Faulty Makita Battery diagnosis

In this video I attempt to find the fault in a Makita 6AH 18v LXT lithium ion battery. I first of all show the details of the fault which is a single flashing battery light and the battery refuses to charge or power any tools. The model of battery featured is BL1860D. The details shown in this video will be the same for any 18v LXT Makita battery other models include BL1830,BL1840 and BL1850. I try to establish the root of the problem and attempt possible repairs. I test the voltage that the battery is producing in this case it was roughly 14v. Batteries at low voltage like this cannot power the 18v tools or indeed take a charge. Sometimes the low ered voltage would suggest a bad cell or 2 but that was not the case this time. I then proceeded to open the battery testing the individual cells discovering they had all lower voltage than they should so this led me to think the cells were all viable and cell replacement was not required. I then tried the sometimes effective measure which is nicknamed the jumpstart method this method involves connecting a good battery to the bad and transferring power to the bad one raising the voltage to a rechargeable level. I was able to bring the bad battery up to over 17v which I would consider the zone for rechargeability however it did not work this time as the PCB board in the battery is faulty flashing a single red light. A faulty PCB board stops the battery from receiving charge from the charger and even if you bring it up another way like I did it also stops it from powering tools this is a safety function of the battery technology.
I have ordered a new PCB circuit board for the battery and will carry our the full board replacement on the Makita battery in the near future. This will feature probably next month on my channel. The question is can you repair a makita battery that is not charging? My answer is a resounding yes.
If I can you can. A word of warning however the repair of lithium ion batteries must be approached with caution. Lithium cells can explode and catch fire if punctured, they are most dangerous fully charged. Please be careful if attempting any of the battery repairs on my channel.
#repair #makita #powertools #makitapowertools

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Second part out now kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHKyiXiYgZtghbM

[@gaborvincze8166]

Hi. The flashing red light on the charger means a temperature error. On the battery pcb, next to the spring, under the black adhesive hill, there is a thermistor. It's broken. It's a $1 item...:). If I remember correctly, it's 10 kohm at 23 degrees Celsius. Regards, Gábor

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Thank you Gabor

[@sirgoatofcheese]

The length of time you left it connected to the other battery WAS THE KEY PIECE OF INFO which you left out!!!

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Usually a few seconds I do recommend that you connect a multimeter at the same time so you can remove the wire when it gets above 17v

[@dwikey_98]

@sirgoatofcheese the length of time is doesn't matter.. the battery voltage is more important, especially the battery is hooked up to the bms.. so, you no need to worry about how many time the battery is being charged by another battery/external charger not from makita charger one, because it is the same thing..

[@shannontank5375]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Thank u for your comment

[@gyij3876]

Y is it heated so much plus I smell the plastic burn smell and so stopped after the light just showed in 2nd step which it needed for 3rd step light to be fully charged?smell not normal?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Battery is probably beyond repair

[@Kazy_RU]

I have gotten a smaller 2AH version of those, the lights flash left and right, same when insert on charger but it will charge, I have checked with multimeter. The charger SO I'm wondering what's the issue, PCB of the battery?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

If the cells banks are all above 3.5v its the pcb

[@GingerJackJane]

Thank great advice

[@doctorlefthandthread]

You are so welcome!

[@jordansnoop]

I had same problem as video. Jumping didn't work, got mad and just shoving the battery on the charger until It showed the fault, took it off and repeated it 5-6 times and on the last time it started charging

[@doctorlefthandthread]

That's great

[@markjamison9765]

when i push the test button on my battery it flashes double red lights , would the cold have got to it

[@doctorlefthandthread]

It could be that however there's no way of knowing until I got it opened

[@yourvidia5815]

YOUR WELCOME…I just touched + with - with a wire and start charging again😉

[@gyij3876]

Y smell while charging?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Cells damaged leaking maybe?

[@ВладиславАнтонюк-ы9н]

I apologize for asking what screwdriver did you use to open the case

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Don't apologise its a tx10 torx

[@ВладиславАнтонюк-ы9н]

Thank you so much Have a good day

[@sheepking97]

@@ВладиславАнтонюк-ы9н To be exact it's a Torx-TR 10 (tamper resistant) with a pin in the middle. You can break the pin off with a smaller screwdriver and a hammer but it's quite a hassle. I would recommend just getting the appropriate bit with a long shaft. Easiest way to get the white plug out is to screw a small woodscrew in it and pull/lever it out with a pair of pliers.

