How To Rebuild Your Old Rechargeable Battery Packs with new ones. CHEAP!

[@jameselliott983]

Great video, well paced, good description without being too detailed, and without skipping over anything. Very informative, and exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Peter.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you kindly. Cheers

[@goggeledekipostakutum2061]

Dear Peter, thank You for this precious Video.🙏 Very good, honest description. I will try it too.

[@PeterZafra]

@@goggeledekipostakutum2061 cheers

[@luismarroquinn9018]

Hi Peter. I don't care what the haters had to say. I think this video was very useful and well thought out. I like it when a person takes the time to explain every movement involved, than the lazy ones that just play music show the item move this and that not explaining a thing expecting you to know what they are doing. Wish more would do videos like you. I had stumbled on this video by accident and Glad I did. A few months back my Ryobi cordless 18V battery pack wasn't staying charged have 2 battery packs. I looked online for replacements and seen the prices and held back on getting any. This video is an answer to my problem. I like saving a dollar to. Plus I like fixing things this will be another piece of knowledge for me to put to good use and share with my friends. Keep up the Good Work Peter. You've got my Vote. and New Subscriber my friend.

[@PeterZafra]

Thanks so much. Cheers

[@tinkeringwithelectronics]

Great tip! Paid $10 buck for an 18 volt battery and in my case the HF battery cells fit directly in my Black and Decker pack. I just had to un-solder the wires from the HF connector and re-solder to the B&D pack. Works great.

[@philipvaldez9505]

I never knew about the ability of renewing an old 18V battery pack. I'll never have to buy an expensive battery for my Ryobi again! Very good learning tool! A+

[@PeterZafra]

Glad i was able to help. Cheers

[@freedomisfromtruth]

Those batteries dissipate a lot of heat during soldering and you soldered them easily without flux with your giant iron. Great tip on the HF battery.

[@PeterZafra]

Thanks for the info

[@jeffreybelden2491]

Great vid, I've got an ebike that had a defective battery , among other things when I bought it from evelo. They refused to replace the bike, and continue shipping me the parts I needed to fix it, because I seemed mechanically inclined to them. I've had the battery out of the bike several times to inspect it, and realized just what you are explaining here. Now I'm sure that I have the rite idea, just save myself almost $1,000 (what they want for a new battery). Thanx bud, I'll let you know how it goes when I do the surgery. The bike was a lemon, they didn't understand what that is apparently. $3,400 for the bike new, I'll not work with them anymore, very arogent & condescending staff. You rock!

[@DCPHONEGUY]

don't tear the tab off of the battery ends, cut it in the center with tin snips to leave a tab to solder to so you are not soldering to the battery itself

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for the tip. Will do next time. Cheers

[@JV-wl6ex]

Decent video, hopefully his skills have improved over a few rookie mistakes. Oh btw the 1980’s called and they want their solder gun back! I know they are great for deep grounds, but not everyday soldering!! You make me nervous every time it hits the screen!

[@PeterZafra]

Haha. This soldering gun is legit. Actually bought it back in 1997. Definitely a radio shack special. Cheers

[@mahmoodbhamji6279]

Interesting video. A little clumsy handling at times. Job well done.

[@billdenton8163]

May I suggest that in the future you use flux before you begin the soldering process. This will minimize the amount of heat required and reduce the possibility of damaging the cell from overheating. In addition it looks like you are using a soldering gun, which could be 100 or 200 watts (could not determine from the video). I would suggest you invest in a soldering iron of about 40 - 50 watts, especially if you are doing this on a regular basis. This smaller heat source and the use of solder flux will greatly reduce the chance of damage. I thought this was well done and will try this on a couple of older batteries that I have not, thankfully, recycled yet. Keep up the good videos, thank you.

[@jwrhynejr.6689]

Thanks for the education on replacement on these types of packs!

[@milliistihbarat5514]

interesting points ,if anyone else wants to uncover how to recondition my car battery try Vaxicorn Battery Extender Guide ( search on google ) ? Ive heard some amazing things about it and my mate got amazing success with it.

[@billymeneses2608]

en use a rubber band to brace the battery while in the state of assembly

[@michaelwoo5728]

Hi, so if a few battery is bad then the whole pack wouldn't work and if you change out the bad one with fresh and the pack will work again, is that the idea? I been throwing my money away.

