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Default In Car Charger?

Hi

I have a B&Q 4:8v cordless screwdriver which is identical to this;
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-326959/r...rewdriver.html

It's really handy for jobs like kitchen units etc, but I don't use it much
because I never know how much charge it has and I can't be arsed to carry
the charger around & plug it in on site.

Can I get an 'in car' charger for it? Presumably I could pop into Maplins &
get the right plug and a charger giving out 4:8v? Is it as simple as that?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257


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Default In Car Charger?

Can I get an 'in car' charger for it? Presumably I could pop into Maplins
& get the right plug and a charger giving out 4:8v? Is it as simple as
that?


Just buy a mains inverter. Then you can run all the wall warts you like off
it.

Christian.


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Default In Car Charger?


"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
news
Hi

I have a B&Q 4:8v cordless screwdriver which is identical to this;
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-326959/r...rewdriver.html

It's really handy for jobs like kitchen units etc, but I don't use it much
because I never know how much charge it has and I can't be arsed to carry
the charger around & plug it in on site.

Can I get an 'in car' charger for it? Presumably I could pop into Maplins
& get the right plug and a charger giving out 4:8v? Is it as simple as
that?


Depends.

The batteries in these beasts are really intended to be charged with a
constant current, not a constant voltage. Of course, some just charge them
constant voltage but this can be dangerous and shorten the battery life.

What you need to know is if there is any circuitry in the charger (or
possibly the screwdriver) that provides a constant current. Can you look in
side and take a photo? If so, Email to me on at the address on my website.

--
73
Brian
www.g8osn.org.uk
(Also in Medway)




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Default In Car Charger?

Buy a 12V dc to 240V ac power inerter (small one fits your car
cigarrete lighter), and plug your home screwdriver charger into it.

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Default In Car Charger?

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
I have a B&Q 4:8v cordless screwdriver which is identical to this;
http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-326959/r...rewdriver.html


It's really handy for jobs like kitchen units etc, but I don't use it
much because I never know how much charge it has and I can't be arsed
to carry the charger around & plug it in on site.


Can I get an 'in car' charger for it? Presumably I could pop into
Maplins & get the right plug and a charger giving out 4:8v? Is it as
simple as that?


How does it normally charge - the pic doesn't show. Do you remove the
battery and put into a charger? And has that charger got a separate wall
wart? As it really depends where the actual charging electronics are.

If, for example, it has a wall wart which outputs something like 9 volt DC
unregulated a car supply will probably be ok. But if the charging circuit
is in the wall wart it won't.

--
*This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for extra security *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.


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Default In Car Charger?

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

How does it normally charge - the pic doesn't show. Do you remove the
battery and put into a charger? And has that charger got a separate
wall wart? As it really depends where the actual charging electronics
are.


You have a charger that plugs into the drill. I wish it had a removeable
battery, I'd buy a spare & solve the problem.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257


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Default In Car Charger?


"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
k...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

How does it normally charge - the pic doesn't show. Do you remove the
battery and put into a charger? And has that charger got a separate
wall wart? As it really depends where the actual charging electronics
are.


You have a charger that plugs into the drill. I wish it had a removeable
battery, I'd buy a spare & solve the problem.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257


Dave,

Splash out and buy this :- Bosch GSR10 cordless screwdriver. Good price from
Screwfix and a fabulos tool with a fair bit of grunt. Screwfix part no is
61739. it will seem expensive at £79.99 + vat, but is it a very good piece
of kit and all my electricains have been bought them.

Regards

Steve



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Default In Car Charger?

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Buy a 12V dc to 240V ac power inerter (small one fits your car
cigarrete lighter), and plug your home screwdriver charger into it.


Sounds perfect. Where would I get one? Maplins?


Shop around. TLC are reasonable.

What else would an inverter cope with? Could I run power tools with a
bigger one?


You can, but don't expect the car battery to last long. 3 amps at 240
volts is 60 at 12. Ish.

--
*If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
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Default In Car Charger?

Christian McArdle wrote:
Can I get an 'in car' charger for it? Presumably I could pop into
Maplins & get the right plug and a charger giving out 4:8v? Is it
as simple as that?


Just buy a mains inverter. Then you can run all the wall warts you
like off it.


I chesked out http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr98.html

They have Modified Sine Wave Inverters , Pure Sine Wave Inverters and
Combined Inverter & Chargers - brain gone numb. No idea of which they
speak.

I checked out TLC and they have just plain inverters - but the cheapest is
aroud £23.

I'd only expect to pay a £5 -£10 for an in car charger for a phone or
whatever. Is an inverter overkill?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257





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Default In Car Charger?

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
I'd only expect to pay a £5 -£10 for an in car charger for a phone or
whatever. Is an inverter overkill?


