Build Dirt Cheap power tool Battery Packs : Milwaukee Dewalt Makita

Building any power tool pack is easy and fun.
WANT it QUICK, order from Amazon:
Dewalt 10 cell 2p 5s 18650: amzn.to/3m5eW0s
Milwaukee 10 cell 2p 5s 18650: amzn.to/3m2cHuD
Makita 15 cell 3p 5s 18650: amzn.to/3Ne2FCO
Milwaukee M12 6 cell 2p 3s 18650: amzn.to/3m6UEDw
SAVE a few bucks:
Wait a little while and get the same ones direct from China via Aliexpress or Ebay for just a little bit less. I don't have links as those listings are constantly changing. Generally searching by a battery part number ie "Makita BL1850 case" for the brand you want will get you results.
Tools I use:
Torx security bits required to dismantle packs: amzn.to/3x3MAd3
Soldering irons are cheap: amzn.to/3NmySaM
Dual cell ANY type battery charger I have: amzn.to/3N3CxKF
Get a Multimeter as well, they're cheap: amzn.to/3GCpqxH
I use the Kester 951 no clean flux. It lasts forever amzn.to/3bfvukk
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL or support the SHOP DOG's treat addiction:
Buy Ginger a new bone: www.paypal.com...
sixtyfiveford
sixtyfiveford/
Lithium Li-on 21700
Makita Packs BL1815N BL1820 BL1830 BL1840 BL1845 BL1850 BL1850B BL1860
Dewalt Packs 20V DCB201 DCB203 DCB204 DCB200 18V
Milwaukee Red Lithium M18 18V 3.0Ah 4.0Ah 5.0Ah

[@gorak9000]

DUDE - the FIRST rule of battery scrounging club is DO NOT TALK ABOUT BATTERY SCROUNGING CLUB

[@sixtyfiveford]

I didn't name names...

[@1pcfred]

Yeah it's only possible if no one does it. Because no one wants to pay $100 for a battery pack. Soon as more try it the game's up.

[@lossless4129]

Lol

[@gorak9000]

Here, all the "battery recycling bins" are now behind the customer service counter, at both Lowes and HD - no more scrounging - they shut that down!

[@MA_KA_PA_TIE]

​@gorak9000 yeh my homedepot acts like the battery recycling is gold.

[@fraydnot]

I went to 5 stores and asked for used batteries, I got one dewalt spending $20 in gas. Thanks Moe for the great video. Going to be sending you something in the mail

[@sixtyfiveford]

Yeah that's the way it goes sometimes. I started not going out of my way, but if I'm out and about by a store I just stop by. It's really hit and miss. Yesterday I stopped by two stores I got a single battery at one and eight batteries at the other.

[@Blakehx]

Great video as always, thanks for sharing and trying to save us some money! A couple tips for anybody doing this… 1 if you kinda suck at soldering (like me) solder the positive terminals first (too much solder on them can overflow and short out against the negative casing) 2 a big clamp or large vise grips are good for holding batteries still and upright while you’re working

[@garethmcgregor1621]

Great video Mo. I got a bit lost with the balance wire, but I'll ask my brother to explain it to me. He's very clever like you and has literally thousands of cells that he has collected due to the industry he works in. His plan is to build his own 'Tesla style' battery for his home. His cell collection is crates a little over a cubic metre each packed full and ready to test all the cells. The battery packs they use just go in a big skip when they stop working properly or after a certain amount of time, regardless of how well they function, and since he's in charge he just packs them all up and brings them home. Now I understand what he's up to.

[@stevebabiak6997]

The concept behind balance wires is simple. The charger puts its voltage across the whole stack of batteries; in this particular video he had three sets of batteries that were stacked in series with each other (each of those sets consisted of three batteries connected in parallel), so ideally each set will charge to 1/3 of the charging voltage. Because the batteries aren’t perfectly identical, some will charge faster than others - this potentially results in an imbalance, where the voltage isn’t equal from one set of cells to the next, and more importantly it becomes possible to charge one or more sets to a voltage above the maximum allowed voltage. So those balance wires allow the BMS (battery management system) circuits to measure the voltage across each set of cells, and “make adjustments” to limit the extent of the imbalance so that each set is nearly equal in voltage to all other sets. In this 12V battery there are only three sets, so two balance wires are all that is needed (with the end terminals also being used by the BMS). In an 18V battery, there will be five sets so you would have four balance wires. Hopefully that helps explain.