[@curtisj2165]

@@michaelwoo5728 that's the idea, the pack was working but it was low on voltage because of the defective cells

[@patricksilvestri2276]

peter use solder flux when soldering it makes the solder flow much faster especially when working on battery"s no chance of over heating the battery. great work!!!

[@PeterZafra]

Thanks for the tip. Cheers

[@troysanders8802]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Brilliant idea buying from harbor freight for a bargain price. You made an excellent video. Thanks

[@PeterZafra]

Awesome. Thank you so much for viewing and commenting. Cheers

[@fernandoslife1673]

@@PeterZafra 5 6th 4 they went

[@leigraham8066]

i LOVE THE WAY YOU SAVED SOME MONEY BY THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX. tHE INSTRUCTIONS WE CLEAR SO EASY TO FOLLOW. THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR KNOWLEDGE.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you kindly. HAPPY New Year. Cheers

[@martinkuliza]

Not really that impressive, Basic Electronics, i was doing this by the time i was 10 years old back in the 80s

[@efdalkargin1518]

Thanks for ur helpful video. İ have no good english as much as to understand ur speaking but i watched ur video with pleasure until end. Greting from turkey.

[@tomctutor]

Touch of miss's nail varnish on the solder joints and wires, helps to keep them connected and offers some insulation!

[@handyhippie6548]

i refurbish dead tool batteries for a resale warehouse as one of my side gigs. i use hot glue to hold the cells together in the desired configuration. i also made darkkevind's spot welder to connect the individual cells. no worries about over heating the cells that way. i only solder to the nickel ribbon, never the batteries themselves. the welder works quite well, it is a very good design. just make sure you get pure nickel ribbon, not nickel plated steel.

[@adrianleighuk]

Helpful video. I would suggest removing any metal watches or rings whilst handling battery packs as you could end up with a severely damaged wrist of fingers.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for the input. Cheers

[@adrianleighuk]

@@PeterZafrayour welcome. Batteries are merely a electrical storage device much like a capacitor. The only thing that stops them fully discharging in one go is a load. For example a light bulb. Although small this acts as a load. The wire to the bulb depends upon the amount of current the load(bulb) draws out of the battery. So if you have no load and accidentally short across the + & - with a ring, watch or any other metal tool or device, it basically acts as the wire thickness. A ring would draw extreme current as very thick. Hence sizes of fuse wires. A ring would very quickly get so hot it would probably burn through to the bone in seconds. Same with a metal wrist watch. General rule is not to wear them and keep metal away from the + & - of any size battery in case of a accident. Keep safe. Still a good video to explain the way you can save pennies if needed.

[@alopandur]

@@adrianleighuk RIGHT !!! Also, as soon as the wires are disconnected, they must be insulated for any work around them...

[@stevrgrs]

This may seem like a dumb question but how did you reliably test for bad cells when you still had them all connected to each other?

[@PeterZafra]

You can test the cells individually testing each battery. Positive to Positive, negative to negative only on the battery you are testing.

[@johnbesharian9965]

Interesting. I never did battery pack "Rebuilds" when I was the Guitar Doctor at Stars Guitars in San Francisco, CA., but you might want to point out for those totally unfamiliar with the difference that in electronics you use Rosin Core solder [rosin is the fluxing compound inside the solder] and not Acid Core solder [where acid is the flux inside the solder] as you would use on copper pipe for example. Yes, you always "Tin" the wire [stranded or solid core wire] first before you attempt to solder it to a connector, etc. The same with a connector you're trying to attach to a metal part - tin the connector first, not the metal battery cap. While making everything clean and neat, yes, you do need to leave just the right amount of slack. The "Heat Sink", as you call it is actually a thermal-couple of some kind if it does what you say it does. Bye the by, "Chicken Shack" [if they're still in business] sells a small pair of wire strippers for electronic applications such as this that are a whole lot easier to use one handed than the kind of monsters usually found in your typical auto-parts or big box stores. Hopefully your soldering gun has a half power setting and it seems like painter's tape could hold everything together while you try using your third elbow when soldering things together.

[@raymondbhugwana2524]

i found to hold the battery pack to together while working on it, was to put a rubber band around the pack so it dose not short out.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Great idea. Cheers

[@lunamartinez7032]

hi everyone ,if anyone else is searching for reconditioning lead acid batteries try Jons Mender Guide (just google it ) ? Ive heard some incredible things about it and my m8 got cool success with it.

