Tim’s Tips #49 - Reset and balance a Ryobi 40V battery - Nov 17, 2020

[@beinggood4U]

I worked for me! It took me a couple of tries but, I didn't get that you had to put the pins in the rst holes and them push the button. It worked the first time and then went back to flashing lights after being plugged in for about 5 minutes so, I did it again; this time it too me a couple to times to get it to catch and then it reset. I plugged it in and it stayed! It's charging now. I'm so happy! This battery has been sitting for a year! I couldn't see purchasing a battery for $161.00 but then, I couldn't see getting rid of the awesome lawnmower. It was such a simple fix. Thank you so much!

[@tdrager]

Be sure to check the voltage between the solder blobs. If the voltages are over .05 volts different. It may either:1) Not reset or 2) Be out of balance and may not have much capacity. This happened to me recently, so I charged one of the cells to 3.7 volts to match the other.

[@davidhoch]

I used another 40V battery to add some charge to the one that wouldn't charge then performed the reset. It is charging now! Many thanks. I almost bought the DC-DC power supply to charge but another video showed how to use another 40V battery as a power source. Well done, Tim.

[@cardsmart4960]

Where is this video that shows how to charge with another 40v batt?

[@hankbresyn3582]

I am trying that now hooked up positive terminal to other positive terminal and same with neg using alligator clips jumped the reset and I do not think it's working

[@tdrager]

Be sure to charge the battery BEFORE it goes below one bar. If the battery is totally drained, the cell voltages may differ too much for the reset procedure to work.

[@SteveTraylor]

Reset worked! I left my trimmer out in the rain, causing all four lights to flash and the battery not work. But the.RST reset trick worked! I used a piece of solder wire bent in a U shape to reset it. Hardest part was getting the four screws out. I had to drill out the little center tip sticking up out of the middle of the hex head screws. I used a T15 bit. I just peeled the end label back instead of cutting it, and it stuck back down good as new. Thank you for the video. It saved me about $95 at HD.

[@angelgkd]

Fantastic Tim! I figured this out on my own recently and thought of posting a video, but you beat me to it. This will save people a ton of money.

[@tdrager]

Agreed. How many thousands of batteries could be saved if Ryobi had a reset button and battery balance system.

[@tdrager]

To measure the cell voltage, measure between to two big solder balls on both sides of the circuit board. The typical voltage at 50% charge is about 3.7 volts. If the cell voltage differ more than .05 volts they need to be “balanced” by charging the low cell, or discharging the high cell with a lightbulb.

[@kend5188]

Hi Tim, I'm not technician. So can you please show me or let me know as how to jump to reset. Thanks

[@zephyrprime]

So will it not charge if the cells are too far out of balance?

[@tdrager]

@@zephyrprime Correct. Some of the cells can be damaged in that they have a high self-discharge rate. They can be balanced manually, but over time they will self-discharge and get out of balance again. This is Ryobi design defect in their BMS, not your fault.

[@tandrews22]

@@tdrager Could you explain how to discharge a cell?

[@tdrager]

@@tandrews22 put a 10 ohm resistor or automotive lamp across the cell until the open circuit voltage matches the other cells

[@mikeseim5257]

It works!!! A few notes for anyone that didn't really quite understand. First, to get out the screws without drinking out the middle pin I just used an undersized flat head screwdriver. I just jammed that baby in there, hit two notches and went slowly. It worked. Plus, don't forget to get a utility knife and cut the sticker. Once the cover is off I readied my jumper. I used a twist tie coated in rubber. Using a utility knife, I exposed about a quarter of an inch of wire from both ends of the twist tie. Then grabbing onto the runner I shoved one end into the RST hole and the other end into the other hole. Finally, I pressed the battery indicator light. Instead of flashing, this time the lights stayed on. I didn't know what to expect. I just waited something like three minutes. The lights never went away. Whatever. I grabbed the rubber on the wire and removed the bypass wire. I put the cover back on. I put the batter back into the charger. Voila! It's charging like new. Like many before me, this saved a fair amount of money. Thank you very much.

[@tonyscott480]

Thank you for the extra detail!

[@ron1457]

Thanks Mr Tim! The individual pairs don't have to be far apart in voltage to trip the controller out!