[@sovereignentity4924]

@@stevebabiak6997 Excellent explanation , 👌 & Thank you... 🙏

[@Superimperator]

@@stevebabiak6997 hey bro, do you think its possible to charging a hikoki/hitachi 18 volt battery with a mechanical batteryadabter in a bosh 18 volt charger?

[@stevebabiak6997]

@@Superimperator - there is a big difference between “possible” and “recommended”. These li-ion batteries should only be charged using a charger approved by the battery manufacturer. In all honesty, I think you would have difficulty if you tried it, since the batteries have extra terminals on them that are only used when charging - these terminals are unlikely to be put to proper use with an adapter and a charger from a different manufacturer.

[@Superimperator]

@@stevebabiak6997 ahh okay thx man, maybe thats the reason why i cant find videos of someone do this😅

[@SemperMortem]

Because of you, i built a 10ah battery for my dewalt / Milwaukee. Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention!

[@sixtyfiveford]

Great to hear! They're beasts.

[@coltonrowe]

Brilliant! I can’t believe I’ve been throwing away expensive battery packs for years and I could’ve made a few of them work. Thank you for this.

[@ZippoVarga]

Excellent tutorial as always Moe! I hoard 18650's for this purpose as well. Any time I go to yard sales and see bare batteries I can always pick them up for 3-5 bucks. Cheers my Friend! Zip~

[@999thenewman]

Great video. It's amazing that for the last 12 years something stupid such as a $4 circuit board or a few bad cells causes so much warranty grief and wastes so much time at the local big box store when most battery packs can be salvaged and rebuilt for around $10.

[@DAS-Videos]

I worked at a grocery store one summer and they would throw away all the food with that days expiration date. They had a compactor that the food went into. We would be eating what we wanted as we worked lol. I think today grocery stores give away the food that is about to expire. Waste is factored into the prices of the products. There is probably a huge markup on battery powered tools versus how much it actually cost to make it.

[@stevebabiak6997]

@@DAS-Videos - not all of them give it away. On May 31 I purchased two four+ pound pork roasts (each regular priced over $15) for $1.50 each ($3.00 total) because the date on each was June 1. Froze one and cooked the other. For me, it helped beat the crazy inflation we now have; but that sort of leads the store to be raising prices to compensate for the loss - leads to inflation in a different way.

[@kanadianken5673]

Great freaking idea to grab “dead” battery packs and snipe the good ones out !!

[@1pcfred]

Yeah if you have access to that sort of thing.

[@alward9901]

Great advice on checking the battery’s I have 3 AA ‘s in the smoke detector it’s always just one that ‘s lowest. Just change it & she’s good to go.

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

Good job! I think you did a good job explaining it. It really is easier to do than what most people realize. I have always soldered mine like that. It's like you said.." keep your soldering hot. Get in & get out fast!" Who cares how it looks. It powers your own power tool & it is hidden on the inside.

[@luvmechanix]

Be careful and only use cells from the same batch and used for the same amount of cycles. The internal resistance can vary and under high drain they can overheat/catch on fire. Don't burn your house down over a battery pack. Better yet, just avoid playing with lithium batteries without really knowing about them. I have seen spectacular failures with 18650 cells and I am worried

[@sixtyfiveford]

You're way overthinking it.

[@Latchkeyhuman]

@@sixtyfiveford I like your videos but this one is a little careless. You don’t explain or possibly you don’t know about runaway batteries. A single bb of solder touching the positive to negative could be catastrophic to someone that doesn’t know what they’re doing. You may want to put a disclaimer at the beginning of this video. Just a thought

[@davadoff]

@@Latchkeyhuman not just that, soldering cells together in parallel like in the video can make one essentially short out in a not too uncommon situation. Since he never mentioned it in the video, I guess he didn’t know about the potential danger. Even if this guy has enough common sense to not make a dangerous battery, I can imagine someone trying to copy these instructions could burn down their house. Specifically, pulling off the tabs and sanding the ends of the cells… it literally made me wince.

