20V Dewalt Battery Rebuild - Upgrade for 1/2 Price

[@Fred_the_Head]

A very explicit and concise description how to rebuild a DeWalt battery pack. Thank you, sir.

[@hamthomas4715]

Very concise and informative video! Definitely deserves the Like/Sub combo. I hadn't even thought about buying a DIY kit to make my own packs. Now I'm off to source a spot welder.... cheers!

[@jeffscott3160]

Good tutorial brother! Also you can buy the nickel connectors like the OEM ones that connect the batteries in series and parallel in one shot, less welding. I love when I see guys throw out there old battery packs, easy and cheap to rebuild!

[@fxm5715]

Great walk-through.

[@johnjohns2333]

Great video so far the best I’ve seen on how to rebuild 5 ah batteries. recently my spot welder stopped working I’m kind of curious the kind of spot welder you were using yours worked really well do you have a link for it possibly?

[@GreenhillForge]

Thanks! The old link is dead but I found one that looks like the same thing. www.amazon.co.uk/Handheld-Adjustable-Portable-Battery-Welding/dp/B0C9QTP1X3/ref=sr_1_39?crid=3PYBT34N927JB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.w6scWugQtdbkSOlg3x6XN0UuLagIutwLNCxklCZyWxrxqs_G1btXYPlW7TCJfKWkSquBeZ82ePtXYKbB-vOTsAac5nXxnLtQ_vXMFAJthYqOSW_go63eEdW5la66WhiKiBDme35aHwBzOg6hx03gw-n34GK6UkkSvvy_oOnu7Fx8IQF-TzUwoRBnH4RUb84Nysn5JUywggVBUbktM-Rt_CJekuRsPBP5vSyOOIyrPJPbZNPC7LdoAPINYyJzdnBq9FDrjq3MHTvnf4hAjSkZXz2AHXmqorak9puHaUOTQGI.EIXx2xwJePWbD6EWh69BQSxYZ4mOb0ugo15xwc788sU&dib_tag=se&keywords=battery+spot+welder&qid=1731360214&sprefix=battery+spot+welder%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-39

[@scottc3165]

Dang brother. I'm basically on the same path as you. I just got my workshop up and running. I've been rebuilding floor jacks for a fraction of the cost of brand new. That would be a good video for you to do...

[@MannyM0E7O7]

Does “Maximum discharge current” matter with the bms it has ? I can’t find the specs for it. Thinking about using different brand cells with higher “Ah” I’ve made couple 18650/21700 packs for electric skateboards but I would always buy the bms. I do construction & would like to make packs for my tools

[@GreenhillForge]

Dewalt batteries don't actually have a full bms in the battery. The full bms is in the tools and chargers. The one on the battery is really more of a intermediary between the cell banks in the batteries and the BMSs in the tools/chargers, allowing the actual BMSs to read the voltage in the cell banks. The actual discharge current is passing through the nickel tape connecting the cells and the main black and red wires connecting the ends of the battery series with the positive and negative connections on the battery, and if you exceed their capacity they can melt like butter, catch fire, and nuke the whole thing.

[@MannyM0E7O7]

@GreenhillForgeyou So all I need to do is use thicker nickel strip & thicker gauge that can handle it then correct ?

[@GreenhillForge]

@@MannyM0E7O7 The tool determines the amp draw, so assuming you're using normal OEM tools and nothing's wrong with them and no shorts then the tool will always draw the normal required amps. Increasing the Amp hours only increases the capacity of the battery so the battery lasts longer. It doesn't increase the amps drawn (only the tool or a short does that. So like in the video, I increase a 3Ah to a 5Ah and it's fine, I didn't need to change any of the wiring. Careful with battery brands though, cheap cells are notorious for being crappy, like dying early or even shorting/catching fire/etc

[@northidahodreaming5657]

Thanks....very worthwhile. Perhaps I missed where you purchased the items....you mentioned Aliexpress? I've always been too concerned or unsure to try a purchase from this place. Have you always had a positive experience from this seller?

[@GreenhillForge]

I was also hesitant but I've found Aliexpress and Temu to actually be pretty good. You can also find them on Amazon and Ebay but they're usually marked up a fair bit

[@ronjeremy7255]

Great video, can you post some links for the cells and the welder you have, thanks

[@GreenhillForge]

I don't have the exact links to give you but check the comments, I've posted some info there.

