[Wiltshire] OT - Power tool batteries

[David Fletcher]

Simon brought along a decidedly dangerous looking power tool battery/charger 
on Monday night i.e. both had grossly overheated and partly melted the 
plastic casing.

What I've got is two Bosch cordless drill/driver tools, one nearly new, the 
other several years old. The battery supplied with the old one died, and the 
charger supplied with it is pretty pathetic. So, for less than the price of a 
decent charger and new battery, I bought a new tool, taking the same 14.4V O 
pack as the old one, and provided with a decent charger that rapid charges 
then switches to trickle when it knows the battery is about full.

Having been warned about ebay batteries, I took a look. What I've now got is 
what looks like a genuine (but you probably can't tell) Bosch battery pack 
built with NiMH cells rather than the NiCd ones provided with the new drill, 
claimed to be 2.6AH capacity in the same size case as the 1.5AH battery 
supplied with the new drill.

Put it on charge tonight, the charger warmed up slightly, the battery stayed 
cool while the LED flashed to indicate fast charging. When I noticed the LED 
had stopped flashing the battery was nicely warm but not hot. Left it for a 
couple of hours, then the charger was still warm but the battery had cooled. 
I guess it's working OK.

If anybody is interested, the new tool I bought is a PSR 14,4-2, including a 
model number AL1411DV charger. It's nice that the battery pack is compatible 
with the old tool.

Dave