[@citic101]

none makita battery are they any good ? that yellow but is broken on my makita battery can it be repaired ? thanks

[@doctorlefthandthread]

They are about the same as other brands in quality I think you can get the yellow piece separately and glue it on.

[@citic101]

@@doctorlefthandthread oh right thanks i bought two original makita batteries and one doesnt load into the charger and the other battery has a broken yellow connection . i have other brand batteries and they seem to be ok and used for nearly two yrs in my gardening business

[@DirectSales-z2z]

Hi. I have a strange problem with an older Makita 3AMP battery. When I insert it fully into the drill it will not power the drill. However, if I retract the battery 2mm by depressing the button and sliding it backwards, the drill will work. I have tried cleaning the connectors on the battery with sandpaper but still no good. Do all 3 connectors need to connect with the drill? My other 3AMP battery works fine so the drill cant be broken. Any ideas?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

It is something in the pcb of the battery stopping the drill from working its a safety thing. Because of the nature of lithium-ion and the fire risk the pcbs are over sensitive and will cause a shut down even when there is not much wrong.

[@DirectSales-z2z]

@@doctorlefthandthread Thanks for your swift reply. However, I cannot see anything in the drill that connects with the yellow 7 pin PCB connector in the battery.. The drill only has 3 metal plates that are inserted into the two positive and one negative ports. Or am I missing something?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

@@DirectSales-z2z that's right I would suggest putting a bit of insulation tape on the middle pin the shorter one on the positive side and my guess is your drill will then work with the troublesome battery

[@DirectSales-z2z]

​I am afraid that makes it worse. The drill does not work at all regardless of where the battery sits, probably because one of the contacts is permanently not connecting. I want to identify which contact loses connection when fully inserted. Is there an easy way to do that ?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

@@DirectSales-z2z you could connect wires from the battery to the tool and use the process of elimination to see if you can get it to go that way

[@myname604]

I have three faulty PC boards and all three are completely different from each other.

[@doctorlefthandthread]

That does not surprise me at all. The part number will help for example BL1830 BL1830b BL1860 these are the sort of numbers that identify them.

[@leonardolimon8371]

I have a makita 18 volt 2ah battery that is not working.

[@doctorlefthandthread]

I am working on a 3ah at the minute the video for that is coming soon

[@cathleenharter465]

Back and forth red and green lights?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Need to test the cells but if they are OK it's a pcb replacement

[@SirMillz]

My issue with the makita batteries is making me want to swap my whole kit out to DeWalt. Makita quality has fallen off, IMHO

[@doctorlefthandthread]

There is certainly limited choice in Makita LXT compared to Milwaukee M18 and Dewalt XR/flexvolt

[@SirMillz]

@doctorlefthandthread plus, I'm thinking maybe going from 18V to Dewalts 20V may be the extra power I need

[@doctorlefthandthread]

@@SirMillz I gotta break this to you M18 Milwaukee 18v LXT and Dewalt XR 20v are all really 20v when fully charged. The 3 brands use the same cells usually too and the same amount

[@SirMillz]

@@doctorlefthandthread ah, I see. I can believe it. So what is the best kit? Or does it really matter?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

The standard batteries are pretty much the same across the top 3 brands they mostly use the same samsung cells. Best kit? Depends what you are doing. Of the 3 Dewalt is better value for money in my opinion.

[@mariusz1977]

😂 the blinking diode signals the fan and cooling of the overheated battery, not its damage

[@doctorlefthandthread]

That one was submerged in water overnight the board was toast

[@markhidalgo734]

Just put it on the charger even its blinking. I left mine for a night when i woke up it restarted and charged it

[@doctorlefthandthread]

That's awesome I have heard the chargers can do this but never saw it happen

[@markhidalgo734]

@@doctorlefthandthread if u have no patience you wont pursue but i left it on. In the morning i saw it green. I used the battery works normal, charged it as if nothing happened

[@doctorlefthandthread]

@@markhidalgo734 thank you

[@frederickdeypalubos1463]

Did not happened on mine.

[@bryansibrian1732]

This doesn't work. I tried it and nothing.

[@doctorlefthandthread]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHKyiXiYgZtghbM

[@halbvoll1]

If you get at charging 3 times the error from the charger your pcb disables the battery permanently

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Thanks for the info do you think a new PCB will fix it?

