Makita LXT 18V Batteries UNLOCKED! Introducing OpenBatteryInformation

Finally, after many sleepless nights, the Makita unlock is here!
OpenBatteryInformation: github.com/mnh...
Blog: martinjansson....
martinjansson....
Disclaimer: If you buy through these links, I might earn a few cents. My piggy bank thanks you.
Makita connector: s.click.aliexp...
Arduino UNO R3: s.click.aliexp...
Thanks to Romain for all the help!

[@substandard649]

Excellent work, this project deserves more exposure!

[@BenjaminLovelady]

I've never stumbled across such a gem with so few views. Super impressive work, I don't even know where to start when it comes to deciphering a disassembled binary. I'm gonna clone your repo and give it try this week.

[@mnh-jansson]

Thank you for your kind words! If you use Windows you can also download the executable found in the artifacts of Github Actions.

[@Rocky-wd6oo]

@@mnh-jansson but how do I run .yml files ?

[@Rocky-wd6oo]

@@mnh-janssonsince i feel like im doing something wrong , i flashed arduino , but running the obi wont let me start the interface since it cant find module serial

[@LouisBurki]

I'm waiting for the european union to make it mandatory for manufacturers to open their service software, and to have an universal interface to access the internal OS.. Would make so much easier to fix the problems of all those electronics we have around us every day..

[@mnh-jansson]

Absolutely! And right to repair is definitely the way forward. How it is implemented in legislation is a very complicated task however, which i don't envy the decision makers.

[@toolscientist]

Partially agree, but imagine if you were a maker of high-powered Li-ion products. Would you want users able to reset a battery that had bricked itself for safety due to misuse, such as severe overtemp, overcurrent, or overdischarge? Makita is a bit too trigger happy, though.

[@appleejack]

​@@toolscientistas long as they cover themselves by a disclaimer as it's better for manufacturers and end users to be able reset the battery than open and repair it with 3rd party parts, at least it will lock again if the safety issue is still present and allows it to be repaired, like having a RCD on a consumer unit.

[@redoxau]

These batteries are locked out for safety and only a qualified techinican who is trained in Lithiam Ion technology should attempt a fix.

[@georgef7754]

Fantastic work. I look forward to future updates. Thank you.

[@fukov3400]

Rare youtube recommendation algorithm win. Great video, thanks for uploading! Glad to stumble upon your work.

[@emmettturner9452]

If you subscribe to Tool Scientist then it was probably a community post in your feed complete with a video thumbnail that made it look like a video served up by the algorithm. ;)

[@yurikslalom]

Great work! Well done! I worked on a similar project for Dyson vacuum batteries. Unfortunately the code was protected there, but one guy managed to find bytes in eeprom that resets the fault flags.

[@emilvring1388]

You are a hero This is game changing for a guy like me Hue repairs powertools and batterys I've been vaiting 10 years for this

[@mnh-jansson]

Thank you for your kind words. I hope to support more batteries in the future. If you have information on batteries which uses similar locking functions or batteries you would like to see be supported, please open an issue on Github

[@АлексейГорбач-щ2е]

Thank you. brilliant job. the battery is working. I couldn’t even think that someone, having done such a huge job, would share it for free

[@OmahcronOmni]

This video needs our support people like it and share it and thank you for your hard work.

[@mnh-jansson]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@HydrationAppreciator]

Awesome project brother

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks!

[@TheKoodus]

people shoule definitely share this video to the relevant communities!

[@Janktzoni]

Great work 👍

[@adrianwojciechowski5996]

Hi. After starting the program, all buttons should be active before connecting the battery. However, in my case, only "Read battery model" is active, and the rest are inactive. How is it for you?

[@ThriftyToolShed]

Excellent job! Have you ever worked with EGO 56V batteries? They use a communication via the D-terminal and I have tried to figure it out, but have not gone as far as copying microcontroller data. I have a video on what is the D-terminal discussing the pack and where I left off. Hope your channel blows up man!

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks for the kind words! I've actually never heard of them, will have to take a look some time. Given the price of those batteries they definitely seem to warrant repair!

[@ThriftyToolShed]

@@mnh-jansson Yeah, I have worked on them a lot on my channel and lots of good contributions from viewers as well. I just have not figured out the D-terminal communication completely. It seems to run and shutdown after about 10 secs or so if no communication between the pack and tool. So it's been a big question over the last few years for sure!

[@mnh-jansson]

@@ThriftyToolShed Sounds very interesting! Unfortunately EGO does not seem to have alot of presence where i live. If anyone is willing to donate the BMS i could give it a shot, but given the very little information on the microcontroller it would be challanging for sure!

[@wilkgabor9155]

You are amazing! Great job!

[@xuongngo410]

Please guide me on how to install the tool. Thank you so much.