[@LooneyLoonsBalloons]

Surprising I haven't come across this before now, thank you so much for sharing, can save a ton of money now lol

[@PeterZafra]

Cheers

[@jonlambshead5115]

Good Video, You Can Also Pull Your old Batteries Apart and Keep The Good Cells - Take some Pictures Of How They Were Originally Joined and Join The Good Cells Together To Make a New ( ISH ) Battery

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers

[@myhobbyguitar4117]

Good DIY stuffs. This is a great way to save some bucks. Thank you for sharing.

[@Jnes01]

The best part of this video is finding out harbor freight sells a nicad battery pack for $12. That is so cheap and so convenient to buy locally. The cells are also somewhat vetted for quality which is way better than a random ebay seller selling cells that might be really old (at a higher price than this). Thank you

[@PeterZafra]

Yes

[@Jnes01]

@@PeterZafra I rebuilt my battery pack and the cells work perfectly.

[@haroldmillard7325]

thanks, very informative, I have 4 of those batteries and now know how to fix them.

[@PeterZafra]

Cheers. Yep. I still have these exact batteries still working today. :)

[@murmur3966]

Awesome Peter, thanks for sharing this. I will try it as soon as I can. Be careful when you are soldering with that flux core solder. The smoke is very toxic, because flux acid melts out of the inside and cleans the connection so the solder will stick. Keep up the great content.

[@PeterZafra]

Cheers.

[@AJHyland63]

Tip 2: when reconnecting the top cell first add solder to the button and the bottom of the connector before putting them together. All you need to do after is reheat the connector to make the solder flow together. ( by the way solder what the rest of the world uses instead of US soder) Tip 3: Don’t blow on the solder. Let it cool naturally to reduce the risk of poor joint due to “cold solder joint”. If the solder is smooth you have a good joint. If it looks crystalline, reheat till it flows smooth. Cold solder joints can cause loss in power and extra heat in the battery pack due to greater resistance through the joint. Tip 4: tape the temperature sensor to the side of one of the batteries. Any air gap changes the actual temperature measured and therefore changes the switch off time. You want to measure the battery temperature, not the air temperature within the pack. I would be interested in the mAH rating of both the old battery cell and the new. You will probably find your cheap cells are rated less than the originals.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers!!!!

[@clancylittleboy7408]

Yes, "cold solder joints" were a problem in the early US NASA space program, until the technicians were taught by the old von Braun German team about how to make flight-ready joints. Basically, both surfaces must be held together and not moved until the joint is hot and the solder melts, then held completely stationary and motionless until the solder cools and becomes solid. Holding a wire in your hands is asking for trouble, as not many have such steady hands. If the cooled joint has a porous, dull color, it will not have any mechanical strength. Cold solder joints can break apart from vibration. A good strong solder joint has a bright shiny look.

[@kenlenoir426]

Useful Video, It could be worth taping the batteries together for stability while working with them, also to tape thermistor to the pack before reinstalling.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for the input. Cheers

[@davestea8640]

One thing you did not mention, was that the HF battery does not have POWER of the original battery. You can tell by the weight - the HF one is A LOT lighter than the original. The original actually feels HEAVY. This means it won't last as long on what ever job you are doing. But, I like it! and will use it on a couple of Craftsman batteries I have laying around. I do have a bit of a complaint, while do a good job of your step by step, it is too long - you could cut a lot of your redundant verbiage. All in all, you did a good job of it, and gave me a good idea. COMPLETELY agree with Lei below. tnx

[@PeterZafra]

Yes. It does weigh less. It's a great move for older drill set up. Cheers

[@robertcartier5088]

Tip: Cut a length of solder-wire for soldering, and use the spool as a battery holder. (Large, adjustable pliers with an elastic band is good too.)

[@PeterZafra]

Thanks for the tip.

[@jamesd.coombssr.2528]

A Third-Hand tool works great at times as well.

[@bmoose5747]

A zip tie wont conduct a short on ya.

[@lycanlycans7548]

Hello ! Have you ever heard about FLUX ? FLUX is your best friend if your soldering components ! Makes it easier soldering ! And clean your soldering iron tip and do solder on it so you can better solder and protect your solder iron tip ! Best regards, thank you for your informative video !

