in places where there is no stable permanent access to power supply. The absence of a cable allows you to avoid inconvenience with extension cords, fear of overloading the network, entanglement with wires, inability to crawl to hard-to-reach areas.

The operation of the cordless tool has its own characteristics. How to properly charge the battery without damaging it? What are they made of, how do they differ? Answers. in the article.

Types of batteries used to operate an electric screwdriver

Before purchasing new batteries for an electric screwdriver, you must carefully study the instructions for the device. The tools required for work can be professional, household and semi-professional. Batteries for them differ from each other in capacity, quality and price.

For certain jobs, certain types of cordless tools are also intended, designed for different loads, therefore, they need different batteries. The higher the power rating of the battery, the longer it can work. For convenience, it is better to have two batteries so that you can recharge the other when working with one. Often a second battery is already included when the instrument is sold.

Various types of batteries can be used for screwdrivers. The most commonly used nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) and nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH), and more recently also lithium-ion (Li-Ion).

The most common of them are nickel-cadmium batteries, which are compact in size, large in capacity and at an affordable price. These batteries can be effectively charged more than a thousand times, depending on their design, purity of materials, operating mode, including correct charging. However, these devices have a so-called memory effect, and if you charge them without waiting for a full discharge, the battery capacity will gradually decrease. In addition, the production of such elements is so toxic that the European Union abandoned it on its territory.

In second place in terms of frequency of use. nickel-metal hydride batteries, representing a new generation of similar devices. From an environmental point of view, both the production and disposal of these batteries are practically safe. The advantages of batteries of this type include the fact that they have less pronounced memory effect, and the disadvantages. high self-discharge current. These batteries must be kept charged and fully recharged when not in use for more than a month.

recently, more powerful lithium-ion batteries have been used for cordless tools. They also do not have such a disadvantage as the memory effect, which requires periodic discharge cycles to restore capacity. However, these batteries do not tolerate low temperatures, and it is undesirable to work with them in cold weather. Despite their fast charge and high capacity, they are not very popular yet, as their price is quite high.

How long does it take to charge the batteries of an electric screwdriver?

As a rule, the charging time for the battery of an electric screwdriver is indicated in the instructions for the tool. These recommendations should be carefully followed. Often the charger has a special display system to help you understand how the charging process is going. Thanks to this, you can easily determine with how much to charge the battery of an electric screwdriver. When charging is complete, you need to interrupt it in time so as not to damage the batteries. On average, the battery charger for an electric screwdriver can recharge from about half an hour to 7 hours. Practice shows that a Ni-Cd battery with a capacity of 1.2 Ah is charged with a current of 250 mA for about seven hours. Charging current is maintained using the AC adapter.

It should be borne in mind that there are two types of battery chargers. conventional and impulse. A standard conventional charger is more often used in a non-professional tool, it charges the battery in about 3-7 hours. Pulse. more suitable for professional mechanisms. Thanks to it, the battery performance can be restored in a maximum of an hour.

Do I need to charge the batteries before storing?

If the cordless tool is not used for a long time, experts advise you to carefully consider the battery cells.

It is recommended to discharge nickel-cadmium batteries before storage, but not to zero, but to the point where the instrument stops working at full capacity. In case of long-term storage, to restore the battery capacity, it is necessary to carry out 3-5 complete cycles of its discharge and charge. During the operation of the tool, it is also advisable to ensure that the battery is not partially discharged before charging, but completely.

Nickel-metal hydride batteries have a higher self-discharge rate than previous cells. They are recommended to be kept charged, and after a long “rest” to charge for about a day. Partial discharge is preferable for this type of battery. Their capacity decreases after 2-3 hundred charge-discharge cycles.

Lithium-ion batteries, which have no memory effect, can be charged at any time, whatever the degree of discharge. These batteries have the lowest self-discharge rate at the highest capacity. It is not recommended to completely discharge them, as this may disable the protective circuit. Power tools with such batteries are equipped with control electronics that disconnect the cell from the load when the temperature or voltage rises. We recommend storing these batteries 50 percent charged. The number of charge-discharge cycles does not affect the capacitive characteristics of the cells, however, their life is limited by time and is about two years.

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Instruments

Among power tools, both household and professional, the electric screwdriver is one of the most popular. With its help, you can not only twist and screw in self-tapping screws, but also drill holes. Mains-powered tools cannot be used always and everywhere, and the cord interferes with work all the time. Cordless screwdrivers are relieved of these disadvantages. With them, you can move freely and not depend on the presence of an outlet in the room.

An important element of every cordless tool is the battery, which allows you to work with it autonomously. This is very convenient, but sooner or later, each owner of such a power tool will face the question of how to charge the battery of an electric screwdriver.

Battery charging features

How to properly charge the battery of an electric screwdriver so that it lasts as long as possible?

Batteries need to be charged before first use as they discharge during storage. To make the battery capacity of an electric screwdriver the maximum possible for a nickel-cadmium cell, it is recommended to charge it three times and then discharge it. Thus, since the new battery has incomplete capacity, it must be brought up to full working capacity. After that, the batteries will need to be charged as soon as their capacity becomes minimum. Lithium-ion batteries are easier to use. They do not have a memory effect, so you can not bring them to full discharge and charge when it is convenient.

When charging, you need to take into account the optimal temperature regime of the process. It is better that the ambient temperature is above ten degrees and does not exceed forty. Batteries sometimes get warm during charging, but this should not be the case, as overheating adversely affects their performance, and they need to be cooled. It is undesirable to leave batteries in the charger. Yes, and it is better to store them by disconnecting them from the screwdriver, separately from the tool itself. If the batteries are not used for a long time, they should be recharged once a month.

It is better to buy rechargeable batteries at specialized points of sale. Correct use will help increase their service life. During operation, it is undesirable to discharge the elements completely until the engine stops. They will need to be charged as indicated by their markedly reduced performance.

What to do if the battery of an electric screwdriver does not charge?

If the battery of an electric screwdriver does not charge, it may be that the reason is to be found in its deterioration or in the malfunctioning of the charger. However, often the problem lies in the breakdown of contact between the terminals of the battery of the electric screwdriver and the charger, since they unbend over time. In this case, you can disassemble the charger and bend its terminals.

In addition, after some time of use, both the battery contacts and the charger contacts may oxidize and become dirty. Even minor changes of this kind can prevent the batteries from charging properly. This usually translates into a significant reduction in both the charging time and the operating time of the cordless power tool itself. To avoid this, you need to periodically wipe the contacts of the battery, the charger for the battery of the electric screwdriver and the tool.

Unfortunately, battery cell performance degrades over time. So, with improper use of nickel-cadmium batteries, most often used in household screwdriver models, they quickly lose capacity. Experts sometimes advise to “overclock” such batteries. The battery pack is disassembled and problematic items are identified. After that, they need to be charged. What current to charge the battery of an electric screwdriver in this case? Experts recommend that you first charge such elements with a higher current than it should be, then discharge them and charge them again, but with a small current. If the electrolyte has not yet evaporated in Ni-Cd batteries, this “therapy” may help bring them back to life.

In addition, you can restore one battery pack from two that have partially lost their capacity by selecting from them and soldering together whole “banks”. After that, to equalize the charge, it is required to fully charge and discharge the recovered unit several times.

Also, the reason is that the battery does not charge, it may be in the temperature sensor