It is, but unless a proper charger is available or you can make one it's
likely to be the cheapest way.

Might be cheaper still to buy a drill that can be charged off the car
battery.

--
*Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
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Default In Car Charger?

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Buy a 12V dc to 240V ac power inerter (small one fits your car
cigarrete lighter), and plug your home screwdriver charger into it.


Sounds perfect. Where would I get one? Maplins?


Shop around. TLC are reasonable.


Car Accessory shops and caravan/camping places sell them as well.

Might be a better idea to stump up the extra for a new driver with 2
batteries?
--
Chris French

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Default In Car Charger?

In article ,
chris French wrote:
Might be a better idea to stump up the extra for a new driver with 2
batteries?


And most drills like this have the charging electronics built in to the
charging base, so look out for one that has a 12 volt wall wart - you
could then substitute this with the car battery.

--
*Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
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Default In Car Charger?

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 23:53:51 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

I chesked out http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr98.html

They have Modified Sine Wave Inverters , Pure Sine Wave Inverters and
Combined Inverter & Chargers - brain gone numb. No idea of which they
speak.

I checked out TLC and they have just plain inverters - but the cheapest is
aroud £23.

I'd only expect to pay a £5 -£10 for an in car charger for a phone or
whatever. Is an inverter overkill?


Does the drill have a standard DC socket? If so why not make a lead.

Just use a cigar lighter plug, DC power plug lead and a power resistor
to drop the voltage and regulate the current.

These drill usually have 1Ah batts, so a lead with a 3 ohm resistor
will drop ~9v at 300mA, for a charge time of 3-4 hours.

You need to find out the polarity of the mains charger plug, this can
be done with a cheap DMM.

Also a word of warning, get a 10W power resistor and superglue it to a
plate of ali or small heatsink. Without this they get very very hot!

With a cigar plug with screw terminals and a ceramic terminal block or
two, you won't need to do any soldering. Add a 12v LED or small bulb
across the resistor to remind you it's on charge.

Don't leave it on charge for longer than needed, as the life of the
batts will be shortened.

If this is too much hassle just get a cheap one that takes rechargable
AAs and use as a backup...

cheers,
Pete.
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Default In Car Charger?

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 12:49:26 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Pete C
wrote:

Does the drill have a standard DC socket? If so why not make a lead.

Just use a cigar lighter plug, DC power plug lead and a power resistor
to drop the voltage and regulate the current.

These drill usually have 1Ah batts, so a lead with a 3 ohm resistor
will drop ~9v at 300mA, for a charge time of 3-4 hours.


You mean 30 ohm!!! 3 ohm will blow up either itself or the driver or
both.

Apart from that, there is no means to terminate the charge when the
driver is charged up. This scheme will keep pushing 300 ma into the
driver as long as connected, which won't do it any good.

It's easy enough to design a simple charger using an IC and very few
additional components, and I daresay a search for "battery charger
circuit" will turn up loads. Here's one

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/hayles/charge1.html

Phil


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On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:45:55 GMT, Phil Addison
wrote:

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 12:49:26 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Pete C
wrote:

Does the drill have a standard DC socket? If so why not make a lead.

Just use a cigar lighter plug, DC power plug lead and a power resistor
to drop the voltage and regulate the current.

These drill usually have 1Ah batts, so a lead with a 3 ohm resistor
will drop ~9v at 300mA, for a charge time of 3-4 hours.


You mean 30 ohm!!! 3 ohm will blow up either itself or the driver or
both.


Oops, well spotted!

Apart from that, there is no means to terminate the charge when the
driver is charged up. This scheme will keep pushing 300 ma into the
driver as long as connected, which won't do it any good.


I daresay the mains charger works like that, the one for my driver
does.

cheers,
Pete.
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Default In Car Charger?

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 19:25:25 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Buy a 12V dc to 240V ac power inerter (small one fits your car
cigarrete lighter), and plug your home screwdriver charger into it.


And other low power mains things like other chargers. Very useful box to
have.

Sounds perfect. Where would I get one? Maplins?


They do have them. I'd look for one with sine output. I have a 300W
invertor in the car, one plugin 4 x AA battery charger will only charge
one pair of batteries when on the invertor but is fine on real mains. The
phone charger is fine.

What else would an inverter cope with? Could I run power tools with a
bigger one?


Yes but as Mr Plowman says the DC side currents start to get hefty and
you'll have to wire it direct to your car battery with thick cable. You
also run the real risk of flattening that battery leading to a few
problems like not being able to start your car a severly shortening the
vehicle batteries life. If going this route fit a seperate "deep
discharge" leisure battery and split charge system. Decent power output
invertors aren't cheap either.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail



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