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for the tip. Cheers

[@satyakaamkatznelson8915]

Great!’ I’ve got a couple of Dewalt 14V packs that are long gone and the drill still good. Costs $94. per battery to replace.

[@PeterZafra]

Awesome. Try to wake them up and if that doesn't work, change them out

[@bobsaturday4273]

coupla pointer on soldering to the battery itself ; 1. ALWAYS tin the battery after sanding a bit or using a small file to knock those pointy leftovers on it after you tear the flat ribbon jumper off it , also sand /file the ribbon and tin first , then when you apply heat they'll just join quickly with a bit more solder 2. forget that big stupid high wattage solder gun thats guaranteed to overheat the battery and get a quality 60 watt iron(pencil) , you'll thank me for it , controlled heat that stays on , so youre not dickin around waitin for it to get hot every time .

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for your pointers. Cheers

[@jadesystem]

Great video. Very informative and quite ingenious. Thank you for your DIY project.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you kindly. Cheers

[@ericaikens5339]

Very helpful step by step you are a teacher

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you kindly.

[@tommymandrell8534]

i have nothing but time on my hands, very good idea. will try this for sure thanks

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Take care. Cheers

[@MariaMora31]

I have spent months researching into battery reconditioning and discovered an awesome resource at Magic Mender Wizard (google it if you are interested)

[@bullett3334]

Awesome presenter!!! Better than any others I've scene!!!

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you kindly

[@Mad_Scientist2052]

Nice video, Thank you. For future reference you may want to find yourself a 500 ferad super cap and two 12 ga. solid copper wires, (and a pack of nickel terminal strips) filed to a blunt point. Solder them to the caps' terminals and that will give you a cheap and efficient terminal spot welder. It will produce less heat and no chance of battery damage due to soldering, It works very well.Good luck👍

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers

[@noname47032]

Do be careful. NiCd cells can go into thermal runaway just like lithium can. It takes a worse mistake to cause it, but they also take longer to self destruct, meaning the fire hazard lasts longer. NiCd batteries can withstand a TON of abuse and they don't care if it's really hot or really cold. Shocking them repeatedly can cause this! Also, *both* of your batteries needs attention. The charged pack should register 19-22 volts. How shocking works is to melt off parts of the crystals that form in the NiCd cells. This also damages the separators, never mind that the crystals do that and they're conductive to begin with. Damaged separators = energy drain or short circuits. Also be *very* sure the cell chemistry matches. Charging methodsa and discharge characteristics are very different with each chemistry. I ran into this with a set of Black and Decker tools when I built battery adapters for some Craftsman V20 batteries. The tools don't shut down automatically for low voltage but I know when to stop. I've done this same mod many times and found better luck just building adapters and running modern batteries. Every time I rebuild a pack, though, it spends the night in a fireproof container.

[@caseychan6909]

Great video to tell the public how to reuse/recycle the batteries. Thank you. What do you mean by "shocking the battery" at 5:52?

[@PeterZafra]

You basically wake up old cells by hooking up each cell directly to a charger for a quick zap. Doesn't always work but definitely worth trying.

[@rejeancaron4329]

Should glue the clips to batteries to help assemble or weld easier Thank for this demo :-)

[@ricktimmons458]

have found that bundle style rubber bands free from post office holds the packs well. also tinning the wires before attaching works well. i have the third hand to aid me. new cardboard cutouts was a cinch. used non conducting tape to hold heat sensor and moved that pesky wire next to connection. worked out well.

[@cstinger189]

Could one buy some B type batteries and replace the bad ones with them?

[@donnh8004]

Regarding soldering and or spot welding the cells. A spot welder can do damage and so can a soldering gun. The spot welder can make punctures. The soldering gun has a skinny tip which has only a small amount of thermal inertia. When you apply the tip to the work the heat is almost instantly drained away and you have to hold it there while the tip and work heat up. This can cause internal battery damage. I suggest using a small 40 watt soldering iron with a big tip. The tip has a lot of thermal inertia so won't cool down too quickly as you apply heat to the cell. The outside of the cell and the steel conductive tape heat up fast enough that the cell contents get very little if any damage. I use the same strategy when installing RF connectors to coax cable for my ham radio work. What a difference. I used to use a gun and it would heat and melt the inside plastic separators in the RF connectors. All the best fellow do-it-yourselfers.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for the heads up advise. Cheers

[@chrisscogin1911]

Nice job. Of course I've gotta say one thing that had me kinda cringing through it. It wouldn't hurt to put a couple of rubber bands around the whole thing to keep from possibly tearing one loosewhile you're working. Just a thought.

