Screwdriver Battery Does Not Hold Charge

Loss of battery capacity of a screwdriver is almost always inevitable. You can, of course, slow this process down a bit, but not avoid it. If the battery of the screwdriver does not hold a charge, then the owner either uses the tool very intensively, or the tool itself gradually reduces its capacity.

Electric screwdrivers are divided into two types:

• Those that are powered by the network;
• And from the battery.

If working with the former is inconvenient, the latter has another minus: relatively quick battery wear (1-5 years, depending on the model and frequency of use). And it seems that not everything is so scary, because you can replace it and successfully use the tool further, but the problem is that a pair of new batteries costs almost like a new screwdriver.

The battery of a tool can also lose its capacity due to oxidation inside, that is, sulfaltation. If you look at the disassembled screwdriver, you can see on some parts a coating of yellowish powder, because of which the parts will not function normally.

To find out the state of the battery’s capacity without disassembling it, you need to put your hand on top and hold it a little while charging. If everything is in order with the battery, then it will heat up to 30 ° C, the hand will not feel this temperature, but if it still loses its working capacity, it will heat up to 50-60 ° C, which is easily noticeable.

Domestic species are considered the most common and, accordingly, the cheapest units. They have one or two nickel-cadmium batteries, as well as the so-called memory effect, which is absent in other species. It manifests itself then, when the battery is not fully discharged, it is again connected to the network and is not fully charged. This means that the battery simply does not understand its charge level.

What to do if the battery of the screwdriver does not hold a charge?

First, to restore lost power, you need to prepare the necessary tools. To do this, you will need:

• Soldering iron;
• Tester;
• Tin with low corrosion flux;
• Screwdriver;
• Spare donor battery or new individual cells (banks) that make up the battery.

Before starting work, the batteries need to be well charged, at least 6 hours each. Then, using a screwdriver or a knife, carefully remove the cover from the restored battery.

After that, you can begin to search for damaged elements, for which you will need a tester. Very high-quality and durable testers are produced by the Interskol power tool company, they have the best indicators in the price / quality ratio.

With it, you need to carefully check all the banks. For those that are working, the voltage should be 1.2v if the battery is nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal hydride, and 3.6v if it is lithium-ion. For non-workers, the indicator will be close to almost zero. They must be marked in order to clearly know which parts are being replaced. The same thing needs to be done with another battery.

Further, everything is extremely simple. From the “sick” unit we extract not the working elements, but from the other. The necessary intact ones. The latter, using tin with a low-calorie flux, is carefully soldered to the places of the former. If you do not use a donor battery, but separately purchased cans, then put them instead of damaged ones. The soldered assembly is inserted back into the housing.

If the battery is nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal hydride, then after assembly it needs to be charged again, but not for 6 hours, but 12. It is impossible to turn on the tool immediately after charging, because the soldered parts may overheat and fall off. Then, the same battery will need to be discharged, keeping the tool working until it turns off itself. With this procedure, it will last much longer. By the way, it is recommended to conduct it at least five times before using a screwdriver.

The battery can also be discharged using a regular 12-volt light bulb. Connect it to the battery and wait until it goes out.

The lithium-ion battery can be used immediately after assembly.

Also, other malfunctions may occur. For example, a thermistor malfunction, or a loss of contact at the solder points. But this is more common in fake tools, so you need to be very careful when choosing, it is best to buy the product of the aforementioned Makita company, because it is considered the golden mean in the power tool market.