Charging cordless batteries

[Keith_Haw]

I don't know if this has been covered or not, couldn't find anything from the search.
How do you go about charging your cordless batteries when your out on the road? I know mine says never charge on an inverter and we boom dock most of the time.

[brulaz]

Love that Ryobi with the 12V DC charger.

Always heard that DC-DC converters are more efficient than going through the AC conversions (which makes sense), so have always tried to find 12VDC chargers for our phones, tabs, computers, Cellphone amplifiers, and what not. Small beans, I realize. But our new trailer even came with a 12VDC TV! Now if I could just find a 12VDC coffee grinder.

One of the first things I've done to our trailers is install 12VDC sockets for all this junk.

[path1]

I got one of these probably 5 years ago.

http://www.pricefalls.com/product/Ryobi-P131-18v-In-Vehicle-Dual-Chemistry-One-Battery-Charger-numbe...

Charges back up my batteries when no elect at house, (which was Maybe 2 times in last 10 years). Charges in my 01 Dodge alright and pretty quick. Less than an hour to work at time. Charge one going to work and one coming home.


I do like that flashlight that uses those batteries and have a had a hard time buying it separate.

Was thinking about "jerry rigging" so LED could fit in. Would last long time. Regular flashlight lamp last about 2 3/4 hours wonder how long LED would last?

We don't take it camping with us but what do you folks use it for camping?

[kneal44]

i tried to rechaqrge a harbor frieght drill but burnt out the charger . had scrs . so re built with 20 volt plug in charger ( black hucky puck ) batteries are 18 volt. works well but gets hot after a half hour so i limit the time i chage , this works well booncocking. i now charge off inverter .

my 12v volt batteries i just plug in to 12 volt outlet.works for me.

[mlts22]

A 300 watt PSW like the Morningstar SureSine that goes to a dedicated outlet for wall wart chargers is probably the best way to go. AFIAK, it provides cleaner power than what comes from the utility company.

[Harvey51]

Such a shame that buying new batteries or a new charger is little less expensive than buying a new drill with 2 new batteries.

Yep, Ryobi drill, driver and two batteries: $99.
Two batteries: $129.
Mind you, the batteries with the tools have less energy capacity.

I would reserve the word "criminal" for making all the battery brands incompatible.

We are so lucky that all the brands of cars can use the same fuel. And nobody holds a patent on the steering wheel.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

HONORABLE RULE

Make every brand, every model battery incompatible for docking. Make all connections inaccessible to force customer to purchase honorable ripoff priced honorable proprietary charger from US.

Beware of major (top-o-the-line) manufacturers dumping NiCad and NiMH powered portable tool inventory at seeming bargain prices. The type of battery they use is usually difficult to snipe out or missing altogether.

Ripple in a Heitz Cellars bottle IOW.

[landyacht318]

I've hardwired many cordless drills whose batteries, or battery chargers, or both, became worthless.

I have a Craftsman 9.6v drill that I run on 12 volts through an SAE connector. Lots of torque.

It will blow a 30 amp fuse if I try and stop it spinning.

But this requires 10awg wiring. Using 18 awg and the thing has little torque.

Such a shame that buying new batteries or a new charger is little less expensive than buying a new drill with 2 new batteries.
Criminal really.

[RickW]

Don't forget plan C:

[Keith_Haw]

Well, I found the In Vehicle Ryobi charger at Home Depot for $40 so I got one. Didn't even know they made a 12v charger but solved the problem for now.
Think I'll still look at getting a good brand small PSW inverter to replace the little 400w MSW that I use for my tv/dvd/dish setup. That way I'll always have the option if I need it.

Thanks again everyone for the replies.
Keith

[filthy_beast]

I would look for a charger that uses 12 volts just like the people that make a living working on new construction that have no power installed yet.

[wa8yxm]

There are inverters and inverters.. My Inverter is a Prosine 2.0. That is a TRUE SINE WAVE inverter and it is just fine for re-charging batteires.

MSW's... Well it depends on the battery charger so your millage may vary, all the way from failure to charge to letting magic smoke out and even catching fire.

But with a True Sine,, The charger thinks "Shore power is looking real clean today".

[landyacht318]

Never heard of the battery being affected by MSW. Usually the charger itself craps out in my experience with a porter cable Nicad and a Craftsman Nicad charger.

But Li-ion is a whole different ball game as the cells are individually monitored as over or undercharging them can be dangerous.

I bought a 400 watt PSW Wagan, basically just to power my Makita Li-ion charger as I was unwilling to risk it to MSW.

I've basically Disconnected and removed my 800 watt Coleman MSW( needed the space) as the Wagan has half the standby current, makes no noise providing under 150 watts, and I rarely need that extra 400 watts. Perhaps for the angle grinder, but I still have the ring terminals insulated and ready to be reattached if I need 800 watts.

My battery monitor shows that the Makita 15 minute charger, through the Wagan, pulls 17 amps max. No ciggy plug is going to handle that, but I imaging 30 minute or 1 hour chargers consume considerably less at max draw.

[Keith_Haw]

Thanks for all the replies.
I have killed a new Ryobi Li-ION battery trying to charge it on a MSW inverter. It was a Go Power 1500 if memory serves me right. I've never had a problem with nicad batteries though.
Thanks Shadow Catcher, I'll check out the 12v in vehicle charger.

[loggenrock]

The "rule of thumb" that I was told is if whatever rechargeable you are using has an INTERNAL transformer(i.e. - no "wall wart") you should not charge using an inverter. But those items with EXTERNAL transformers ("wallwarts") can charge by inverter. I'm guessing heat dissipation...pure assumption on my part, tho! ST