The two original batteries for my Ryobi 12V cordless drill either don't
take a charge anymore or if they do, poop out relatively quickly. I'm
all set to send off the battery packs to have them rebuilt by Primecell
when I figure it wouldn't hurt to check to see if the charger itself is
working properly.

Ryobi 12V Drill #CTH1202K2
Ryobi 12V Battery Packs #1400652
Ryobi 12 Charge Plus charger (the large one), output 14V, 2.0A #1400666

There are three contacts inside the charging well -- looking down in the
well from the top and using a clock face for directionality, there are
two contacts opposite each other (positive = 12 o'clock and negative = 6
o'clock) and one at 9:00.

With the charger plugged in, touching the positive and negative contacts
with the probes of the VOM meter shows 24.9 volts. Connecting either the
postive or negative contact to the third contact at 9:00 yield no
voltage.

Are these voltage readings normal for this charger?

As a related aside, checking the depleted batteries by touching the
positive and negative terminals with the probes of the VOM show 7V, as
does touching the positive and third contact. Touching the negative and
third contact shows zero voltage.

I don't know enough about batteries or chargers to evaluate what this
data is telling me. While I wouldn't be surprised that new batteries are
in order, if the charger isn't working properly and must be replaced
also, then that alters the cost criteria sufficiently that simply
purchasing a new drill is better value even the current drill is still
just fine.

Voltage readings from your charger and any related advice requested.

I'll check mine tomorrow when I can get to it (it's in a out building) and
get back with you.


My 12 volt Ryobi is still working but loaned it to a neighbor and they ran a
battery to low so I only have one good battery for it. Not wanting to lay
out big bucks for a battery for an 8 - 10 year old drill I bought a new 18
volt Ryobi which was a big disappointment. They 18 volt batteries don't hold
the charge near as long as the old 12 volt did and it doesn't seem to have
the power which is probably because the batteries are fading so fast. Think
I know why Ryobi has backed off on the price of new 18 volt batteries, guess
they figure you wouldn't be so upset with their product if the batteries
weren't so high.. Rob Mills ~




"Ladd" wrote in message
...
The two original batteries for my Ryobi 12V cordless drill either
don't

My 12 volt Ryobi is still working but loaned it to a neighbor and they ran
a
battery to low so I only have one good battery for it.


Ran into a similar issue with a Milwaukee battery. Someone left it in the
bag (attached to the drill) and didn't lock the drill in the "off position.
Bag shifted, trigger engaged and battery was run flat dead.

The battery charger refused to start ... so I connected the battery to a
current-limited power supply and charged the battery for 30 minutes at about
100 mA. At that point, the Milwaukee charger would start ... it recharged
the battery and we've been using it ever since.

Now, I don't imaging you're going to have a labratory-grade power supply
lying around ... so:

take your good battery, a pair of 12 volt lightbulbs (fog lamps work great)
and a pair of jumper clips. Connect the negative lead from the good battery
to the bad one. Connect the positive lead of the good one to the first fog
lamp, connect the other lead of the fog lamp to one lead of the second. Take
the second lead from the second fog lamp and connect to the positive of the
bad battery (You are connecting two lamps in series to serve as a
current-limiting resistor). By watching the filaments on the fog lamps you
can determine if any current flows. If the lamps glow very dim, you've got a
reasonable chance to recover your battery. Don't walk away ... let it sit
for 10 minutes or so, then try the bad battery in the charger. If it starts
charging, disconnect your good battery from the fog lamps, and put
everything away. Don't forget to charge the good battery once you're done.

Note: You don't have to connect the fog lamps to the positive lead ... but
you do have to connect the positive of one battery to the positive of the
other. The physical structure of the batteries are identical ... just choose
a reference point, identify the closest terminal on both and connect
together. The rest will follow.

If this works ... pay homage to JOAT and send him the usual retainer.


Regards,


Rick

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:03:42 -0500, the opaque "Rob Mills"
clearly wrote:

"Ladd" wrote in message
.. .
The two original batteries for my Ryobi 12V cordless drill either
don't

I'll check mine tomorrow when I can get to it (it's in a out building) and
get back with you.

My Ryobi 14.4v charger has a 24.2 open voltage.

P.S: Top-posting corrected, turkeyRob.


--
- Tom Mix Died For Your Sins -
--------------------------
http://diversify.com Comprehensive, Sin-free Website Development

Larry Jaques wrote:

My Ryobi 14.4v charger has a 24.2 open voltage.


Ahhh, that's good to hear. A data point that indicates that my charger
is most likely still working properly and that it is the batteries that
are the issue.

Thanks!