Makita LXT battery graveyard

[Carl Beckett]

Sighs.....

So another Makita LXT battery is dead, which brings the total to 5 dead and 3 working batteries. I keep buying new ones but have kept the old ones with the hope that I can someday find a rebuild option. I run two different hand drills, and the small circ saw with these, but only get about 1 year, 1.5 year at the MOST out of a battery before it dies and will not take a charge anymore.

So I decided to take one apart and see what could be done. A fair bit of surfing on the internet didnt give me much info on rebuilding them. Yes, they have a proprietary circuit board coupled to their proprietary charger.

I took one apart and found a dead cell (out of the 10 cells, one was reading ~.6volt instead of the 3+ volts out of all the other cells).

I left all the wiring and pc board connected the same. Put it back together and nope, wont charge on the Makita charger.

So tried a laptop AC adaptor (18.5V output) and it DID charge, and was usable in the drills again. The circ saw pulls a lot more current so depleted quickly in this, but perhaps I didnt give it the full charge. Also, I timed the charge so I wouldnt overheat the cells.

I love the tools and ergonomics and capability. I am concerned that I will be feeding these a steady stream of batteries over the years..... My 15 yr old Dewalt set has only seen two replacement batteries in the lifetime of the tools.

I did read not to put them on the charger while still hot after running high currents. Am now more careful about that. Also read not to fully discharge them before recharge.

Anyone want to offer some additional advice, before I tear apart the other 4? (well... using one to salvage the good cells out of)

[Brad Gobble]

I just switched all of my cordless from Bosch to Makita, and my first battery is fading.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Here's some advice: stop before you hurt yourself. That "special circuit" is what keeps these lithium batteries from overcharging and literally blowing up. You can't just remove one cell from the string - there's a real possibility you are overvoltaging the remaining cells.

Your 15 year old Dewalt probably doesn't go through batteries as quickly because they aren't Li-Ion batteries. Likewise, it isn't as small or high powered. It's a trade-off. If you want longer life, you don't want Li-Ion batteries.

Li-Ions are rarely good for ~500 charge/discharge cycles.

[Jay Allen]

I must just be lucky with mine then. I have had the main 5 piece set since Nov '05. I added the jigsaw as a complete kit w/batteries and charger about 2 years ago and the smaller 1.5Ah 2 piece set a few months before that. I modified my blue impact-driver to accept the 1.5Ah batteries and split a pair of 1.5Ah batties with a friend at work. So in all I have 4 3Ah batteries and 3 1.5Ah batteries of various ages. I alternate the 1.5Ah batteries between the impact drivers and the 3Ah units on the other tools. All of them are still going strong....2 of the 3Ah batteries even survived a fire 2 1/2 years ago. The charger wasn't so lucky, that's why I bought the jigsaw as a complete unit.

For those who haven't examined them; The blue tools have a "tab" that prevents the use of the smaller batteries, but the bigger batteries will work on the white tools. I assume that this was to prevent dissatisfaction with short charge life or maybe even heat build-up from the quick discharge that would happen with the bigger motored tools and the small batteries? That is definately not the case with an impact driver. You can run one all day even on the smaller battery. Makita has since removed the "tab" from the blue model of the impact driver. One of the guys I work with has a newer one.

[Carl Beckett]

Thing is, I get about 20 charges out of a battery before going dead.

(one charge every other weekend... or even less frequently.... 1 to 1.5 years)

To me, this isnt very good battery life (a couple of the small 1.5 size batteries went dead the first month, and were returned and exchanged under warranty still)

I do see others having problems, so am not certain it is just me. To date I havent found a place that rebuilds these. At a minimum I would think we should be recycling them, since Lithium is a finite resource and there is not sufficient quantities in the world to keep up with the current battery demand pace (making hybrid and battery based automobiles questionable for significant adoption, but I digress.....)

Something just doesnt seem right with the current battery life, and popping $150 every year to replace a couple gets noticed in my tool budget.

[Leo Graywacz]

I'm pretty sure your batteries are within the warranty period. Otherwise, if you find one bad cell and have a bunch of these dead cells around you should be able to take one of the good cells from a bad pack and replace the single bad cell. This should get you all good cells again and it should charge.

With all the dead batteries you have you should be able to scavange a good cell for all the other batteries you have and only be out 2 battery.

[Carl Beckett]

This is what I did - swap a cell from one dead one.

It doesnt allow the original charger to work (maybe once its deemed 'bad', the circuitry prevents any future charging).

One option that was suggested was to piggy back the disabled battery with a good battery (tricking the charger into reading the good battery, but then piggy backing the dead one in parallel). I went the universal power supply route and was careful with charge rate (amps) and timer).