[@PeterZafra]

Thanks. Cheers

[@allsortsabouteverything]

Always good to make do and mend. Your soldering technique needs a little improvement though. Never ever blow on a hot solder joint,,,,, always let it cure at its own speed. This can cause cracked or dry joints. Might be worth investing in a small spot welder for better current transfer on those bridges.👍🇬🇧👍

[@willfritz2513]

Love the RADIO SHACK SOLDER

[@PeterZafra]

Yup. So rare now

[@bigsparky8888]

Nice job...GOOD WORK...THOROUGH!!! When Harbor Freight 1st sold batteries...9.6v...I TOOK ONE APART...THERE WAS A WET PAPER TOWEL IN IT TO MAKE THOSE FLAT MILD STEEL BATTERY CONNECTORS RUST...HARBOR FREIGHT SOLD HOW MANY THOUSANDS...BAD BAD BAD...MY SUGGESTION...CHECK EVERY BATTERY YOU GET FROM THEM 1st...grrrrr

[@victordough6859]

Unfortunately, not all power batteries have screws to unscrew to take them apart to replace the battery cells, and so on.

[@PeterZafra]

Yes. Some of them are completely sealed off unfortunately.

[@TheRailroad99]

Thank you! Sadly I can't find those ultra cheap 18V batteries here in Germany, but what I can find are 18V 3,5Ah 20€ Bosch replacement packs. I will use the cells to rebuild my pretty rare (~75 for replacements) Hilti battery pack. Thats actually a great deal because single NiMH (or NiCd) Sub-C cells are pretty expensive at around 3€ per cell. that would make 39€ worth of cells for just one 13 cell (15,6V) pack

[@PeterZafra]

Glad it helped. Cheers

[@curpassamuelalin6751]

thanks for showing us your yard

[@homdefer]

Thanks. When I rebuilt a battery I bought new cells and I had a hard time connecting them all together because I couldn't get things hot enough to melt the solder to get good joints. This is a much quicker way to go.

[@PeterZafra]

Glad it worked out. Cheers

[@electrifyinglightningbolt]

You can buy battery cells with tabs already welded to them as well.

[@JohnSpurrell]

Fantastic how you can handle that large souldering gun. The ones used professionally are much smaller and easier to use plus all the holding devices costing thousands of dollars but we still have trouble keeping up with you 😂 !

[@PeterZafra]

@@JohnSpurrell this was a very old one. Ha. Thanks

[@wilhelmushoffmann8054]

Thank you for showing, now I know that I rather buy a new pack.

[@PeterZafra]

Hahaha. Thank you for watching. Stay safe. cheers

[@charliebongiorno8120]

Best thing to do firstly is, see if the solder will adhear rightful, before starting the project .

[@erogliktuort]

if you compare the price of an off-brand ryobi replacement with the off-brand harbor freight unit, the savings is less. so might you want to consider this rather than the hour+ [this would probably take me at least 3 hours] for this rejuvenation? I do applaud this fix for its better sustainability.

[@PeterZafra]

Yup. I agree. This was almost 5 years ago tho. I think the knock offs came after but yes, I agree

[@MichaelJordand5wtko]

Im sitting here looking at 5 of these batteries that are dead. I cant wait to fix them. Thank you.

[@PeterZafra]

Michael Jordan awesome. cheers

[@maxmixer]

Don't just replace 5 lol replace them all ;)

[@billymiller4633]

Michael Jordan ppl

[@davidmuldoon8124]

I know you are very competent at soldering battery packs, but to keep the heat off the new cells. Would it be of help to pre tin the connections or are you concerned about too much flux floating around? What happened to the shorted out cells? Dave M

[@rjwiderman]

Try using some flux material to etch the surfaces clean. This will lower your heat ranger equipment and ensure a great solder flow with connection fractures. Which “will” happen if you man-handle the tool battery. Actually using flux on all connection surfaces prior to flowing solder is Soldering 101.

