The Battery For The Screwdriver Does Not Charge What To Do

The screwdriver’s battery does not hold a charge; what to do? The screwdriver’s battery does not hold a charge. What should I do? Loss of battery capacity in a screwdriver is almost always inevitable. You can, of course, slow down this process a little, but not avoid it.

The screwdriver’s battery does not hold a charge. What should I do?

Loss of battery capacity in a screwdriver is almost always inevitable. You can, of course, slow down this process a little, 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 first ones is inconvenient, then the second has another disadvantage: the relatively rapid wear of the batteries (1-5 years, depending on the model and frequency of use). And it seems that not everything is so scary, because it can be replaced and the tool can be used successfully further, but the problem is that a pair of new batteries costs almost like a new screwdriver.

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

To find out the state of the battery capacity without disassembling it, you need to put your hand on top while charging and hold it for a while. 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 performance, it will heat up to 50-60 ° C, which is easily felt.

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

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

To begin with, in order to restore the lost power, you need to prepare the necessary tools. For this you will need:

  • Soldering iron;
  • Tester;
  • Tin with low corrosive flux;
  • Screwdriver;
  • Spare donor battery or new individual cells (banks) that make up the battery.
the battery for the screwdriver does not charge what to do

Before starting work, the batteries must be properly charged, at least 6 hours each. Then, using a screwdriver or knife, carefully remove the cover from the recoverable battery.

After that, you can start looking for damaged elements, for which you need a tester. Very high quality and durable testers, produced by the Interskol power tool company, they have the best performance in terms of price / quality ratio.

With its help, 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 the battery 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. Do the same with the other battery.

Further, everything is extremely simple. We extract not working elements from the “sick” unit, but from the other. The necessary intact ones. The latter, using tin with a low-calorie flux, are carefully soldered in place of the former. If you do not use a donor battery, but separately purchased banks, then put them instead of the damaged ones. We insert the soldered assembly back into the case.

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. You cannot 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 by itself. With this procedure, it will last much longer. By the way, it is recommended to carry it out at least five times before using the screwdriver.

You can also discharge the battery using a regular 12-volt 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, thermistor failure, or loss of contact at the soldering points. But this is more common in counterfeit tools, so you need to be very careful when choosing, it is best to buy a product from the aforementioned Makita company, because it is considered the golden mean in the power tool market.

Why the screwdriver battery does not charge and what to do

Like many other electric tools, the screwdriver can operate both from the mains and batteries installed on the device. This is very convenient, since the device can be used in the field. And the network cable does not get underfoot and does not interfere. At the same time, sometimes there may be problems with charging the battery.

What should I do if the screwdriver battery does not charge at all or discharges too quickly? To understand this issue, you need to carefully study the structure of the tool charging system. This is what we will do in our article.

How to properly charge batteries

To combat the memory effect of nickel-cadmium batteries and extend the life of lithium-ion power supplies, there are a few important rules to follow:

  1. Immediately after purchasing a screwdriver, charge it to the maximum level. If we are talking about Ni-Cd cells, the procedure must be repeated three times in a row.
  2. The temperature in the room where charging is carried out should be within 10-40 degrees.
  3. Ni-Mh and Ni-Cd batteries must be disconnected from the mains after charging. Lithium ion power supplies are supplied with controllers that do this automatically.
  4. If you do not intend to use the instrument for a long time, it is best to remove the batteries and store them separately. In this case, it is advisable to recharge up to the maximum level at least once a month.

Screwdriver batteries: evolution

To ensure the autonomous operation of a power tool, three main types of batteries are usually used, which need to be described in more detail.

Ni-Cd or Nickel-Cadmium Power Supplies

They have been used for a very long time and are quite deservedly considered the oldest batteries installed on various modern equipment. Their main advantages are:

  • The lowest self-discharge, due to which the batteries can gather dust for a long time somewhere in the closet, and then work quietly without additional charging;
  • Good capacity with a very compact size, which ensures long-term autonomous operation of screwdrivers;
  • Resistance to low temperatures, due to which Ni-Cd cells are often used in all-weather technology;
  • Low price.

The disadvantages include the need to constantly go through a full cycle of charging and discharging batteries. If they are not fully charged, a so-called memory effect is triggered. The battery works worse and worse, after which it turns off completely.

