r/DIYUK • u/JustGhostin • 1d ago

Cheers Dad!

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Brought my first house earlier this year and needless to say my dad is exited to show me the ropes. He trained as carpenter and also worked as a window fitter in his 20’s before changing careers.

Blessed to have his knowledge and help.

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u/Djuthal 1d ago

Could you elaborate on this, please? What do you mean with 'cell balancing'?

I have a few of the tools above, but corded. But I have a black and decker drill with battery. Anything I should be careful about?

Cheers!

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u/AreEUHappyNow 23h ago edited 17h ago

This isn't relevant to your average battery tool owner, this is for people making DIY repairs or refurbishments to batteries by opening them up and replacing the 5/10 18650 cells that make up the battery.

Essentially you have five 3.2v 18650 cells in series that make the 18v the tools run on. Say the batteries you put in have voltages of 3.7, 4.0, 3.1, 3.5 and 4.2, when you connect them together the higher voltage cells will rapidly charge the lower voltage ones, which can cause them to become damaged, or even explode.

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u/Bats_Everywhere 19h ago

So do you put the lower voltage ones first in the series to prevent this from happening?

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u/AreEUHappyNow 17h ago

No, it makes no difference where you put them in the pack. You need to ensure that every single cell has been charged or discharged to precisely the same voltage, within a small margin.

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u/cactusplants 15h ago

Yeah, I've got a smart balance charger for my lipos and old nimh batteries. It's an effort to do, but I'll double check when I get around to it that I do it correctly.

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u/Dry_Variety4137 11h ago

Good man 👌