Help with tool batterys

Like a dummy i did not seperate my new batterys there the ryobi 18 volt batterys. Is there a fast way to see which batterys are in the best shape?

raggie33 said:

Like a dummy i did not seperate my new batterys there the ryobi 18 volt batterys. Is there a fast way to see which batterys are in the best shape?

Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by that... are you talking about charged fully or not or capacity overall?

I'm guessing that you can't tell the old from the new.
most tool batteries have serial numbers on them. You should at least be able to
figure the production order by the numerical sequence.
Thanks don't know of any way to actually ch cl capacity without taking them apart.

I would assume you bought a new battery pack because the older one was not at a very good level of holding capacity any more. I think it should show very quickly which is which. But I really don't know your whole story about your batteries.

jabe1 said:

I'm guessing that you can't tell the old from the new.
most tool batteries have serial numbers on them. You should at least be able to
figure the production order by the numerical sequence.
Thanks don't know of any way to actually ch cl capacity without taking them apart.

Click to expand...

Some brands date stamp them also, that is date of manufacturing but that isn't necessarily a way to know for sure.
One way to estimate capacity is to use a tool that isn't a heavy drain like a flashlight and time how long it takes to go out and if you can find information about the current draw of the light you can estimate the capacity used.
Often though a very heavy current draw use tool can separate weak batteries quickly as you will notice you get 30 minutes on a good battery and a bad one about 12 minutes before it shuts off. It also may be that batteries can develop higher internal resistance while under heavy loads gets poor runtime but lighter loads seems more "normal" in use. Date stamps may yield info about newly bought batteries but on older ones they could be just about as good or worn out.

Assuming that there is no way to tell the old from new by looking at them (same markings and no scuffs or scratches on the old ones), you can charge them all up and check their Voltages after charging and after a week or so to compare self discharge.

xxo said:

Assuming that there is no way to tell the old from new by looking at them (same markings and no scuffs or scratches on the old ones), you can charge them all up and check their Voltages after charging and after a week or so to compare self discharge.

Click to expand...

That may work but there may be varying voltages enough that it may take longer to notice any discernible difference.

I am trying to figure out which batterys are in the best shape. I had no issues with the older batterys. I just bought more becuase they was pretty much free with the tool. Whats crazy is to buy the batterys alone it cost more then the batterys and tool lol its crazy

You can also load test them with a resistor and a multimeter.

xxo said:

You can also load test them with a resistor and a multimeter.

Click to expand...

Or put a heavy drain power tool on them and run them till they quit off a fresh charge and compare the times.