[@mmmallory1649]

I have a Ryobi LI-ION 40V 93.6Wh OP4026 battery and when taken apart, the computer board is different than the one in your video. In the upper right corner of the board it has 5 holes one right after the other with the following marks: CLK, DAT, GND, 3.3V, RST. Not to far off to the left are 3 more holes with the following marks: GND, SCL1, SDA1. Which holes would I insert a jumper wire to reset the battery?

[@bikecultureletusride]

I have the same circuit board. I saw one video suggesting to jumper between 3.3V and RST so I tried it without any success. I checked between the cells and got the following voltages; CLI- TO CL1+ =2.8V CL1+ TO CL2+ =2.8V CL2+ TO CL3+ =6.3V CL3+ TO CL4+ = 1.7V CL4+ TO CL5+ =2.6V CL6- TO CL6+ = 3.2V CL6+ TO CL7+ =6.3V CL7+ TO CL8+ =3.5V CL8+ TO CL9+ =3.6V CL9+ TO CL10+ =3.5V CL1- TO CL10+ =10V I don't have a power supply but tried jumpering to a good battery for a little boost with no success. Which is more concerning between the 1.7V low reading and the 6.3V high reading? Any suggestions?

[@mmmallory1649]

@@bikecultureletusride hi Ron you’ve done more than I’ve done. I continue looking for someone who does this for a living. The best advice I’ve gotten was to jump a good battery to the one that stopped working with a pair of cables. They suggested connecting the cables in repetition for 5 seconds, removing the connection and repeating until you can get the charger to recognize the non working battery. I never tried it because I don’t have a pair of jumper cables. If I find someone who rebuilds or can jumó them for a reasonable cost, I’ll let you know. Thanks for the information.

[@jakobe75]

I dont have a RST on my board gen4 v1.4 40v 4ah. could it be labeled as something else?

[@fastfiddler1625]

Got mine reset, but as soon as I threw it on the charger, it started the error flashing again. I got these to avoid the hassle of mixing fuel oil, and here I am trying to fix a nine month old battery. So I'll be ditching Ryobi.

[@TylerY410]

Call ryobi or go on the website and chat with a representative. They will warranty a new battery at no charge

[@trungngo2089]

Thanks Tim! Your vide is the best among all other videos

[@aromaticpillow]

The big thing I want to research is, do these packs have ANY form of balancing circuitry inside? I would hope that it at least has some minimal form of balancing in there where it can fix gradual drift of voltages over time. Also, I bought a dead 3-pack of these from Ebay to harvest cells from. 1 pack worked right away by using your reset method without needing any balancing. 2nd one had a 2.7v section (vs. 3.1v), so I used my little adjustable DC power supply to bring it back in line with the others. After reset, that is now charging as well. The 3rd has a pair of shorted cells (0v), so I didn't even try it. I tore that one apart to harvest cells from, and the other 18 cells have all taken close to 2000mAh of charge (the Samsung cells are rated 200mAh capacity), so I'm pretty happy so far.

[@tdrager]

It would be gross negligence if Ryobi engineers did not implement balancing. Thanks for subscribing.

[@p.b.7861]

@@tdrager if I am not wrong, Tim. There is no balancing circuit other than protecting maximum charges 41.xyz volts and minimum Discharges lower than 30 or 28 volts(not sure).

[@romanykemp9042]

From what I understand the reason that there is no balancing between cells (equalizing the voltage) is from a safety perspective. All the batteries should have equal capacity (amp hours) - if one starts degrading to where it could become a hazard the BMS board will "turn off" the entire battery pack and will block charging. The degraded cell becomes the weakest link in that charging chain -and will cause the entire pack to unusable.

[@danhuver7622]

Thanks for the video! The reset didn't work for me initially. So I measured the voltage packs, They all measured 3.9 except for one that was 3.6. So I hooked up my adjustable power supply @ .6amps and it took about 3 hours to match the voltage. When that was done, the battery pack displayed 3 bars and the charger accepted the battery pack and completed the charge.

[@romanykemp9042]

Saw the thing thing - mine was 4V on 3 pairs - and 3.1 on 1....charging now. This is probably a temporary fix if that one group of 18650s are loosing capacity compared to the other...but we will see...