[@PeterZafra]

Yes. For sure next time I will. Cheers

[@jamminjim247]

How about using some tape, or a thick rubber band to hold the pack together while you're working in it?

[@PeterZafra]

Yep. That would work. Cheers

[@tunafish3216]

You should use flux to solder it works a lot better. And tin both parts first before soldering.

[@1pcfred]

Scuffing the metal with some medium/fine 240 or so grit sandpaper makes the solder stick a lot easier too. Just give the metal a scratch pattern for the solder to grip to. Plus sanding removes any oxide layer that you might not even be able to see.

[@cstinger189]

What kind of solder do you use?

[@electrifyinglightningbolt]

Good video and some good points have been made below about using flux to reduce the chance of heat damage. Also, make sure not to toss your old battery packs into the trash as all rechargeable battery packs recycle. If you toss them into the trash they can cause a fire if they short out. Place them into a plastic sandwich bag and give them to a recycling center (most electronics store will take them).

[@themadmallard]

and HDs and Lowes.

[@nickybritain4900]

I’ve just connected a dead DeWalt 14.4V rechargeable battery in series with a small 12V battery from Quad bike. I plugged in a normal 12V battery charger. It started at around 8.8V (?) and when it got to 13.8V I put the potentially partially revived DeWalt battery pack onto the DeWalt charger. It does appear to be charged and revived. I guess time will tell, I have a few hours work to do with it tomorrow, so we’ll see how long it lasts. The charger is flashing ‘fully charged’.

[@PeterZafra]

Awesome. Wide and awake. Cheers

[@nickybritain4900]

@@PeterZafra After a short time I re connected the DeWalt battery in parallel with. 12V battery. Put it on a normal charge for an hour. Reconnected it back to the DW charger. Used the drill to disassemble kitchen units today. Didn’t run out of power all day. Very strange, BUT, I think the battery is back ‘as new’.

[@davidcolinstillman5585]

THANK YOU FOR SHOWING US HOW IT'S DONE ! BE SAFE ! HAVE FUN ! GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS ! ENJOYED !

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers

[@lyndajordan6479]

Thanks for the video, I enjoyed watching though I won't be trying it anytime soon, you have a good knowledge and plenty of patience young man 💖 .

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you kindly. Cheers

[@hemtet5500]

very instructive but I couldn't help thinking when I saw it in action you just could've got a broom lol

[@hasannaci]

Very informative. great idea. thank you for the video, I will definitely give it a go. 👍

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers

[@roadwarrior4080]

Always remember to use a small heat sink alligator clip between the battery terminal clip and the end of the wire you are soldering so it can wick the heat away from the battery to keep from over heating the cell...

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for the pointer. Cheers

[@electrifiedice236]

It's a good thing you didn't mix cells from both packs together, the Robi's could be 1Ah, 2Ah or 3Ah vs HF 1.3Ah. There are "Ryobi replacement packs" for the P100 One+ (not Ryobi), 2 for $32 vs the $13 HF battery pack. That's nearly 3x the Ah for $3 more, or you can get a single P100 3600mAh "Ryobi replacement pack" for $19. No fuss not muss. Even buying 15 sub-C batteries online would offer better value than the HF $13 pack these days. You have the flexibility to create a pack with the number of Ahs you prefer. The more Ah per pack means the longer you can run that tool without recharging. 1Ah means you can expand 1 amp per hr before you have to recharge, 3Ah means you can expand 1Ah for 3 hours, etc. How long you can run a particular tool depends on how much energy that tool requires to operate. If it uses 1Ah/hr, then you can run that tool for one hr, but with a 3Ah battery, you could run the same tool for 3 hours.

[@dennisrockwell7834]

thank you, Peter, a very good idea, I shall attempt the procedure, as I just happen to have a harbor freight battery of the which I lost the drill, so my Dewalt drill has a dead or defective battery so game on! thank you and God bless

[@PeterZafra]

It's worthit. Cheers

[@vvmmm1]

Great video! I learned some from you. Thank you for sharing.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers.

[@douglaswages702]

I gave you a thumbs up and subscribed as soon as I saw that RadioShack soldering iron... 😎

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for the support. Cheers

[@Neophyte1200]

Thank you for this very informative video! I do have one question; can you comment on the overall capacity of these Harbor Freight batteries as compared to (for example) the original DeWalts? If I understand what I'm reading on the internet, the DeWalts are in the range of 3,000 or 4,000 or 5,000mAh while the Harbor Freight seems to say it is 1,300 mAh. SO, if this is accurate, your rebuild would be of much lower capacity. Am I reading all that correctly, or is the comparison apples vs oranges?