[@ronjeremy7255]

@@GreenhillForge Thanks, I managed to source the spot welder, can I ask what setting you had it on? do I just do it at full power, never spot welded a battery before so don't want to get it wrong. Thanks

[@GreenhillForge]

@@ronjeremy7255 I used it at full power but I'd recommend just practising a bit before you try it for real. Try just welding two strips of nickel together, pull them apart and see how strong the weld was, look for any burn through around the weld which would show that it's too hot and should be turned down a bit, and if you're rebuilding a battery you could always try test welding some nickel onto the old cells. Basically get a feel for it so you know what to expect when you do it for real. You could also check ebay for old spent batteries, sometimes you can grab those really cheap. Good luck and I'd love to hear how it goes.

[@ronjeremy7255]

@GreenhillForge Thanks for all your help and advice, I practiced a bit on the old cells, (2 of which were actually completely dead) and then had a go with the new cells, it all worked out perfectly and the battery is good as new. Thanks again

[@GreenhillForge]

@ronjeremy7255 That's awesome!

[@patrickdobson1540]

What welder unit did you use? I am building power packs for the R/C aircraft.

[@GreenhillForge]

The old link is dead but I found one that looks like the same thing. www.amazon.co.uk/Handheld-Adjustable-Portable-Battery-Welding/dp/B0C9QTP1X3/ref=sr_1_39?crid=3PYBT34N927JB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.w6scWugQtdbkSOlg3x6XN0UuLagIutwLNCxklCZyWxrxqs_G1btXYPlW7TCJfKWkSquBeZ82ePtXYKbB-vOTsAac5nXxnLtQ_vXMFAJthYqOSW_go63eEdW5la66WhiKiBDme35aHwBzOg6hx03gw-n34GK6UkkSvvy_oOnu7Fx8IQF-TzUwoRBnH4RUb84Nysn5JUywggVBUbktM-Rt_CJekuRsPBP5vSyOOIyrPJPbZNPC7LdoAPINYyJzdnBq9FDrjq3MHTvnf4hAjSkZXz2AHXmqorak9puHaUOTQGI.EIXx2xwJePWbD6EWh69BQSxYZ4mOb0ugo15xwc788sU&dib_tag=se&keywords=battery+spot+welder&qid=1731360214&sprefix=battery+spot+welder%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-39

[@DimaProk]

Oh wow... I didn't know you can get blanks on ali, that is awesome! Which spot welder did you get and how much was it? I was looking at several and couldn't decide if its worth investing for building 1 battery pack for my scooter that I am going to convert from 2 lead acid batteries to Li-Ion instead and now with extra batteries, I can upgrade my 1.5 Ah battery to 3.2!

[@GreenhillForge]

should be a link in the comments to the welder. if you're building a big pack that's when it starts getting really cheap, ordering 50-100 cells at a time really drops the price

[@bryankramer1449]

Do you have a link for the cells you bought?

[@GreenhillForge]

They are Samsung 25R 18650 3.7V cells. 18650 is the size and shape. 3.7V is the nominal voltage. 25r is the Samsung model#, it has 2500mAh capacity and 20Amp rated continuous discharge. I'd use any high end make with those specs like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic. Prevailing wisdom is never buy cells from places like Amazon, Ebay, Aliexpress as they'll likely be fake. Stock at reputable cell suppliers seems come and go a lot and prices fluctuate so sometimes you have to search around but here's an example of the Samsungs www.cellsupply.co.uk/samsung-25r-18650-battery?srsltid=AfmBOoqAtA4meDGDRETDDjwCzX08SVIMyDhKZAdztR5mQKru2uj0zvYv

[@jackpinesavageadventures3142]

👍🏻👏

[@quickvr4]

what thickness nickel sheet?

[@GreenhillForge]

Good question. That should have been in the video. 0.15x8MM pure nickel.

[@RobCardIV]

what the hell. i learned more in 10 minutes here. This needs to be shown to everyone in highschool science class. if its not, elon musk needs to fire some mother fffkrrs

[@DavidJohnson-lm7nn]

What spot welder did you use if you don't mind me asking. Was looking on amazon and a lot of the products have shitty reviews.

[@GreenhillForge]

It should be linked in the comments