[@kristianszviedris1580]

Damn! I've thrown away so many batteries... Huge thanks for this video. I would be glad if you'll find a time to make a video with step by step how to get your device to run. I found UNO and connector but have no idea how to get it to work...

[@mnh-jansson]

Hey, thanks! I don't have the time currently, but please checkout this video by Allan, he goes through the process in detail. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWTMfIBjdrJ9lbM

[@benjaminberger9629]

This is amazing work!!!!

[@yxcvmk]

Man, great work! Any chance to get a few more information? I am aware that there are several different boards in those batteries. Already any idea how many will communicate? Any chance to find some instructions as to how one replicates what you did? I see all kinds of files on Github, but have no idea what exactly I need. I assume I need the sketch for the Arduino, but then there must be something else, the program which open on the computer (and communicates with the Arduino)?

[@toolscientist]

Hey! This showed up 5th in my recommended. Hopefully it gets some views. I haven't had the time to look at your page yet, but I'll get around to it soon. I'll post a notice in my channel. You should make a post to the Makita subreddit as well.

[@mnh-jansson]

Hey, thanks for the suggestion!

[@ToolsAndStuffOFFICIAL]

​@@mnh-jansson Very interesting. I would love to have a closer look at this.

[@mnh-jansson]

@@ToolsAndStuffOFFICIAL Thanks!

[@gf2e]

KZbin just recommended this to me, and I came to the comments section to make sure @ToolScientist knew about it :) I’m going to have to wire this up and see whether my knockoff Makita batteries work with it, in terms of reading basic parameters.

[@samcadwallader2899]

I had no idea yet another company was trying to paywall right to repair. More people need to know about this.

[@mnh-jansson]

This is very common in the battery industry, and for a good reason, safety. But it is also possible to repair batteries safely, so permanently locking them is just uncool :)

[@4fr333]

Build an Arduino project with PlatformIO IDE for VSCode kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJ2oY2VmaLZmjqs

[@TheKoodus]

Amazing thanks for sharing!!

[@appleejack]

Awesome work, 👍 Do DeWalt batteries have this lock down ?

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks! The Dewalt batteries i've seen have no BMS, balancing is done outside the battery.

[@catalinalb1722]

Great work!

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks!

[@tesla_by]

Hello! Great work! Congratulations! Tell me, do I need to flash the Arduino separately or not? Or should I just connect an empty Uno board?

[@mnh-jansson]

Hi, thanks! You will need to flash the Arduino with the included PlatformIO project, found in the same repository

[@tesla_by]

@@mnh-jansson I answered you by mail. I have some Makita diagnostic equipment and different batteries, also new 40 volt batteries, what programmer should I buy to download the firmware and send it to you?

[@Nikkar82]

Great work! Отличная работа !

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks!

[@Coyote973]

Great job. I think it would help other projects for DIY Makita charger.

[@danilocidreira_]

Olá como vai? Espero que esteja tudo bem. Parabéns pelo magnífico e maravilhoso projeto Voce possui o equipamento completo pra venda? Tenho interesse pois trabalho em uma assistência técnica e tenho várias baterias com esse problema

[@MafiZed]

Great work

[@t0m583]

Wow! Great project! Will it work with locked BL1830 battery that doesn't have led indicator?

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks! If it uses RAJ240080 microcontroller, most likely it would work, if it is older F0513, then sadly no. I've spent countless hours trying to get F0513 working but there is no real unlock command in these. There is still a possiblity to use a bootloader function to reporgram the microcontroller to get it working again, but reverse engineering this bootloader is very time consuming and very hard to get working with the actual hardware.

[@GeertDroid]

Damn that's pitty to hear since I have 7 piecen of BL1830 batteries laying on the shelf that blocked itself by a slightly undervoltage, it is always the two cells that feeding the BMS electronics that got below a certain voltage that trigger the BMS and caused the battery stop working.

[@mnh-jansson]

@@GeertDroid Do you know what microcontroller they use?

[@jerri199120]

Dear friend, thank you for your efforts, you have done a great job, it is simply incredible! Please tell me, I did everything according to your instructions, but my TX signals are sent, but the RX signals do not arrive, I connect to the BL1830, where could I have a problem? Thank you very much again, we are really looking forward to new releases of the program!!!

[@mnh-jansson]

Some older batteries are unfortunately not yet supported, this is still undergoing. Could you open an issue on Github instead and add additional details such as what microcontroller and board revision the BMS has? A picture of the inside would be great. I'll assist further from there, thanks!

[@jerri199120]

@@mnh-jansson Yes, of course, I’ll definitely ask the question there, thank you very much again for your work!

[@xschannel1189]

How to connect Makita connector to Arduino UNO R3 ? Please make a video of conect . Thanks !