NiMh or Nickel Metal Hydride Power Supplies

They are considered an improved analogue of Ni-Cd batteries, but their advantages can only be attributed to more environmentally friendly production and a slightly reduced memory effect. Basically, this type of battery is inferior to nickel-cadmium. The thing is that they have a very high percentage of self-discharge. To use the battery efficiently, you need to constantly charge it, which completely loses its autonomy.

Liion, or lithium ion power supplies

It is these batteries that are installed on almost any equipment, including Makita power tools, Interskol, Bosch, as well as numerous gadgets. The list of benefits is as follows:

  • Extremely high capacity;
  • Almost complete absence of memory effect;
  • The possibility of equipping with special controllers that monitor the charge level and count the charge-discharge cycles;
  • Low percentage of self-discharge;
  • Resistance to high loads, the ability to use in high-power equipment.

The disadvantages of lithium-ion batteries are unstable operation in cold weather, as well as high cost in comparison with the analogs described above.

Ni-Cd batteries

The most “senior” of the representatives of autonomous power supply elements are nickel-cadmium batteries. Despite the fact that at the European level, representatives of animal protection and the environment are constantly talking about the “toxicity and danger” of their production, they are still actively used in our country. And not a single screwdriver owner suffered from them.

Their main advantage is low self-discharge, and the battery can be stored without using it for a long time. Nickel-cadmium batteries are compact in size, their capacity, despite criticism from fans of more expensive analogs, is pretty decent. And the price is the most affordable.

Of course, such batteries also have self-discharge. But at the same time, they love “pumping” with a standard charger: they charge efficiently, going through more than 1,000 charge-discharge cycles.

In principle, any master may well be satisfied with the use of these “budgetary” elements, if he knows about one significant drawback. Such as the “memory effect”. If such batteries are subjected to constant “recharging” without a full cycle, they tend to “accumulate” information about an incomplete charge inside themselves. Then they begin to work insufficiently efficiently, without using their real resources. It is in this case that the impression arises that the battery “runs out”.

How to properly charge nickel-cadmium batteries? The answer is simple: if you want to maintain their optimal performance as long as possible, it is important that from time to time they were completely discharged, and then followed 2-3 “pumping” cycles using a charger.

This is done easily and simply and will not give the master any trouble at all. Any batteries can be completely discharged after several hours of continuous operation. And after that, you can simply put the battery to charge as usual, using a spare battery pack. The “memory effect” can be removed only in this way. Of course, temporarily, but effectively.

Why does the battery of the screwdriver not charge well or does not charge at all?

The use of a screwdriver is often necessary for various household needs. As you know, many electrical household tools can be operated both from the mains and from batteries. This is very convenient, because the power cord has a “habit” of getting tangled under your feet, ending up in the wrong place at the most inopportune moment. Of course, using a battery is always preferable and much more convenient. But, unfortunately, there are times when, when you try to charge them, the batteries “do not take” the current, and the work can stop for a long time. If the battery of the screwdriver does not charge, or for some reason it quickly discharges, you do not need to panic right away. It is better to approach the reasons as calmly as possible and, having identified them, try to eliminate them yourself, if possible.

  1. What batteries are used in screwdrivers
  2. Ni-Cd batteries
  3. Ni-Mh batteries
  4. Li-Ion batteries
  5. How screwdriver batteries are charged: rules, time, subtleties
  6. If the screwdriver does not charge. What to do?

Ni-Mh batteries

The second group of elements most commonly used for screwdrivers are nickel-metal hydride batteries. They replaced nickel-cadmium as more advanced analogs.

The question of how much they really are more perfect than nickel-cadmium is still controversial. The technology for their production is cleaner, so if you follow European standards, the ecosystem will not suffer. Memory effect Nickel-metal hydride batteries have, but pronounced he far less.

However self-discharge percentage they have very tall, and they need constant recharging to ensure that their capacity is not lost forever. Nickel-cadmium batteries, on the other hand, tolerate storage well without recharging.

Ni-Mh batteries

The second group of elements most commonly used for screwdrivers are nickel-metal hydride batteries. They replaced nickel-cadmium as more advanced analogs.

The question of how much they really are more perfect than nickel-cadmium is still controversial. Their production technology is cleaner, so if you follow European standards, the ecosystem will not be affected. Memory effect nickel-metal hydride batteries have, but pronounced he far less.