[@bobthompson4319]

Sometimes if you have a dead battery and forget to charge it then the charger wont charge it because the charger thinks its to dead to charge. So get a fully charged battery of the same brand and voltage and get some good thick wire keep it short and put the wire from one positive to the other positive and negative to negative and make sure to get it RIGHT or you'll fry the board it them. then let them sit hooked to each other for 15 mins then try to charge the "bad" one and see if it will charge if not try again for 30 mins then try to charge it. you can also check the charge indicator also. And MAKE SURE not to drain the good one to far or it wont charge.

[@haneyoakie14]

Very cool. I have 4 battery packs for my 18v DeWalt. Two of them work. It would be nice to have 3 working battery packs, as I have the impact, and the drill. One in impact, one in drill, one on charger ready to enter the game would be great.

[@yodasbff3395]

Good stuff. I have rebuilt several Ryobi battery packs doing this, they work well but usually don't seem to have quite as much life as new packs, but a whole lot cheaper. Yoda says hi to Ginger. 👍

[@davemontano3790]

Like in Solar, a bunch of 20% depleted batteries come together in parallel to make a pretty hi ah pack. Yeah they aren’t at full capacity but because there are many, you will get the benefit of having long lasting battery life, even with 80%

[@billrimmer5596]

I have some old packs. I will check them out. Thank u! Appreciate all the good stuff on this channel!!

[@DoingItCheap]

Ginger is awesome !

[@simonlunt353]

Well done sir A old friend of mine did all this kind of thing years ago and it works great stuff 👍

[@shannonbradley963]

Awesome Moe. Person could fix their bad tool battery by isolating bad cell and replace it instead of buying a brand new COMPLETE pack. One recycled battery pack could repair multiple others from harvesting the good remaining cells in it .Great freak g idea. 18650 's aren't cheap when you have to buy several .Great idea dude !

[@stinkycheese804]

Except no. It's a bit like running tires on your car until the belt pokes out, then replacing only that tire and pretending the rest are as good as new when they are near the end of their life too, unless you just needed a wheel alignment and inexplicably didn't notice abnormal wear for a long time, but even then, that's a long time you wore the other tires too so they are not as good as new.

[@BlueEyedColonizer]

Medical supplies have great batts and they are replaced before they even get bad

[@tedz74]

They are not typically high discharge cells, but rather high capacity. So not ideal for tool applications.

[@1pcfred]

The latest place to grab cells is disposable vapes. People use those once and toss them. So the cell isn't even broken in yet. They're high drain type too. What a world we live in.

[@jjackson3240]

You're right. Manufacturers use spot welders to save time. A reasonable welder can be bought for around $60 or you can build one for about $20. Personally, I prefer the spot welder for the same reason the manufacturers do. I don't have the time to sit and solder.

[@MrSGL21]

yup bought an amazon spot welder. $70

[@RYBR]

Before you take apart your Makita batteries, go to the Makita store and get them to test em. They may just give you a replacement. Worked for my father. 7 batteries.

[@sixtyfiveford]

Someone threw away two Ryobi batteries and the date codes said they were under 3 years old. Called Ryobi and they sent me two brand new batteries.

[@1pcfred]

Makita batteries are the worst. They have a board in them that black balls the battery in a fault condition. One screw up and it shuts itself off. There's no way to reset it either. Once it trips it's over. WTF is a Makita store? Screw them!

[@redpandabus-adventuresinlife]

I started watching you a few months ago and l am amazed at all the things you have taught me. The first video l watched was plastic welding. It turned out perfect. These battery pack have been a curse to me. When they do go they are expensive to replace. It's so nice to know now that l can now fix them myself and not be afraid of doing it. Your just awesome! I think this is my first post on your site! Just lov'n it! Autumn!

[@sixtyfiveford]

You're awesome, thanks. I'm glad you like the videos.

[@JDLarge]

Right on brother, I’ve been doing this for years. Back in the day a new dewalt 18 volt replacement was mucho dinero! (nicad) instead I’d just buy the replacement for $13 from harbor freight for their standard ni cad battery pack for a warrior flashlight! The HF Warriors lithium are now $20 AND come with a charger to boot. If you only need two cells then that rebuilt or other tool pack now has spares. Thanks for getting this out there. I’ve also traded smoked packs at Home Depot for better cased ones to rebuild as well. Id just tell them my case was cracked and I’d redonate that one after I swap the case. Whatever, it works🤥. I prefer to do the labor replacing cells over shocking or nuking them to shock their memory into coming back. Ya, that worked for a while too UNTIL I popped one once and aside from being very loud no injuries to report but forget that😉👍🏼

[@MikeyMack303]

Thank you for sharing that information, Moe. I always learn something useful from your videos!