[@danhuver7622]

@@romanykemp9042 Great timing on this reply. My pack ran great until I over ran it again just recently. I need to break it apart and charge it again. My biggest tip would be when it displays one bar, stop using it and put it on charge after it has cooled down. The "protection" circuit on this particular board is junk IMHO.

[@romanykemp9042]

I wanted to update my comments. There are 10 pairs of 18650s - so you really need to look at each of those 10 pairs to verify how close the individuals voltages are. It took me a bit of trial and error to find these 10 pairs on the board. Look at the large solder blobs...

[@sfoster99]

RST jumped with a paper clip. Saved me $90! Thanks.

[@rkoorse]

I see all the congrats. But I do not see where you connect (or do you?) to the reset contact. The cables you show are nowhere near it . Do you put a metal probe INTO the reset hole? Do you jump from that reset hole to the one next to it?

[@tdrager]

Store your lithium batteries between 2 and 3 bars. If it’s fully charged, it’s life will be shortened. I had a LIFEPO4 battery in storage for 5 years with no degradation because it was stored at 50% charge.

[@Hamzslice]

O for sure I built drones for a couple years I'm well versed in LiPO batteries.

[@bamcotv]

Thanks Tim. This happened to me last week. Your guide fixed my issue! Great job. 💯👍

[@casadekaul]

This worked for one of my dead batteries. But I have another one that doesn't have the reset pins. I looked all over for them. No reset pins that I can find.

[@corvettegeek]

Worked like a charm! Thank you so much for making this video!

[@tedbissonnette4984]

My battery does not show that reset setup

[@stockstnt8]

Rst and WHAT other terminal I must have older one everyone shows same terminal strip mine is completely different my RST is in a group of 5 others SOOO WHERE DOES THE OTHER TERMINAL CONNECT TO?? GROUND?? OR WHERE THANKS

[@jasonbrown467]

all that pcb and components on that pcb and they dont balance the cells?

[@terryrial]

Thanks Tim it worked for me too: just like you said . I also got a new battery coming from the warranty.

[@nathanhale7444]

I found the same contacts on my 18v battery and jumped them but still nothing. My batteries are a at 18v but not getting anything to the contacts. Maybe my board is just fried.

[@reneefabian7570]

Thanks Tim. The RST jump worked & my battery is charging again.

[@grandpaworks8632]

So you jumped it by inserting a wire in between the 2 reset holes next to each other? Then put into charger and it might work?

[@tdrager]

Yes. I held it there for a few seconds and a green light flashed. My battery needed balancing, so once it was balanced, it charged fine.

[@grandpaworks8632]

@@tdrager well nothing happened when I tried it.. now I guess balancing or giving each cell a trickle of juice is a whole different ball game. Hard to see where to id location of each cell with my eyes and disabled left side. But I'll try.

[@charles7368]

What kind of battery charger should I look for?

[@flash96xp]

Awesome it worked! Thank you from Hawaii!

[@ashrafhejazi3897]

I have the same problem with 36 V with one RST onlyand couldn't solve the problem. Should I charge the less voltage battery simultaneously with RST?

[@merlinwag]

Do you know if there a RST trick for the 18v batteries with 4 blinking lights? I have it apart, but do not see anything labeled RST like the 40v. Any help greatly appreciated (it has 18v showing on my multi meter now after a charge).

[@tdrager]

Instead of resetting it, you can measure the voltages of the cells to see if they are balanced. If they are not balanced you could boost the voltage of the low cells. Or you could lower the voltage on the high cells with a lightbulb. Perhaps the BMS would be able to charge the pack properly then.

[@merlinwag]

I have it recharged, it was at 11volts, now it’s back up to 18V, but the circuit board still has it locked. 4 blinking LED’s, that blink four times. If I knew how to reset it, it should be fine. I do not see the RST anywhere on the 18b circuit board like on the 40v battery. If anyone knows how to reset it, please let me know which terminals to jump.

[@alexjubea6924]

Thanks man!!!!!!! Just fixed my battery. The difference in voltage on mine was very small, so I just jumped the reset jumper and YESS, it's charging again

[@tdrager]

Glad to have been of service.