However self-discharge percentage they have very tall, and they need constant recharging to ensure that their capacity is not lost forever. Nickel-cadmium batteries, on the other hand, tolerate storage well without recharging.

Why does the battery of the screwdriver not charge well or does not charge at all?

The use of a screwdriver is often necessary for various household needs. As you know, many electrical household tools can be operated both from the mains and from batteries. This is very convenient, because the power cord has a “habit” of getting tangled under your feet, ending up in the wrong place at the most inopportune moment. Of course, using a battery is always preferable and much more convenient. But, unfortunately, there are times when, when you try to charge them, the batteries “do not take” the current, and the work can stop for a long time. If the battery of the screwdriver does not charge, or for some reason it quickly discharges, you do not need to panic right away. It is better to approach the reasons as calmly as possible and, having identified them, try to eliminate them yourself, if possible.

  1. What batteries are used in screwdrivers
  2. Ni-Cd batteries
  3. Ni-Mh batteries
  4. Li-Ion batteries
  5. How screwdriver batteries are charged: rules, time, subtleties
  6. If the screwdriver does not charge. What to do?

What batteries are used in screwdrivers

In order to understand why the battery quickly discharges, or does not take charge at all, you need to know about what types of batteries exist in general and what features each of them has. This will help you understand the specifics of the operation of one or another screwdriver battery and learn how to properly use the resource of a particular type of battery.

Three main types of batteries are usually used in screwdrivers:

  • Nickel-cadmium,
  • Nickel metal hydride,
  • Lithium-ion.

Each of these battery packs has its own specific purpose. It depends, first of all, on the planned load on the power tool, because different work requires different indicators of its power and battery capacity.

Those who are well versed in screwdrivers and constantly deal with them know that two batteries are included in the standard package of any of them. If one of them is discharged, the other can always be used. However, even this can not always save the situation. Self-discharge can occur at the most inopportune time. Especially if the battery has not been used for a long time.

Why the screwdriver battery does not charge. Causes and elimination

The reasons for the absence or weak level of charge, as well as ways to eliminate the malfunction, are different:

  • There is no contact between the terminals of the charger and the battery. This is a consequence of the fact that the memory plates are bent. Gently bend the plates back to working condition.
  • Oxidation of terminals or dirt adhering to them. Contacts are cleaned and wiped with alcohol.
  • Failure of one of the “cans”. Disassemble the battery pack housing by removing the cover (unscrew the screws or remove the latches). Call each jar with a tester for voltage or discharge current. With tension it is easier. It is either there or not, but this method does not always work. The discharge current is measured on a load resistor. In a faulty can it is an order of magnitude lower than in a working one. After diagnostics, the faulty jar is separated from the serviceable ones, and a new one is installed in its place, exactly of the same type, and with the same polarity orientation relative to the other elements.

There is one more reason for the lack of charge, but it is typical only for nickel-cadmium batteries. The memory effect has worked, and the battery does not charge, although its resource has not yet been exhausted. In order not to bring it to this, it is important to carry out the charging correctly.

What to do if the screwdriver battery does not charge

Cordless screwdrivers are more convenient to use than mains. They are distinguished by their mobility, independence from the presence of an outlet “at hand”, the length of the cord. The only drawback is that you need to monitor the charge level for timely recharging. But not all types of batteries allow you to do this, and at the most inopportune moment the screwdriver stops working. And, unfortunately, there comes a time when the battery stops charging.

Battery types

There are three types of tool batteries:

  • Nickel Cadmium (NI-Cd). The older generation, which is still equipped with household screwdrivers. Affordable price, good ratio of size and capacity (rather compact), keep the charge in an idle state for a long time. The disadvantage is the memory effect. If you recharge without a full discharge, then “information” about an incomplete volume is accumulated, it interferes with giving a charge until the real resource is exhausted.
  • Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-Mh). An improved analogue of nickel-cadmium batteries with a cleaner production technology. Although the memory effect is present, it is weaker. The main disadvantage is that they are quickly discharged during storage.
  • Lithium ion. The most advanced type, which is gradually replacing other types in the segment of professional / semi-professional electric hand tools. High capacity, almost complete absence of “memory”, durability, low self-discharge in storage mode. The only drawback is the high cost compared to other analogs.