[@mrbiggoggles314]

I've been rebuilding battery packs for a long time, I know how to solder so IDK what kind of witchcraft he uses to solder the batteries because I have tried over and over with different temps and methods but the solder never sticks. I eventually got a cheap spot welder for like $60 and dang it makes it so much easier and faster. It's well worth your money if you have the same problems I did.

[@sixtyfiveford]

You need to sand, scuff or scratch the battery surface and solder will flow out and stick.

[@mickenzie5863]

Flux is key, in addition to the prep 65ford mentioned.

[@stevebabiak6997]

To add to above, pre-tinning is also helpful. And the tip of the iron has to also be tinned - the tinning helps the heat to flow from the tip of the iron to the surfaces where the tip makes contact.

[@1pcfred]

He's abrading the battery caps which gives the metal tooth for the solder to grip to. That and you may really stink at soldering. Some people just can't solder. For whatever reasons they simply can't grasp what needs to be done. Done right soldering is easy. Done wrong soldering is a nightmare. I've seen people struggle.

[@mikethecarguy9387]

use a big iron, (80-100 watts) and be FAST, too much heat transfer into the cell and its a bad day. (you need a hearty tip on the iron too)

[@tedz74]

Great video. I've been doing the same for a while. I haven't had to buy a new pack in years. Those 40V ryobi packs tend to have the electronics fail so they will have all good cells!

[@MrSGL21]

i just snagged a 40v 6ah. 30 2000 mah cells. bad bms. revived and fixed a freinds 40v 5 ah. found the out of balance cell group, charged the group with my sky rc ba6 and then reset the bms. bam pack working again.

[@br4morse7]

That was the coolest ending to a battery building video. 🐕

[@kenl5217]

The close up shots and illustrations are helpful

[@repoman6034]

Great practical video as always! The sanding/tinning idea is great. Why not tin the connector plate in addition to the end caps? Seems like it would promote easier soldering under the plate.

[@sixtyfiveford]

Generally there are space restrictions so I'm trying to add as little solder as possible. The connecting strips generally flow the solder extremely well and don't need pretining.

[@emmettturner9452]

On Sunday I got my EIGHTH DCB210 battery pack. I knew it was bad like six of my other seven DeWALT DCB210 packs (10AH) but it also turned out to be counterfeit. I still thought it wasn’t too bad since they also threw in a 5AH Ryobi 40v pack almost just like the 4AH one you have there. Unfortunately, every single cell was at zero volts even though it looks brand new, inside and out, and even still had the security plug covering one of the screws. It’s definitely a risk when you buy packs to salvage.

[@inspireonex]

Note to clean all of your solder joints when finished if using corrosive flux. Just don't use MEK or benzene aka carb cleaner. (Not an inside joke)

[@1pcfred]

Or just don't use acid core solder. NEVER use acid core for electric. That's plumbing solder. Come on people.

[@homemadetools]

Clever solution. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum this week 😎

[@09FLTRMM77]

MM77 Approved 👍🏼👍🏼………………..I love my Ryobi 40v tools, HATE the battery packs!! You can by a tool WITH a battery cheaper than just a battery!! I need to figure out if a battery swap will work with those.

[@sixtyfiveford]

There's a lot of profit in tools these days.

[@D4x4Bronc]

Thanks for the free battery sources. Pallet return sellers may also have bad batteries. I would think they would let them go for free.

[@jasonhill1520]

Thanks Moe I knew there was a reason I didn't throw those old packs out

[@tblbaby]

That's the stuff Moe. I'm stupid on what goes where, but I could probably figure it out with a lot of study :)) We need battery packs for super cheap. They cost too much.

[@1pcfred]

We need more children in the lithium mines. Come on Africa!

[@rbmwiv]

Get a Roloc wheel for your grinder it’s basically scotchbright disk. They last a long time and are gentle if you want to be but they will strip paint if needed.

[@danielcarlson8321]

Thank you for sharing how to test and fix battery cells!

[@bombardier3qtrlbpsi]

There's Ginger. She put the after burners on. 😄Great idea to add to the battery collection.