[@mnh-jansson]

Can be found on Github, if you have questions please use contact e-mail found in the readme

[@xschannel1189]

@@mnh-jansson please check your e-mail.

[@antonfedorov6229]

I am having a problem when trying to connect to Com3 port to arduino. "Error opening serial port COM3: Failed to get a valid response after 5 attempts". When i click Connect Arduino board reacts by blinking orange led a few times and then the error pops up. Any help much appreciated 🙏

[@adrianwojciechowski5996]

Hi. How can I make the 'clear errors' function active in the OBI-1 program?

[@mnh-jansson]

Hi, this indicates that the battery has limited functionality, so reset is not possible with OBI at this time. I have the solution for these, but i have not released it yet.

[@adrianwojciechowski5996]

@@mnh-jansson Here you go, please share. :)

[@user-lx9jm1wo3h]

I could sure use this.

[@powertoolsrepair]

Where I can download OBI-1 program?

[@mnh-jansson]

The code for the project is located on github. Link in the description

[@MrMaarten333]

Why does your software say its a BL1860B when that battery is a BL1840B?

[@mnh-jansson]

Wow, good catch! Did not think anyone would notice to be honest 😅. But the reason is that i transplanted a spare BMS i had into this battery. I also had to trigger a fault just to have a battery to demonstrate on.

[@MrMaarten333]

I only caught it by accident to be honest… but very cool piece of software! 😄

[@danikvideos]

​@@mnh-janssonhow did you trigger a fault? Overdischarge?

[@mnh-jansson]

@@danikvideos I desoldered one of the balancing legs and then put the battery on the charger. This would also blow the fuses, but i had them bypassed already.

[@MarkChalkySmith]

Absolutely brilliant. I'm still very new at this sort of stuff, but how do you install the OBI-1 interface/program you use? Edit: I figured it out, lots of py work :)

[@prionus]

Można go zainstalować na Windows 11 ?

[@MarkChalkySmith]

@@prionus That's what I am using and it is fine

[@prionus]

​@@MarkChalkySmithMożesz udostępnić interfejs/program OBI-1 na Windows w postaci pliku exe ?

[@adambikes65]

Great work! Do you know if anyone is working on Milwaukee M18 batteries? So many of the newer ones lock with a flashing low battery error even when the cells are all balanced and at full voltage. It would be great to be able to diagnose or reset these.

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks! There are a few people that are looking into the Milwaukee protocol, but no one, to my knowledge has reverse engineered the firmware to get the commands. I've also not heard of permanent lockout for these, so that is interesting! I don't have any M18 batteries myself, but i can try to look around for faulty ones once i get through some other projects.

[@АлексейГорбач-щ2е]

First, check the integrity of the balancing lines. Very often these batteries break down. The crack at the junction of the metal tape and the board is almost invisible to the eye. Solder the wires from points b1, b2, b3 and b4 to the tape. I also advise you to solder the place where B+ and B- are joined from different parts of the tape. After that, connect the battery to the charger. I am 90% sure that this will solve your problem.

[@danikvideos]

It looks like a fake. But it's not a fake 😳. Thanks for sharing. You are amazing.

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks! No it's not fake 😁. I forgot to mention in the video that it does not work on all versions of the Makita batteries yet, but this will most likely change in the future once we have cracked the older batteries.

[@kenhdiy7691]

Hi mate. Makita 18v bl1860 you can fix

[@mnh-jansson]

Hey, definitely!

[@johndowe6161]

epic!

[@ВитосДмитренко-щ8ш]

Hi, I have a problem with my Hilti battery. Have you had any experience unlocking them?

[@mnh-jansson]

Hi, No experience with Hilti, but would love to support them! If you have more information, or would be interested in getting involved, please contact me through the e-mail in the Github repo!

[@namhao6574]

Pin makita use chip RAJ240080 work to tool?

[@CK-power]

friend, is there an instruction for a regular user on how to upload a code to an arduino? Thank you.

[@mnh-jansson]

Hi, sorry no, not at this point. I have a few things i'd like to prioritize before getting to this.

[@Soundwave857]

Very interesting but isn't this a fire risk to reactivate a faulty battery?

[@mnh-jansson]

This really depends. Simply reactivating the BMS would not cause much issue in case of an actual fault as we don't disable the security functions, we simply clear the error flags. I hope to implement features in the tool and provide information on how to safely recover the battery packs in the future. It's been so much work to get to this stage so i simply wanted to release the work now when i finally have a working MVP.

[@BenjaminLovelady]

I have three batteries that were emptied while warm but left in a cold shed before trying to charge them. This dropped the voltage below the threshold and the charge failed and set the fault state. Once the battery warms up the voltage is in a safe range, and I checked that the cells are still balanced properly. It's not all faults that are ignorable, but for this type of fault there is no danger to resetting and trying again.