[@PeterZafra]

Hi. Thank you for watching. Yes. These cells won't last as long as original but it definitely lasts pretty long. I would say at the least half the time. I still have the same cells and they are still working really well. Cheers

[@yeshecan7]

Your hard work is enjoyable.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers

[@Bernard-zb5sx]

It looks like you didn't solder directly to the cell, it was to nickle strip and a button-top. To solder directly to the cell, one might want to use flux and cooling sponge. The high temperature iron is good apparently because while the surface gets hot very fast, it does not conduct inwards as quickly. DiodeGoneWild and MrCarlsonsLab have videos on soldering directly to cells. Made more recently though, and this does show you what's in the Ryobi pack! Thanks for the video!

[@pnwRC.]

Great hack! I can't wait to try it out on my old batteries.

[@PeterZafra]

Yup. Its great. Thank you for watching.

[@kennydieu2694]

Good video and Thanks for sharing .

[@PeterZafra]

Cheers.

[@robertthomas9438]

May want to try using a little soldering paste when soldering to the cells.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you for the suggestion. Cheers

[@claudeelliott3993]

My only comment is that with the wiggling around of the wires while you're soldering you're fortunate that you didn't end up with any cold joints. Other than that concern, it was an informative video.

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers.

[@IsaacOLEG]

I am about to do a similar thing. to give less heat to the elements , it is recommanded to use some colophon (flux) I believe that the charging circuit is divising the batterie into 2 sets with one central positive wire, the charge will be more balanced then

[@PeterZafra]

Thanks for the input. Cheers

[@IsaacOLEG]

@@PeterZafra You are welcome ! BTW the flux fumes are not harmful, (it even does not smell bad if it is colophon) the lead fumes yes

[@llclst]

Enjoyed your video and began checking a 15.6v pack. A full charge drains within minutes after turn on. fully charged all cells check at about 1.2/1.3v. After completely drained the check about 1.1v.. None are dead. Does this mean entire pack is dead and all need replaced? New pack for this device is not available. (but a new HF pack like yours could work I think) . Would appreciate reply. Thanks.

[@PeterZafra]

Are you able charge them with your charger but just doesn't hold charge?

[@llclst]

@@PeterZafra Yes, thats it exactly. Check voltage of each cell after charging overnight. All cells were in the 1.3v range. After running and full discharge each cell were in the 1.1v to 1.25v range. None were dead or way down. Appreciate your reply and any suggestions.

[@jackpshannonsr.1838]

Thank you for the info. I saved, and subscribed. 😎

[@PeterZafra]

Awesome. Thanks so much

[@davidhoman3807]

Very good fix! But I think I would need to do at least three of these to make it worth it. HF Batterypak = $13 My time at least $20/hr, for 30 min = $10 My cost to do this fix = $23 New RYOBI batt = $45 My timecost to buy new RYOBI batt (30 min round trip store and back) =$10. Total cost to buy RYOBI batt, Batt = $45, my time = $10 $55 My cost to do fix $23 $-saved per batt = 55-23 = $33 I did not add the vehicles operating cost. I figured it would cost the same to operate the vehicle to buy the new Ryobi battery or to buy the new harbor freight battery. I would Be willing to buy three new RYOBI batteries before doing the fix. Again, good fix. To me the trickiest part is ensuring you have the real positive and negative ends correct.

[@PeterZafra]

Haha Cheers

[@venoofnecona3906]

Nice video. like the old radio shack gun and solider. can not get them anymore.

[@PeterZafra]

Yep yep. Cheers

[@atlinsonxiao]

I got a question.. i got 4 battery packs, all are Ni-cd, wondering if i can connect them 3 battery packs are 4.8v(4 AAbatteries per pack) and the another 1 is 6v(5 AA batteries) Would it be safe if i unsolder them and create a custom batter pack? For example, taking the 5AA batteries and connect it to the 4AA battery pack, is it safe to use? I tries it bur after connecting to an rc vehicle, the motor starts smoking, am not sure if it will explode because i took the battery right away.. not sure if i did the connection of the 2 battery packs correct..