[@theezequielzeke]

Could u help me with my hart 40v 5ah. All lights are flashing blue

[@kevinpalmer1645]

Thanks for the video... it worked! I had 3.09V on a string when all the rest were at 3.66V! I charged the low one with a dc-dc buck converter set on 3.7V output. At 3.4V I hit the reset (which worked per your vid), however the charger still didn’t like it! Charged it to 3.64V and charger now likes it and is charging it! Will test in the mower soon!

[@dmc31405]

Maybe Ryobi should contact Rigid on how to prevent this problem. I have a Rigid 18V cordless drill, and Hammer Drill, set that I have had for at least 10 years, and I haven't done anything special with the batteries except recharge them when they wouldn't power the drill. And I haven't had any trouble with them at all.

[@kevinjackson4464]

My circuit board doesn't look like that. I can't find a RST.

[@nelsonnolte430]

I tested the voltage of each set of "blobs" to see the balance, and one pair is only 0.25 v and the other pair is only 0.10 v. Can I bring each side up to about 3.7v and do the reset safely? Also it appears the positive for each side is the outer blob and the negatives are the two inner blobs. Is that correct? Difficult to tell with such low voltage. Thanks!

[@tdrager]

Those cells are irreparably damaged, because they are so low. Could cause a fire if a recharge is attempted. That said, If someone’s life depended on it, a recharge could be tried if you manually observed the voltage and heat and maybe kept them outside so that if a fire started no one would get hurt. They may be able to restored to a fraction of their old capacity, but I’m not sure it’s worth it.

[@nelsonnolte430]

@@tdrager OK. Thanks. I'll just give up on this one then.

[@aromaticpillow]

@@nelsonnolte430 If you haven't recycled it already, consider tearing it apart and using the cells for other things, like LED flashlights you see all over Amazon. You likely still have 16 good 18650 cells in that pack (less the 4 dead ones). A nice 4 slot Lithium Ion charger can be had for around $20-30.

[@cuaresmacarpentry]

I bought a 36v bike battery charger. No luck after reached 42v. Jumped the RST worked great 👍

[@cuaresmacarpentry]

I have been using the 40v 5ah for a while and have noticed that only half the light bars are only ever lit up and about half the time of use of the battery. Is there anything I can do to get back to a full battery charge again. Thanks

[@JesusSwearingen-vo1yx]

Exactly what I ordered!

[@stevekrinner8790]

Thanks a lot! Just reset mine! I was about to start un-soldering everything and order replacement cells…

[@tdrager]

I am glad it worked. Just keep an eye on the battery because one cell may be slowly losing charge over time.

[@tdrager]

Just RESET a SECOND failed 2.6AH battery jumpering it the RST connection. It’s charging fine now.

[@amyquinonez4121]

how do you reset it?

[@tdrager]

Just short out the RST pads for a few seconds.

[@meteora8888]

@@tdrager how do you short out?

[@tdrager]

@@meteora8888 I shorted the RST pads with jumper clips, but any wire, or even needle nose pliers would do. LOL

[@hankbresyn3582]

I jumped my rest but it still won't charge

[@shawnd567]

Buy a set of security torx bits. Like $10 bucks and will save you a lot of time in the future. Great video BTW. I haven't seen this RST before. I have a few packs that may work from this!

[@tdrager]

Thanks for enlightening my ignorance. I didn’t know that they were called “security torx”. Harbor Freight here I come.

[@shawnd567]

After balancing 3 packs I was still getting the flashing lights on the pack. I jumped the reset pin and boom! Back in business! Thanks again. Worked for 3/4 packs. Also it's 3.3v between rst and the other pin. I think this would work with the older style since the pin next to it is 3.3v.

[@stevebabiak6997]

Yes, grinding or using the wrong tool when the proper tool bits are inexpensive is just foolish.

[@brandyallison100]

Hey Tim I have op4026 and I couldn’t find my reset

[@Presidian123]

Mine defective ryobi battery is similar, it is on 0v i measured 3.487V inside, not sure how is supossed to charge the inside battery to 3.7V, and dont have a power supply anyways. It failed with a few uses, may be got connected to the charguer and that fucked it up. It is also some dirty with a salt over many soledring pins

[@chriswallis9955]

Just fixed my 4ah battery. Thanks for the video.

[@hankbresyn3582]

How I don't have a power supply like this I am trying to hook another battery and try and get the charge up but it's not working

[@motallidap1062]

Will try that on my 40v battery and see if it work...stay tuned

[@traviskober5494]

Thank you! Reset jumper fixed mine as well, a huge $$$$ savings!

