Hey battery rebuilder folks????.........

[Mark Rios]

One of my tenants was throwing out some old stuff and one of the items was a Mac Tools 14.4 battery. The part number is "BP38144".

Is this of any use to any of you battery rebuilder folks? I know nothing more about the battery other than ............it's a battery.

If anyone wants this battery, let me know.

[Jim Becker]

I'm in process of rebuilding my batteries for my Dewalt 14.4v...'got stalled by some business travel and the need for a bigger soldering rig. I got my cores from http://www.batteryrebuilders.com/, run by SMC member Jason Abel.

[Jason Abel]

Shoot me an email. In interested. sales@batteryrebuilders.com

Thanks,
Jason
Battery Builders

[Mark Rios]

It's on its way Jason. Glad you could use it.

[Terry Flowers]

Jim, I also have a need to refurb my 14.4 DeWalt batteries. Is it really worth while to do it yourself rather than have BatteryRebuilders do it? Do you save a lot?

Thanks,
Terry

[Jason Abel]

It is worth it if your proficient at soldering and have the time/tools to do it. Typically it takes customers about 20 minutes to do it and only requires a 1/16" drill bit/drill and a soldering gun (100Watt or higher perferable), and some rosin core solder. I have a customer that does it with a 40W pencil but he says it takes forever.

The only $$ you save is about $2.50 per rebuild and whatever your S&H costs are to us. Most people find it's not cost effective but some people like to tinker and have a better understanding of what makes it tick. We sell anywhere from 50-100 cores a week to people and only have about 2-3 per month that find they can't do it themselves.

Jason

[Jim Becker]

Terry, I just completed my two Dewalt batteries tonight. (Finally got out to buy an appropriate soldering gun at Radio Shack for the job) Jason's 20 minutes is a reasonable estimate for the work. (I will be posting a pictorial of the process when I get around to dealing with the photos in Photoshop)

BTW, in addition to the tools Jason mentioned, you'll need the appropriate screw driver for your particular battery pack. My Dewalt 14.4v packs used a T9 Torx...which I fortunately had in the depths of my screwdriver bin.

[Jason Abel]

Good call Jim. I tend to take that for granted due to daily use. Many tools take T9, T10, or phillips. Some (mostly Panasonics) take a security T10 to open the case. It is basically just a T10 with a hole in the middle to allow it to slip over a pin in the center of the head of the screw.

Jason

[Jim Becker]

I finished up mine on Saturday and charged them up...awesome. The drill once again has "wrist-twisting" torgue when you hit the trigger!

[Brian Coe]

A question for those who deal with battery rebuilds...I have a couple of Dewalt 14.4 packs that are wearing out but are sealed. That is, they appear to be glued shut rather than having screws to make the cells accessible. Is there anything that can be done with this type of pack other than send it for recycling? The local battery place looked at it but said they couldn't get into it to do anything.

Thanks for any advice,
BC

[Jason Abel]

I do them almost daily. A small screwdriver that fits into the crack and some careful twisting/prying and you can get it to pop loose. If you don't feel comfortable doing it just let me know. I can certainly refurbish them for you. Jim is also a pro now to, maybe he would do it

Glad all went well with your rebuilds Jim

Jason

[Michael Fross]

I've been toying with the idea of rebuilding 2 12V dewalt batteries and Jim & Jason have inspired me!

I'm going to crack them open this weekend and see what's inside. Jason, I'll hit up your website and look at costs and such.

Jim, looking forward to that tutorial.

Thanks again,

Michael

[Sam Shank]

A lot of the specialty 'security' bits can be had for a few bucks at harbor freight. Another good purchase there...

[Curt Harms]

A lot of the specialty 'security' bits can be had for a few bucks at harbor freight. Another good purchase there...

not very 'secure' when a schmo like me can buy them

Curt

[Jim Becker]

Michael, I'll try to get it up by the weekend or so...I have an ugly-busy week going in PowerPoint Hades for a few days.