I will double check warranty time..... thanks for the reminder

[Leo Graywacz]

LXT Lithium-ion Tools

Every Makita ® 18V and 14.4V LXT Lithium-Ion Industrial Power Tool is thoroughly inspected and tested before leaving the factory. If you are not satisfied with Makita 18V and 14.4V LXT Lithium-Ion tool within 30 days of purchase, return it and Makita will provide a replacement or refund. Every Makita 18V and 14.4V LXT Lithium-Ion tool is warranted to be free of defects from workmanship and materials for the period of THREE YEARS from the date of original purchase. The Makita LXT Lithium-ion battery has a limited one-year warranty. Should any trouble develop during the three-year period, return the COMPLETE tool, freight prepaid, to one of Makita's Factory or Authorized Service Centers . If inspection shows the trouble is caused by defective workmanship or material, Makita will repair (or at our option, replace) without charge. This warranty does not apply to Makita Accessories, like flashlights.

[Karl Brogger]

I just bought one last week. $70 I wasn't too happy to spend.

The only thing that really appeals to me about the Makita impact is its size. The price isn't bad either. I think you can find just the impact kit for $170 now, which is pretty reasonable.

The Panasonic Li-Ion stuff is really expensive at $360 for the impact, but I've had really good luck with everything Panasonic I've had in the past.

[Steve Griffin]

Cool!

While I can't see living without my 4 small cordless drills for cabinet assembly and install, the continueing complaints about battery life of bigger lithium drills is good to hear--

My $60 corded drills, which seem to last 10 years for a yearly cost of $6, seem like they right way to go when I need the power. Sure you have a cord, but unless you are building a cabin in alaska bush, electricity is usually close by. And no charger to plug in, no batteries to horse around with and replace makes them seem like a good deal to me....

-Steve

[Mark Bolton]

Cool!

While I can't see living without my 4 small cordless drills for cabinet assembly and install, the continueing complaints about battery life of bigger lithium drills is good to hear--

My $60 corded drills, which seem to last 10 years for a yearly cost of $6, seem like they right way to go when I need the power. Sure you have a cord, but unless you are building a cabin in alaska bush, electricity is usually close by. And no charger to plug in, no batteries to horse around with and replace makes them seem like a good deal to me....

-Steve

The only thing I miss in the shop (we use a lot of corded in the shop) is the low speed and low end torque. Also, out in the field I have become quite addicted to impact drivers. I do keep a couple cordless impacts in the shop but they are on almost constant maintenance charge.

We about swore off cordless all together for several years out of frustration over battery cost. We fell into a batch of these very drills (makita LXT) from a guy who was injured and getting out of the biz. Bought the lot and I really like them but havent had to buy any batteries yet.

Its easy to get hooked on no cord but man when you plug one in you sure see what youve been missing.

Mark

[Devon Shannon]

I'm going to be purchasing the drill and impact kit, and I'm a little concerned after reading so many complaints about battery life on the white 18V LI tools. While, the tools themselves are excellent, possibly the batteries are below average? Has anyone seen or heard of a comparison, akin to FWW's Tool Tests, on LI batteries of different makes? Although, now that I that I mention it, the batteries are probably all made by the same 1 or 2 companies anyways...? Anyone know any thing about that?

[Steve Griffin]

The only thing I miss in the shop (we use a lot of corded in the shop) is the low speed and low end torque. Also, out in the field I have become quite addicted to impact drivers. I do keep a couple cordless impacts in the shop but they are on almost constant maintenance charge.

We about swore off cordless all together for several years out of frustration over battery cost. We fell into a batch of these very drills (makita LXT) from a guy who was injured and getting out of the biz. Bought the lot and I really like them but havent had to buy any batteries yet.

Its easy to get hooked on no cord but man when you plug one in you sure see what youve been missing.

Mark

I was late to join in on the impact driver craze and didn't like them at first, but now I reach for them for all screws, even little 5/8" x 7 screws for drawer slides.

Isn't it fun to drive screws without pushing?

-Steve

[Dave MacArthur]

there's a guy here, Aaron I think, who has a battery rebuilding operation that gets high marks from all his customers. Battery Rebuilders? or MTO batteries? Can't remember which is his new name. Search for it, and try him for rebuilds, the feedback folks have posted has been great.

[John McClanahan]

Here's some advice: stop before you hurt yourself. That "special circuit" is what keeps these lithium batteries from overcharging and literally blowing up. You can't just remove one cell from the string - there's a real possibility you are overvoltaging the remaining cells.

Your 15 year old Dewalt probably doesn't go through batteries as quickly because they aren't Li-Ion batteries. Likewise, it isn't as small or high powered. It's a trade-off. If you want longer life, you don't want Li-Ion batteries.

Li-Ions are rarely good for ~500 charge/discharge cycles.

I've rebuilt battery packs many times over the years, and for lithium batteries, Dan's warning is worth repeating. Be safe!

John