[@mr1pearl]

The battery saving king awesome man 👍 Happy doggy 🙂

[@davidholtrop6429]

👍👍👍 Thanks for giving me confidence to repair my Battery’s and tip on the liquid flux’s!

[@1pcfred]

If you do it right the flux in the core of solder should be sufficient. Doing it right requires you to really clean where you're going to solder though. Which you should be doing anyways. Clean your soldering iron tip and your solder too while you're at it. Any contaminant in the solder joint will cause issues. Might not be a game stopper but it'll make things harder for you. Done right there's not much to soldering. Done wrong is when trouble starts.

[@kentuckybeardsman]

I will be honest. great video. I will be taking all my old batts and doing this

[@jafinch78]

Right on! I'm awaiting a Dyson DC56 that I'm debating either paralleling the Dyson pack with a DeWalt 20V switched adapter & pack custom add-on, disassembling the Dyson pack to modify with the DeWalt 20V switched adapter or disasembling the Dyson pack and the trigger to replace the trigger with the DeWalt 20V switch from the adapter and maybe or maybe not using the Dyson pack since is more work... though thinking can 3D print the Dyson pack and then just save the Dyson pack to sell or maybe use possibly in the future. The switch seems handy to have at the trigger. Another neat project I even made a YT video regarding, is using one of those DeWalt (might be better to use the 24V Kobalt packs & adapter) switched adapters with the way cost effective and versatile SH72 soldering irons. Thanks for sharing, right on regarding the batteries qualities you found! I think the laptop batteries I've recovered and restored have only been used in flashlights I've modded to accept the 18650 batteries where I think I have a YT video regarding one of the UV 3-AAA flashlights I modded.

[@skippylippy547]

I just discovered this channel. WOW !!!! Amazing stuff here. I love it. ❤️ I can't imagine how high his IQ is.

[@mhpjii]

_This_ is the best of the Internet. Thank you!

[@troye.1309]

Oh great.... I bought a couple of those Chinese DeWalt battery packs about 3 years ago when I was cutting roots out of the lawn. They worked good and lasted for quite awhile but I haven't touched them since. I wonder if they will even work now🤔.

[@stinkycheese804]

Quit wondering and throw them on a charger. They're probably fine as long as you didn't excessively discharge them then leave them sit without charging back up for 3 years. Even then, they probably didn't discharge that much more unless left in a tool with a defective design that causes parasitic draw.

[@troye.1309]

I did throw them on a charger the other day. I had a couple stumps I wanted to get rid of. One was just about fully charged and the other one showed one light out of three. I bought them at the same time off of Amazon. All it does is light the charger up for a second then goes out. I was going to take it apart but I guess I need to get some specialty bits. ​@@stinkycheese804

[@CheaddakerT.Snodgrass]

One of the first videos I saw of yours was about rebuilding battery packs. That was forever ago. My other most memorable video of yours is building the pallet wood shed. Do you still have that?

[@sixtyfiveford]

I still have and use the shed.

[@thevoidedwarranty]

Just do it outside , i've shorted way to many cell and usually the dont explode but sometimes they spew out molten metal and lots of flame & smoke . And the fire extenguisher does nothing on them i tried .

[@lewiemcneely9143]

I'm too old and goofy to be making up electrical stuff and will be better off buying new but you never know. Thanks and the Hound On The Run! GBWYall!

[@1pcfred]

Doing this sort of thing isn't for everyone. Tool battery packs is one place where some regulation would have improved efficiency. The way it's done now is the absolute worst way possible. It's making corporations a lot of money though.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

@@1pcfredThat's always the foundation and bottom line of almost everything. I'll say almost because some people still care about quality and longevity but not many.

[@1pcfred]

@@lewiemcneely9143 there's a lot to be said for the disposable lifestyle. Of course there's plenty that can be said against it too. Some items can last a long time. Not much can stay in new condition forever though. Some of what we make today needs an economy of scale to make it feasible to produce. You ain't whipping one up in your garage easily. And if it breaks fixing it isn't practical either. We're caught up in the vicious cycle of accumulating entropy.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

@@1pcfred Get the best you can at the time and use it for as long as you can. All my stuff is worn out years ago but still going. It was paid for a long time ago and if I can fix it cheaper than I can replace it, it'll still be here. GBWYou!

