Makita circular saw battary trouble

[Adam_151]

I have a Makita 18v circular saw with 2no 18v ni-mh batteries (which also fit my drill)

I bought it about 18 months ago off ebay, brand new and boxed and sealed and everything, and hardly used it, for me its one of those things I dont use often, but when I need it, I need it to work

Anyway, problem I'm having is the batteries don't seem to hold a charge, often you'll try and charge them and after 10 mins or so, the led on the charger will go green (should mean its charged), and the battery has some power, but not much, after a few charge discharge cycles like this, it seems to accept a proper charge, and I put it away, week or so later I come to use it and its almost completely flat. Twice I've done this now, and I am getting sick and tired of ****ing around trying to use the 1.3 ni-cads from my drill in it (which last longer than the ones its supposed to be used with!) but it eats through them quickly (as you'd expect, 1.3ah is not much for a saw)

Anything I can do, or have I ended up with a bad pair of batteries?

 

[merlin50]

If you are not going to use the tools all the time its not a good idea to have cordless.

 

[Adam_151]

The thing is that I need the convience of cordless, it would be an overthe top hastle to lug a transformer and 110v lead out just to use a saw to lift a few floorboards, but its not task I do everyday...

I suppose what I should have done is chucked the batteries in with my drill (which I do use often)

So are the batteries likely to be beyond recovery? or....

 

[studips]

another option is a 3ah battery from folkestone fixings - think i paid £59 delivered for it. the 1.3s aren't much good for the high draw things like this saw of yours, they get very hot for a start. i have a the 18v jigsaw which is why i got the 3ah batt and it's a lot better to live with (plus i now have a decent batt for my drills!) just make sure your charger accepts the bigger batt.

 

[dpsservices]

li on battery's mate if you not using much

 

[big-all]

first port off call is to makita and moan like hell
you bought the batteries because as advertised "hold there charge indefinatly"
they can be part charged as required
silly question you are using a makita li-ion charger with the li-ion batteries arnt you??

 

[Adam_151]

silly question you are using a makita li-ion charger with the li-ion batteries arnt you??

I havn't got any li-ion batteries

 

[joinerjohn]

first port off call is to makita and moan like hell
you bought the batteries because as advertised "hold there charge indefinatly"
they can be part charged as required
silly question you are using a makita li-ion charger with the li-ion batteries arnt you??

No he's not using the Li-Ion charger. The OP has NiMh batteries.
Adam, I'd suggest that you try using your cordless tools a bit more and see if the batteries start holding their charge a bit better

 

[scousespark]

Have you got chargers for both tools? If so, have you tried charging the nimh batteries with both of them?

 

[Paul Barker]

Circular saws don't work professionally as battery tools. You have to have brand new sharp blades, and expect very little from them. That is the functionality of battery circular saws. Use them within expectations and you will not be disapointed. Expect the performance of a corded saw and you will be dropped flat.

Whatever you don don't buy the 18v lxt saws because they are Li expecting this prob to be sorted it is worse, Li batteries do not cope well with large current draw all at once..

 

[big-all]

oooppps sorry about that
yep as paul baker says
high draw tools
i always cycle the batteries when they run down on the circ saw they will power the drill for ages dependant on application

 

[Adam_151]

Have you got chargers for both tools? If so, have you tried charging the nimh batteries with both of them?

Yes

 

[Adam_151]

Update, I've opened the battery pack up and found quite a few cells are leaking ... anyone know a good place to buy replacement cells?

 

[studips]

folkestone fixings

i looked at repacks - cellpacksolutions are good an i have3 use them, but i prefer to buy new now - 5 minutes on ebay and they're on their way.

they may be leaking cos you've knocked the stuffing out of them with a high drain tool. you noticed they got very hot and drained very fast?

 

[Adam_151]

.

they may be leaking cos you've knocked the stuffing out of them with a high drain tool. you noticed they got very hot and drained very fast?

Yes... but surely the tool is designed to work with them