[@tdrager]

Remember to check the batteries so that there is less than .05 volts between cells. One of the batteries I reset worked well for a while, then went out of balance again. It must have a dendrite, a fine whisker of chemical slowly draining one cell. Hopefully I can nurse the battery along a few more years using “Tim’s Reset and Balance Technique.”

[@jeepaz79]

I just jumped the RST like scott foster and battery is charging now...thanx

[@toxic515]

Thank you! Fixed in about 5 minutes! *I already had it open!

[@FirstClass-]

Maybe leaving the pack to fully discharge over the winter causes it to fail in the spring! Has anyone tried leaving the pack in the charger all winter long on trickle charge? Will this help maybe? Thoughts?

[@tdrager]

Leaving it fully charged or discharged will damage it. Aim between 2 and 3 LEDs for long-term storage. Trickle charging a Lion may cause it to catch fire.

[@FirstClass-]

@@tdrager That's funny! Another words leaving the pack in ANY state, discharged, semi-charged or fully charged appears to fatally DAMAGE IT anyway!... lolol Translation = Ryobi is now garbage!

[@tdrager]

@@FirstClass- Lion batteries have rules. 20-80% charge will extend their life. Recycle responsibly.

[@earlle3406]

I reset it but unfortunately it stops charging after a few minutes of charging. The charger stays green but lights on battery are off. Unplugged the battery and checked for power level, it shows only one light on.

[@cupcake474747]

My old battery charges to full but only last 5 minute of use. I'm trying the reset method but circuit looks different. It has 5 holes near the RST, ( CLK DAT GND 3.3V RST). Any idea how I can jump this?

[@tdrager]

Jump between RST and GND.

[@bikecultureletusride]

@@tdrager I have the same circuit board. I jumper between GND and RST without any success. I checked between the cells and got the following voltages; CLI- TO CL1+ =2.8V CL1+ TO CL2+ =2.8V CL2+ TO CL3+ =6.3V CL3+ TO CL4+ = 1.7V CL4+ TO CL5+ =2.6V CL6- TO CL6+ = 3.2V CL6+ TO CL7+ =6.3V CL7+ TO CL8+ =3.5V CL8+ TO CL9+ =3.6V CL9+ TO CL10+ =3.5V CL1- TO CL10+ =10V I don't have a power supply but tried jumpering to a good battery for a little boost with no success. Which is more concerning between the 1.7V low reading and the 6.3V high reading? Any suggestions?

[@meme-rk4tz]

The reset trick is a one shot trick every time you charge the battery pack you need to reset it. Out of balance are bad cells that will bleed off voltage over short amount of time. Ryobi doesn't send you a new battery pack because you are their pals, they know there is a manufacturing fault.

[@bikecultureletusride]

My circuit board has the 5 terminals marked RST, 3.3V, GND, DAT, CLK. I jumper between GND and RST without any success. I checked between the cells and got the following voltages; CLI- TO CL1+ =2.8V CL1+ TO CL2+ =2.8V CL2+ TO CL3+ =6.3V CL3+ TO CL4+ = 1.7V CL4+ TO CL5+ =2.6V CL6- TO CL6+ = 3.2V CL6+ TO CL7+ =6.3V CL7+ TO CL8+ =3.5V CL8+ TO CL9+ =3.6V CL9+ TO CL10+ =3.5V CL1- TO CL10+ =10V I don't have a power supply but tried jumpering to a good battery for a little boost with no success. Which is more concerning between the 1.7V low reading and the 6.3V high reading? Should I try a 60W incandescent light bulb to drain the high values to bring them closer to the others? Any suggestions?

[@lifehackertips]

My 40 V batteries look different and they also have a date on the circuit board that says December 17, 2013

[@tdrager]

The circuit board may still have a reset function. It just has to be stenciled “RST”, “Reset”, etc... on either side of the circuit board.

[@Hamzslice]

It's weird the 4ah battery doesn't do any thing when I reset. The reset pins show 3.7v coming out of them and goes to zero if I cross the volt meter but nothing happens. I also get them to send a replacement for free but would like to fix this one or I'll scrap it and take the cells out.