[@halbvoll1]

@@doctorlefthandthread if all your LiIo Cells are ok it works with a new pcb again. Next time if the Charging fails: only try 1-time than Kickstart the cold battery and charge again in a firesave environment, if one cell gets hot stop it immediately and change the cell.

[@doctorlefthandthread]

@@halbvoll1 thanks for the advice the pcb is ordered for this and I will make the 2nd part soon

[@muhammadmagomedov6916]

@@doctorlefthandthread Здравствуйте друг Где заказывал?

[@doctorlefthandthread]

@@muhammadmagomedov6916I ordered it from ebay had to wait until it arrived from china

[@moo76man]

Mostly it is caused by few cells they are over discharged. N

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Can be yes

[@smusyk2859]

Love makita, have many of their tools, but the 18v batteries are sh!t, switched to milwaukee & have never looked back.

[@doctorlefthandthread]

I am a fan of the Milwaukee M18 battery

[@mandelbro777]

Makita battery management boards are pieces of shyt . . . on purpose. I reckon millions of good Liion cells have been thrown in the trash by people who don't realize that there's actually nothing wrong with the batteries, which are the most expensive components in the pack. Even if you refurb some of these batteries properly, using their series connections, and balance all cells perfectly, the BMS PCB has a memory and will not allow the charger to charge a perfectly decent battery. Even if you purchase a new battery, and it just goes below a certain charge level due to disuse, the battery charger will reject it and then after a certain number of tries will program the battery PCB to reject the battery. I have simply charged my 18v Liion Makita batteries using a constant current charge of around 0.5 Amps up to 21 volts, and then a constant voltage charge between 20-21v up to 21 volts, for 100's of cycles, and they never overheat, work just as they should for a long duration. It takes longer than the proprietary fast charger is supposed to take, so it's not really a fix for the laborer who relies on the product for their job, but there's no way I will ever purchase a Makita product ever again in my life. The chargers are shyt... simply shyt, and I've come to the conclusion that Makita just know how to generate profit from DIY consumers who don't use their drills/drivers that often, and will then believe they've invested too much into the drill, so continually purchase some of the most overpriced proprietary liion packs on the market other than just writing off their equipment purchase as a bad consumer choice and switching brands never to return. I've never had such problems with my Bosch charger and batteries. And once, a Bosch battery fell under the charge voltage to be recognised by the charger, so I charged it manually using constant current up to 18v, and then the charger recognised it perfectly. Makita is cancer

[@doctorlefthandthread]

I agree with all of that tbh

[@Tegelane5]

Chinese sell new board with 8 euro though, just fixed 5Ah one. Eventhough it does not have any discharge/overheat current etc protection, so not too good for dumbuser. But it will take charge and work like normal, in some cases no overcurrent protection can be even beneficial -like with circular saw or angle grinder.

[@doctorlefthandthread]

@@Tegelane5 that is correct sir

[@TheBadgolferman]

I've had so many problems with makita batteries I've given up on them. They are absolute rubbish. I went to Makita with 3 batteries that packed in and said if I didn't have a receipt there was nothing they could do. They were genuine batteries. They just didn't want to know. I'm done with makita now thankfully. Never again.

[@doctorlefthandthread]

@@TheBadgolferman sorry to hear that I hate when these big companies leave customers hanging like that

[@NoName-hc6ox]

Not faulty just filthy 😂

[@doctorlefthandthread]

It lay in standing water for 24 hours I was told.

[@akaitv6606]

I hate makita

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Perfectly valid opinion and I cant totally disagree

[@Gigiuzv]

Thx for wasting my time

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Sorry you feel that way this is the 2nd part kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHKyiXiYgZtghbM

[@Gigiuzv]

@@doctorlefthandthread Ok. I will try also part 2

[@anthonygregory3022]

I'm having problem after problem with makita battery's and charger going down. They are not fit for purpose. Good money for garbage.

[@doctorlefthandthread]

Some people have lots of issues some people say the Makita batteries do well its a mixed experience with all brands as far as I see but yeah the Makita batteries are far too expensive

[@patarmstrong3582]

Operator error, brother. I probably have 30 batteries and 20 tools in service daily. Makita is just fine.

[@anthonygregory3022]

@patarmstrong3582 I've been a welder fabricator for over 45 years. Every engineering company I have been in has shelves full of dead makitas. I transfer parts to ge something working. For me, they burn out too quickly. They are made that way. However, 240v is too much power going through a handheld grinder. Variable speeds is a must.