On Nov 27, 9:42 pm, wrote:
I bought a complete kit of cordless tools at an auction. The tools do
work but the batteries are nearly dead. They are 14V. The kit was
used, but complete except for the battery charger. Later in the same
auction I bought a cordless drill, also 14V but a different brand.
That one has the charger. The batteries from the first kit dont fit
in the charger, but I opened the charger and it would be easy enough
to run a few wires out of it, and I could easily make a wooden thing
with a few pieces of copper strapping to make contact with the
batteries. Of course I know the polarity must be correct.

My question is whether these chargers are all the same as far as
current (amp/miliamp) output? Obviously the voltages match, so is
there any reason not to do this? You dont need to give me a speech
about safety. I know to do the work with the charger unplugged from
the wall outlet, and how to check for proper battery polarity with a
meter.

Thanks

Alvin

Not to burst your bubble, but you might find that after all your work,
the batteries might still be unusable. If they haven't been
discharged/recharged on a regular basis, they might not charge/hold a
charge very well. The fact that the batteries were nearly dead when
you bought it at an auction could mean they haven't been used in a
while and their usable life has past. That's just a word of caution in
case you think your modified charger didn't work.

Perfect example follows...

I just spent the weekend at my dad's house (300 mile drive) doing some
repair work for him. I didn't get the full specs on the job before I
left home, so I didn't bring many of my own tools. I was stuck using
his Ryobi 18V circular saw from a kit that he doesn't use very often.
Every 20 minutes or so I was swapping the dead battery for a "fully
charged" one. I had my Dewalt 18V drill, but didn't think I'd need the
circ saw, so I didn't grab it. Probably doubled the labor time of the
project.