[@jessethompson8374]

Worked for my 4ah battery

[@aholataken]

Thanks alot Tim!! You're Genius!

[@ACommenterOnYouTube]

I got 2 40V batteries and both have the same issue, when you hit the battery status, they all flash green. Opened it up and did your reset trick, lights never blinked or came on, still have the same issue ... didnt work me as usual. Seems these tricks only work in KZbin world, not in real life

[@aarichardson256]

Thank you. The RST worked for me as well!

[@tdrager]

Yesssss!

[@jjbenavente9458]

I did exacly what you said it worked out for me thanks

[@tdrager]

You’re welcome. The reset method works if the cells are balanced. If cells are damaged or out of balance, more time is required to balance them. If even one cell is damaged or worn our, the pack must be recycled. It’s beyond most homeowners to replace individual cells.

[@jviews1]

same here. reset ONLY. battery works.

[@FirstClass-]

This tip is great if the battery is overly discharged (overheated) and the charger cannot jump it properly so it trips the reset. But If the battery pack is truly defective (ie, a completely dead cell) the pack will trigger the flash of death again soon after you jump the reset. If that happens, the pack is done. Recycle it. My brand new 40V pack died after only 3 short uses (about 65% discharged) My buddy is an electrical engineer and said its the board, not the cells in most cases. Hello Ryobi? WTHeck is going on? At this cost, these batteries should last at least 100+ cycles... sadly this is an EPIC FAIL

[@tdrager]

Agreed. Ryobi needs to hire qualified battery and BMS engineers, not college grads.

[@Willalvers]

did the reset with a jumper...still flashing defective with all 4 lights flashing

[@tdrager]

Check the voltage of the cells per my video. The pack may be out of balance.

[@austinbowen9899]

Thanks, this worked for me.

[@weldonpinder7295]

I just tried it with two sewing needles and it reset but when I put it on the charger it blinked green like it was charging then it started blinking red and green again and the lights flashing again. So I reset it like another three times and it did the same thing so does anyone know what's happening here

[@tdrager]

The cells may be out of balance. Measure the voltage of each cell. The lower voltage cell needs to be charged with a power supply to match the voltage of the other cell(s).

[@weldonpinder7295]

@@tdrager idk where to put the positive and negative on the tester to check the cells

[@tdrager]

@@weldonpinder7295 Measure voltage between the big blobs of solder on each side of the battery. The voltages should be within .2 V of each other. If they are not you can charge the lower voltage cell. Or, you could discharge the higher voltage cell.

[@grandpaworks8632]

Anyway I tried to jump it but nothing happen still not charging

[@tdrager]

The battery may be dead or imbalanced. Check the cell voltages and see if they are above 2 volts. If so, charge the cells with an RC battery charger at the Lion setting.

[@larsencarson5465]

Let's just talk about it!

[@two2theface408]

Man I’m seeing all these people it worked for and I have to be the first person it doesn’t work for I guess. FML. Lights come on after jumper and everything but still only blinks

[@tdrager]

Are the cell voltages balanced? Use a DVM / DC voltmeter and measure them. They should be within 50millivolts, IMHO.

[@gsandrews]

@@tdrager Jumping didn't work for me either. How do you measure the voltage between cells? It's unclear from the video

[@tdrager]

@@gsandrews The cell voltages can be measured between the solder blobs and cell ends. If the voltage is less than 2 volts DC, the cell it damaged.

[@jimmydelatorre6988]

Great job

[@anthonyventurini7812]

Thank you sir!

[@SundownBlazer]

Thank you

[@dlasini]

Sadly this didn't work, even after equalizing all cells. Still, useful tip!!!

[@eespi6966]

Tapping the reset didn’t work for me either. however holding the reset and pushing the test button did. All for lights came on and then I released the reset probes. Lights went off. Pushed the battery test button and it works again. Thank you!! I bought this trimmer and lawn mower late last summer and only used the trimmer twice. Brought the batteries inside and this one still pooped out on me. Now I know what to do! Thank you again!!

[@tennesseestargazer]

DOES NOT WORK!

[@marshael]

Work like a charm...

[@dragan3290]

The balance board on Dewalt and Ryobi 18 volt are a joke! Btw I'm an electronics techie! Bit spare components in Australia??? Unbelievable! Up to 6 week wait if online order.