[@1pcfred]

@@lewiemcneely9143 I don't need the best of anything. Good enough is just that. It's good enough. What's good enough is the question though. If what I have isn't good enough then I try to get something better to replace it. I have some pretty craptacular stuff that works for me too.

[@robertthomason8905]

What about a bridge across All the contacts? like a flashlight spring and a highly conductive plate on top. Just wondering

[@sixtyfiveford]

Expand a little one what purpose this would serve?

[@hunt4fish]

cool vid. and it works. I too do the same thing for my battery packs when they start giving trouble. It keeps my tools going at a very cheap price; ....good stuff, take care, watch the dog!

[@SavedByFaithInJesus]

AWESOME video and content! 16:31 jealous of the view.

[@sovereignentity4924]

Ginger 🐕 is the reason I am Subscribing to your channel ...Lol 😄 Plus your content is pretty good also...👍

[@robertthomason8905]

The charger needs to hear what the battery needs. If not... It won't do anything for the weak. Brutal.

[@Lee-lb9qh]

Man now I wonder if the power tool companies do this🤔, home depot has a bin where you recycle batteries

[@1pcfred]

Yeah just walk in wearing a jumpsuit with some made up battery company logo on it and a hand truck and pick the whole bin up and roll it out. Maybe have a clipboard with some phony paperwork on it that you get one of the doofy employees to sign if they try to give you any trouble.

[@zumbazumba1]

If you have trouble soldering things use phosphoric acid as a flux -its a common chemical sold in hardware store as a rust remover.Usualy comes in 75% ,but some of rust removers have other chemicals added so try to find pure acid .It costs around 5$ so you can try different brands and see which one works best .

[@1pcfred]

I wouldn't recommend using acid for electronics soldering. I've soldered professionally in a board assembly house too. So I may just know a thing or three about soldering. Being as I've soldered mil spec circuits. Use abrasion like this guy did. If you have to resort to using a cleaner then use a solvent that doesn't leave a residue. Isopropyl alcohol is a good choice. Save the acid for plumbing jobs.

[@davidbarker3591]

I'm a little picky when it comes to soldering. I always use a rosin paste flux, 100 watt iron and 63/37 leaded rosin core solder. Has a very low melting point of 345*. Never have an issue

[@mattek519]

If i wanted to swap out 18650 cells for 21700 cells in a ridgid 18v battery, could i? I mean provided i customize the housing to fit the larger cells of course, but would it work, or would the electronics not support it?

[@davadoff]

It would work. The electronics would not notice any difference.

[@LujinCustom]

Great video! I’m building a lifepo4 pack to replace the NiMH pack in my Camry

[@pontiacmaniac2]

But what is your time worth? You made trips back and forth to the store, to pick up recycled batteries. Plus the time to put the pack together plus buying the empty battery shell that you want etc etc. In this instance, I'm not sure its worth it......

[@1pcfred]

This guy is pretty skilled and knowledgeable. That pack he rebuilt is a neat job for something done in a garage. Not everyone could do that the first try.

[@AaronPowellvox]

Thank you for your videos. You have such great hacks and ideas.

[@69uremum]

Good on ya for using the words cell and battery correctly! :) for real though, most people have no idea.

[@ls2005019227]

Thanks for another video with fantastic knowledge Moe!

[@rickballard1627]

Looked like a fun project.

[@Grey-Troll]

you can grab a spot welder for pretty cheap that is made for welding the nickel strips on lithium batteries

[@1pcfred]

Soldering irons are cheaper. But a spot welder should work better.

[@ronniekeener3802]

Awesome idea! Thanks for the tip.

[@helicopterjohns]

Thanks for a really informative video with GREAT links.

[@galaxiethinker183]

Hi can I parallel two different battery packs of the same voltage but have a different Max. continuous discharge current 20 a and 30 a

[@sixtyfiveford]

Yes, I've done it without issue. They split/share the load so they're happy.

[@Surmoka]

Great video, but soldering on li-ion cells is not recommended. It is easy to damage them with the heat. This is why everyone uses spot welding.

[@sixtyfiveford]

I have intentionally tried to destroy cells with soldering and have only been successful on one. I had to hold the soldering iron for a good minute at least. That was on the positive side and all I did was short out the little thermal overload fuse in all cells. I have soldered for 30 seconds or longer just to see if there's a loss in capacity, none. There's a huge difference in power tool lithium ion cells versus something you could find in a laptop. People don't realize how hot these are designed to actually get in operation. I've measured normal usage and 160F is common but most high discharge cells are rated for normal operation up to 80C/176F. Holding a soldering iron onto one side for 10 seconds may take a 70F cell up to 75F and 60 seconds a little over a hundred F.