[@emmettturner9452]

Not so risky if you’ve repaired the fault and the BMS lockout is the only thing preventing you from using it.

[@saiiiiiii1]

Just to get this straight, so anytime I'm trying to replace cells on a LXT battery, the BMS will actually lock up when losing power? You wouldn't happen to know what kind of controller the BL1820B has? And where do I get the parts to connect the battery?

[@mnh-jansson]

To my knowledge the BMS wont lock up when losing power. It would lock up if you were to try charging with the cells disconnected, even blow the fuse. Most BLXXXXB batteries have RAJ240080, MAK2 (unknown), or STM32 microcontrollers. Wiki: github.com/mnh-jansson/open-battery-information/wiki/Makita#makita-lxt

[@namhao6574]

Pin Makita use chip RAJ240080 work to tool?

[@GoranMrkonja]

hi all. hw to install arduino?

[@marpra]

great job bro have you worked on other battery models, such as the hilti b22. very expensive battery and rude engineering.

[@mnh-jansson]

Thanks! Currently working on Milwaukee M18, Makita XGT and Hikoki. Would love to support Hilti aswell, but i dont have any hardware at the momemt.

[@АлексейГорбач-щ2е]

​@@mnh-janssonAre Milwaukee blocked? I have never seen a single one with this problem.

[@mnh-jansson]

@@АлексейГорбач-щ2е There is definitely some sort of soft lock, but it seems to be only stored in RAM, so resetting the microcontroller would recover it. For Milwaukee im more interested in providing diagnostics. I don't have access to any Milwaukee batteries myself, so progress on this is slow.

[@9566847]

Is there a way to display the number of charges? reset battery message What can this function do?

[@mnh-jansson]

It should be possible. I have not yet confirmed the bytes that hold the information. Still work in progress.

[@Rocky-wd6oo]

I tried your program , but it says that error loading interface : No module named 'serial'

[@mnh-jansson]

You need to install pyserial. Using pip: pip install pyserial

[@juc2328]

Very nice!!!!!

[@danikvideos]

So this should work with any F0513 based makita battery, right?

[@mnh-jansson]

I'm still working on the F0513. RAJ and MAK are known working. The F0513 are actually not unlockable by commands, but there is a bootloader that is accessible through the connector interface which should make it possible to unlock by reflashing. Hope to release this soon.

[@9566847]

@@mnh-jansson Does MAK have a detailed model number?

[@mnh-jansson]

@@9566847 BL18XXB is usually a good indicator that it is supported, but not always. All BL1860B i believe are MAK02 microcontrollers

[@Rocky-wd6oo]

What should I do ?

[@brianwengel6894]

HARDWARE? Any info on the controller board you use ?

[@mnh-jansson]

YES! All the files and information are located in the Github repository, the link can be found in the video description.

[@brianwengel6894]

@@mnh-jansson I can only find the code, nothing about hardware?

[@mnh-jansson]

@@brianwengel6894 Under ArduinoOBI is a simple schematic.

[@Oleksii_Serhiyovych]

Woooowwew 🤯🤯🤯🤯👌👌👌👌💪💪💪

[@ongtuananh6292]

How to install OBI-1 software?

[@mnh-jansson]

Etiher run using python or use the pre-compiled executable (only for Windows at the moment) found in the artifacts of the Github Actions. Latest of writing: github.com/mnh-jansson/open-battery-information/actions/runs/10078582619

[@mnh-jansson]

@@SuperElectroWave If you have questions, contact me on the email found on github. Thanks!

[@АлексейГорбач-щ2е]

What about F0513?

[@mnh-jansson]

I've managed to reverse engineer the bootloader for F0513 now and i'm able to read, erase and write to memory through the yellow connector. I've also created a parser that handles the emulated EEPROM and resets values i know are error counters. It will take some time before this update reaches OBI, and i have currently switched over to a Arduino Mega because of RAM constraints. As a few people have been interested in purchasing a ready-made interface i am focusing on this now.

[@riccardomarinoni6733]

if you start to sell this tool i will buy it, my new akita battery are bricked

[@mnh-jansson]

I'm working on it, i hope to have it ready in a few weeks.

[@riccardomarinoni6733]

​@@mnh-jansson Amazing

[@Taiwan688]

I sent an email. Please check it I want to buy tool

[@666slotki]

FBI open up!

[@nvdb-77]

And maybe now make a device (simple computer included) so we also can rest our makita bms cards! :)

[@mariuskiausas2526]

Openbatteryinformation

[@prionus]

Możesz udostępnić interfejs/program OBI-1 na Windows w postaci pliku exe ?

[@mnh-jansson]

It is

[@xschannel1189]

I sent an email. Please check it.