[@eagiuliani9357]

Hi Peter. Very informative. If you see this question: What wattage of that classic RADIO SHACK soldering iron did you use for this soldering of the battery cells? thanks

[@PeterZafra]

I used 100 but you should use 35 max.

[@JamesJohnson-je2zf]

Great instructions

[@benkaiser5378]

ok I was all into this. because I thought maybe there was a special charging board in the ryobi product. I can solder and even have the spot Welder to create the Battery strap connections. Since there is not extra protection I would rather spend 25$ get the knockoff.

[@PeterZafra]

@@benkaiser5378 you can also use lithium now since technology has gotten a lot better from years ago since making this video. You can transfer even the balancing board the lithium battery comes with

[@robburdine5429]

I have several old somewhat battered Ryobi 18v power packs and thanks to thieves I am going to have to try to refurbish the ones I have left. I came across your great videos found some new batteries with a rating of 3200-3500 mah and wondered if you knew what was the maximum mah rating that the Ryobi P118 or P117 can manage? I would assume the higher mah would give me longer life in these packs. Do you know the tolerances or where I might find that information? I wanted to check before I bought a bunch of batteries and started testing them out. Your opinion is greatly appreciated. I am hoping I can use the tools I have to rebuild and get the last ounce of use out of these.

[@PeterZafra]

I don't know much about ratings but the higher the mah, the longer the batteries last.hope that helps. Cheers

[@rogersvensson5946]

I would suggest when you test each battery it be done after you have put a load on the battery pack for a while.... don't test it when it's been fully charged because a battery tested without a load on it quite often will not indicate it's weakness..... load down the batteries for a while like install the battery pack in your blower and running for a little bit and then disassemble the batt. pack..... you will have a better indicator of the health of each battery..... a more sophisticated way would be to apply a load to each battery separately but that's too much trouble.... I might add that the whole battery package is aged so when you replace the weak ones you are still putting them back together with older batteries which may not have much life left in them.

[@PeterZafra]

Cheers

[@ricktimmons458]

as a wood butcher I chose Ryobi early on and now have 10+ dead batteries. I can never catch them on sale and they are $40 each here. Am going to get this done ASAP. Thank you for walking me through this. do you save the old batteries for franken-pack or just new set up?

[@BrianKarmo]

Are those batteries 18650 batteries? or some other size? I have so many of these tool batteries in different brands as well, can I use them for my vape pens as well and other stuff that I might need it for? The thing is each one of those batteries at a vape shop cost like anywhere from like 10 to $15 sometimes what a rip-off but if I can take apart one of my batteries now knowing and also laptops as well have these same looking type of batteries then I can go ahead and save a lot of money lol thank you but hopefully the are the size I'm looking for if you can answer thank you sir for your video and your services

[@prakashsuryawanshi6211]

Nice video. I want to buy a cells because I have Hitachi cordless drill machine in the cover 6 batteries of 1.2 volt how to buy same size battery (you are showing in this video) please give me some ideas.

[@PeterZafra]

Hi. These are called sub c cells. Ebay has them as well. Hope it works out for you. Cheers

[@rolandgutierrez813]

Hey Peter ! Great video , very informative , i hope when my stuff goes bad i can be able to do that too , even with my snap on products ! thanks

[@PeterZafra]

Thank you. Cheers

[@tenncoin]

Think I would have turned the 2 batteries over so the - tab would be up top and the red jumper you ran from the bottom would be on top also but that's just me.

[@edwardlwhitfield]

That would have made much more sense. I was baffled by how hard he made it.

[@alancluff1115]

If you flipped the 2 loose batteries the terminals both pos and neg would have been at the top and easier to solder the ends

[@Freetheworldnow]

excellent tutorial. Thank you for posting.

[@rubbermallet3873]

an old video but very valuable every time for many reasons, but the most important one is how to tweak the system thanks tho 🕵

[@PeterZafra]

Yes indeed. Old video. Thanks for the view. cheers

[@noneovyerbusiness4909]

How long did your rebuilt battery pack last? There are comments that the heat damages the cells whenever they're soldered. I wasted 3 days building a homemade spot welder and trying to get it working. It only burned holes through the metal strips and didn't weld them.

[@PeterZafra]

It still works until today. Yes. Heat damages cells but mine still works. I do use it at least 3 times a week