[@Surmoka]

@@sixtyfiveford thanks for the info!

[@sixtyfiveford]

@@Surmoka Soldering is slow and no where as compact as spot welding. If you're doing an entire pack spot welding will easily be 4-5x faster. Just replacing 1 cell though and 1 second vs 10 doesn't really matter.

[@Surmoka]

​@@sixtyfivefordtrue dat, but my spot welder is rather lousy. If I had a good welder, it'd be no question. For just one pack, I think I'll be good with soldering.

[@SMOKEY-JAYS-DIESEL]

Awesome thanks for the information 🔥🔥

[@fearofchicke]

I like the visuals.

[@transtubular]

So if those batteries will get hotter in normal use than they do when you are soldering on them, won't the solder joints just melt and get all over everything?

[@slayerspam]

Killer video. You rock dude thanks for sharing this!

[@danieldepot4090]

On that 12 volt what do you think is the biggest battery you can make I have seen 9amps but I haven't seen bigger

[@sixtyfiveford]

The problem is you can only make high drain cells up to about 3ah(18650). So you're limited to that in a 9 cell case. You could use a bigger case though and stack them as many as you want and make it 12ah, 15ah etc battery pack.

[@2LateIWon]

Nice. I need to do 20v dewalt batteries

[@MarcumUP]

spot welder is highly recommended .. heatind the lithium battery is just on the other side of safe.. do your research..you tubes awesome but everyone does things a little different ..but for sure the majority of battery builders suggest to not solder litium cells.. this sad have explained that but..as i said..everyones different

[@sixtyfiveford]

I have intentionally tried to destroy cells with soldering and have only been successful on one. I had to hold the soldering iron for a good minute at least. That was on the positive side and all I did was short out the little thermal overload fuse in all cells. I have soldered for 30 seconds or longer just to see if there's a loss in capacity, none. There's a huge difference in power tool lithium ion cells versus something you could find in a laptop. People don't realize how hot these are designed to actually get in operation. I've measured normal usage and 160F is common but most high discharge cells are rated for normal operation up to 80C/176F. Holding a soldering iron onto one side for 10 seconds may take a 70F cell up to 75F and 60 seconds a little over a hundred F. To do battery packs, you're not going to be able to use the budget. $20-30 spot welder you can find. The nickel strips are two to three times thicker and you will need to spend closer to $150 for spot welder that will handle it.

[@jameskim62]

ANOTHER GREAT TIPS and DIY VIDEO !!!!!!

[@VB-bk1lh]

Great idea but I tore apart over 30 old battery packs and only found four cells that were 100% the rest were compromised to some degree and not worth reusing. If a Li-Ion battery pack failed, chances are it was abused or has gone through a butt load of cycles, meaning that if one or two cells failed, the others aren't likely too far behind. I picked up a huge load of lap top batteries, only two out of 11 of them had any voltage at the terminals, after cutting them apart only five of the cells would take any sort of charge and only one cell held full voltage after a day off the charger. Chances are they were batteries that like most of my own laptops, spent more time plugged in then being run off their batteries. so the batteries lived their whole life being constantly charged and topped off to 100%. On my current laptop, which is 5 months old, if I put it away and let it sit for two weeks, the battery will be dead, dead enough that it won't recharge. The first battery, died early on, when I cut it apart the first cell in line on the pos. side was dead with zero volts, the rest were showing .5 to .9v. out of the 8 cells, only two took a charge without overheating and none held their charge for more than a few hours even after being cut free of the pack. I think the better route to find batteries is to buy cheaper battery packs with new batteries at HF and cut those up to fix your better quality tool batteries.

[@viggosimonsen]

I just did the same, just with new cells. The refurbished battery runs fine, but it cannot be charged in the original charger anymore. It reports the battery as bad

[@harlech2]

Great video!

[@Tubeagrutis]

Great stuff as usual! Thanks for the vid!!!

[@robsdeviceunknown]

Man I bet I have 40 battery packs in a drawer that wont charge. I have yet to work on them.

