4 ms·

Swell, now make the battery formats universal instead of trying to lock users into the manufacturer's tools and batteries.

formvoltron 5y ago
This! I wish a hardware hacker with more time than me would create a universal battery pack & set of 3d printable adapters that can connect said battery pack to any power tool.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- drewzero1 5y ago
  I'm working on a proof of concept for this. I've put together a few adapters using the connector shell and contacts from dead batteries to plug into a modified DeWalt battery, so I've got the power supply side of it figured out. That's the easy part though... I don't have experience modeling for 3D printing, or access to a 3d printer, so that's going to take some work. And pretty much all lithium tool batteries have extra contacts for thermal sensor and some form of communication with the battery's PCB. So far the driving force for this project has been an occasional need to run older tools with discontinued/unavailable (usually NiCad) batteries for short periods of time in a relatively controlled test environment, so I haven't yet bothered with the thermal protection circuit (which the tools may not have originally supported). In order to actually use the tools as tools I'll need to have some kind of controller in the adapter to monitor the battery charge level and temperature to make sure the battery isn't being overdischarged. This is handled by a built-in controller in modern tools but I haven't tested how they interoperate with onboard PCBs in different batteries. Side note: I've been surprised learning about how much technology is in modern battery-operated power tools. There's a circuit board in the handle of pretty much every drill that communicates with the battery and trigger and runs the motor. A lot of them are potted in epoxy but sometimes I've spotted an Atmel chip in there.
  - sitkack 5y ago
    Replacing old NiCads with a lion power pack is a cool idea. It would definitely give new life to old portable electronics, esp test equipment. You can buy (I am using them now) adapters so you can use a Makita battery in a Ryobi tool. The idea of battery teams is ridiculous, team <color> is ... I can't even. With the adapter, I can pickup a Ryobi specialty here or there. They make them for other combinations but I haven't used them. I have a Ryobi battery from a refurb tool purchase the combo set was cheaper than the single tool w/o battery. Homedepot confuses the hell out of me.
manachar 5y ago
That would take a lawsuit or a powerful battery manufacturing consortium to create a standard and convince DeWalt, Ryobi, Makita, etc. of the value. Right now vendor lock in to batteries (that have no guarantee of being available in 4 years when the battery inevitably dies) just makes too much money.
- fatboy 5y ago
  There is actually a consortium like this, but unfortunately most of the brands involved are pretty niche. The only two I'd ever buy from it are Mafell and Metabo. https://www.cordless-alliance-system.com/ https://www.cordless-alliance-system.com/
  - DarylZero 5y ago
    Wow it's awesome Metabo and Mafell use the same battery. I'll probably buy some Metabo cordless tools just because of this comment. (Been planning on upgrading some corded tools.)

formvoltron 5y ago

This! I wish a hardware hacker with more time than me would create a universal battery pack & set of 3d printable adapters that can connect said battery pack to any power tool.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
drewzero1 5y ago
I'm working on a proof of concept for this. I've put together a few adapters using the connector shell and contacts from dead batteries to plug into a modified DeWalt battery, so I've got the power supply side of it figured out. That's the easy part though... I don't have experience modeling for 3D printing, or access to a 3d printer, so that's going to take some work. And pretty much all lithium tool batteries have extra contacts for thermal sensor and some form of communication with the battery's PCB. So far the driving force for this project has been an occasional need to run older tools with discontinued/unavailable (usually NiCad) batteries for short periods of time in a relatively controlled test environment, so I haven't yet bothered with the thermal protection circuit (which the tools may not have originally supported). In order to actually use the tools as tools I'll need to have some kind of controller in the adapter to monitor the battery charge level and temperature to make sure the battery isn't being overdischarged. This is handled by a built-in controller in modern tools but I haven't tested how they interoperate with onboard PCBs in different batteries. Side note: I've been surprised learning about how much technology is in modern battery-operated power tools. There's a circuit board in the handle of pretty much every drill that communicates with the battery and trigger and runs the motor. A lot of them are potted in epoxy but sometimes I've spotted an Atmel chip in there.
- sitkack 5y ago
  Replacing old NiCads with a lion power pack is a cool idea. It would definitely give new life to old portable electronics, esp test equipment. You can buy (I am using them now) adapters so you can use a Makita battery in a Ryobi tool. The idea of battery teams is ridiculous, team <color> is ... I can't even. With the adapter, I can pickup a Ryobi specialty here or there. They make them for other combinations but I haven't used them. I have a Ryobi battery from a refurb tool purchase the combo set was cheaper than the single tool w/o battery. Homedepot confuses the hell out of me.

manachar 5y ago

That would take a lawsuit or a powerful battery manufacturing consortium to create a standard and convince DeWalt, Ryobi, Makita, etc. of the value. Right now vendor lock in to batteries (that have no guarantee of being available in 4 years when the battery inevitably dies) just makes too much money.

fatboy 5y ago
There is actually a consortium like this, but unfortunately most of the brands involved are pretty niche. The only two I'd ever buy from it are Mafell and Metabo. https://www.cordless-alliance-system.com/ https://www.cordless-alliance-system.com/
- DarylZero 5y ago
  Wow it's awesome Metabo and Mafell use the same battery. I'll probably buy some Metabo cordless tools just because of this comment. (Been planning on upgrading some corded tools.)