rebuilding battery packs

I have a friend of mine that has a business and about 8-10 bad battery packs I think mostly dewalt 18v and craftsman 12v perhaps. At first I thought I could replace all the batteries in these myself for cheaper than the amount he has to pay but then decided I didn't want to really invest in the tools and equipment to do so as I have no interest in it myself. I was wondering for a short discussion two things:
1)aprox what is the cost and good suppliers of batteries for these packs?
2)what are some decent, reliable, and frugal places that rebuild these pack and what do they charge for it?

I could probably spend a few days reading to find this information myself but I was hoping someone could save me hours of research on this and give me some quick pointers.
He had this fancy gadget to charge the batteries and supposedly *fix* them but I told him most of the time cells in the packs get weak or die and cannot be fixed by a charger.so he is getting his $100. back and returning it.

Lynx_Arc said:

I have a friend of mine that has a business and about 8-10 bad battery packs

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You may find the bad packs only have one dead cell. Using the other OK cells perhaps you may make up a few good packs for no outlay. They won't be as good as new but may keep him going for a while.
I also have a mate who uses heaps of Dewalt packs in his plumbing business.
Norm

Norm said:

You may find the bad packs only have one dead cell. Using the other OK cells perhaps you may make up a few good packs for no outlay. They won't be as good as new but may keep him going for a while.
I also have a mate who uses heaps of Dewalt packs in his plumbing business.
Norm

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I think it would probably be best to replace all the cells and am looking at
a trustworthy company that could do it considerably cheaper than buying new packs.

Batteries Plus is one place that comes to mind, if they have a store near you. Apparently they can rebuild battery packs to spec as well as supplying new battery packs, though I have not used them myself.

Hello Lynx Arc,

I have used, and recommended to others, Tom at Battery Pack Rebuilders. You can visit his eBay store here.

He built all the B90 battery packs for me, and I have had some DeWalt packs and a cordless phone battery pack rebuilt also. He even rebuilt one of my X990 packs that finally gave up after giving me trouble for some time after it was out of warranty.

I am very satisfied with his work.

If you have a quantity of packs to rebuild, you may want to email him and see if he will work a little better price. At the very least there may be some savings in shipping costs.

Tom

Remember that you can rebuild packs with cells that aren't of the same size, as long as they fit inside the casing or you're willing to have one or more on the outside.

SilverFox said:

Hello Lynx Arc,

I have used, and recommended to others, Tom at Battery Pack Rebuilders. You can visit his eBay store here.

He built all the B90 battery packs for me, and I have had some DeWalt packs and a cordless phone battery pack rebuilt also. He even rebuilt one of my X990 packs that finally gave up after giving me trouble for some time after it was out of warranty.

I am very satisfied with his work.

If you have a quantity of packs to rebuild, you may want to email him and see if he will work a little better price. At the very least there may be some savings in shipping costs.

Tom

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I will keep him in mind. I think I may get ahold of batteries plus first and see what prices they have. If this was for me I would probably find the best and cheapest solution but it is for an older man that probably wants the minimum of hassle involved so a local solution would be his thing firsthand as I don't think he is too hot on mail order and shipping heavy packs back and forth could negate a fair amount of savings for sure. I could perhaps strip the cells of the out packs before shipping to save a few bucks or use a flat rate box if they would all fit.. I have never even thought of doing this before.

Fallingwater said:

Remember that you can rebuild packs with cells that aren't of the same size, as long as they fit inside the casing or you're willing to have one or more on the outside.

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well it is not for me but a handyman of sorts so I don't think cells hanging on the outside would be his thing. I think he needs the simplest least hassle and he doesn't have the desire nor knowledge or equipment to rebuild them and to do it properly I don't have the spot welder nor am I interested in one just to do about 8-10 packs.

Mr Happy said:

Batteries Plus is one place that comes to mind, if they have a store near you. Apparently they can rebuild battery packs to spec as well as supplying new battery packs, though I have not used them myself.

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Who's a poor novice to believe?

The BatteriesPlus site contains this excerpt from the September 2008 Edition of PCMagazine:

Extend Your Laptop's Life With These Tweaks by Rick Broida

One of life's certainties, up there with death and taxes, is that your battery will wear out over time. How much time depends on how well you care for it. According to Russ Reynolds of Batteries Plus, a typical notebook battery lasts for around 500 charge/discharge cycles—between 18 months and three years of normal use. To get as close as possible to the latter number, remove the battery whenever your notebook is plugged into an outlet (as when you're working at the office or the local coffee shop). If you leave it in, the AC power could cause the battery to overheat and overcharge—the most common cause of premature failure, Reynolds says. When running on battery power, use your machine until you get a low-battery warning, then let the battery recharge fully. That'll keep the total number of recharges (remember, you get only about 500) to a minimum. Reynolds also recommends storing both your notebook and its battery in cool, dry, well-ventilated locations, as hot environments can also diminish battery longevity.

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Conversely, the Battery University contains this excerpt:

A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.

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Bones said:

Who's a poor novice to believe?

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I think it may be a little of both, actually.

My understanding is that the lifetime of lithium-ion is not measured so much as a number of charge cycles, but more as the product of voltage and the time spent at that voltage. So if a cell spends all its time at 4.2 V it will have a shorter life than if it spends all its time at 3.8 V. Low voltages are a problem too, but only very low voltages, say below 3.0 V.

Now the trouble with keeping the battery in the laptop when it is powered up is that the charging circuitry in the battery will keep the battery at the full voltage and maximum charge ready for use when the AC is unplugged. If you don't plan to unplug the AC, this is killing the battery.

On the other hand, when you do use the battery, let it run right down to empty before recharging it. The battery controls will shut down the computer before the voltage reaches a dangerous level and the average voltage experienced by the battery between charges will be lower too.

Furthermore, if you run the battery right down before recharging it will recalibrate the battery remaining charge meter and help to obtain the maximum run time on battery power.

So overall, think differently from NiMH. Don't count cycles, measure voltage instead.