[@1pcfred]

Now you're a candidate for doing some repairs. Because like he said it's usually just a couple cells that go bad. There's really better ways of testing cells than how he did it though. There's battery chargers you can put the cells on that'll tell you how much they can store. They charge the cell then discharge it and measure the amp hours. You're best off with balanced cells in a pack. So get one of those chargers and a magic marker and test and write the results on each cell and make up balanced packs. You can probably get 30 good packs out of your 40 bad ones. Maybe more?

[@mikethecarguy9387]

manufactures use GRADE A select cells and high end tools are even matched cells. be careful with cells below 2 volts, as they may have started growing "crystal's" internal shorts. These internal issues compound over time and its possible to have a runaway thermal reaction internally, with ZERO warning. To do this right, use a cadex or something similar to match similar cells alike. most 18650 cells have a vent if anything goes wrong, but its the heat it generates that is passed on to neighbor cells. IE runaway thermal pack. ask anyone into modern RC cars how spooky lithium can be.

[@MrSGL21]

yup a 1/2 way decent grading charger is like $35

[@JOEZEP54]

Great recyclizing & dollar saving! .👍 689 Stay well, Joe Z

[@sparcnz]

Thank you, great video, found out I had 2x dead cells in my DeWalt 4A battery pack. Couple of questions, my batteries only have markings "TBI6RX8", Google was no help in finding out what these are? And when I removed the tabs on the dead batteries, I must of punctured the casing as it made a wee hiss, if this happens I don't think I can recover other battery packs? Again regards.

[@user.A9]

If you take the shrink tubing off those cheap cells, you’ll probably find they’re all gouged up from being pried from other battery packs.

[@sixtyfiveford]

Absolutely.

[@ZappninLLP]

Thanks! Very helpful tips.

[@cosmopezzolla996]

Great video as always! Couldn't help but wonder what state your are in, beautiful views... thanks for sharing!

[@sixtyfiveford]

Utah

[@ErnieSesameStreet]

How to choose used 18650 suitable for power tool

[@mtlvlgmnfishing]

Great video

[@PizzaCologne3]

i would like to build one with the new battery LG M50lt 21700

[@A2ZREY]

Where could I ask for stored dead recycle ♻️ batteries?

[@Diced420]

You should do a dyson to 18v

[@Diced420]

Update you can buy adapters pretty cheap 😂

[@samsungsexy7164]

Informative video 👍 What electrical flux you have used on batteries for soldering pls? How to make it? Thanks

[@davidbarker3591]

I always use rosin paste flux by Alpha Fry...

[@johnboynton5649]

so where the hell do you get the circuit boards? yeah, I get the cell thing and I have repaired batteries by replacing cells, but many times its the dang circuit boards - all the cells test good. also, what is that electrical flux? where would I get that?

[@PJBonoVox]

JFC dude. You got Google there?

[@sixtyfiveford]

eBay or AliExpress. Generally the same listings for the empty battery case will have an option just for the circuit board for a few bucks.

[@johnboynton5649]

@@sixtyfiveford I don't need the empty cases. I'm not going to make the batteries from scratch, I'm going to try to fix what I have. I can do the cell replacement (thx for the soldering tips, btw) it's when the boards go bad. You can't really screw up a case, but I don't know if I can trust the boards from just any cheap Chinese source.

[@MrMcShroom]

@@johnboynton5649 Considering these are the same people who are making refurbed batteries and selling them cheap, sure, your 3 dollar board might not work. So just buy two, or just don't do this. But, as a contractor I have seen a decent amount of people using the knockoff batteries, which we can be sure came with the knockoff board. They worked.

[@1pcfred]

@@johnboynton5649 what you need to do is develop trust in your own judgement of electronics. Look and learn. Know what to look for. Read the signs. Because it's all coming out of some cheap Chinese source today. Somes better than others though. It's a hard world to get a break in.

[@TheRealKeiser]

Can you mix battery brands?

[@1pcfred]

You can but what happens is undetermined. It may work and you may burn your house down. So it's a bit of a crap shoot. Odds are it'll probably work. But there is a chance things could go horribly wrong too. So do you feel lucky punk?

[@fargley001]

LOL - I'm literally balancing a 12HD m18 right now.

[@catacombah7847]

very nice video

[@Patrick-c8x]

Hey buddy !! You're Awesome !! 👍🏼