# A good place to get OEM Mikita drill batteries?



## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Need people with experience on this to answer. I have a Mikita 12v drill from many years ago. Bought new and well the batteries are now all fubared. I may get tops off it -IF- it will charge 2 mins light runtime then drain out.

My model number of the drill is #1233 12v 2.2Ah.

I've seen some Ebay sites but not sure about them. I'd like to make an order before the end of this month so any help from people who have fixed their drills would help.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

The Source (The Store formerly known as Radio Shack), has a battery rebuild service including cordless tool batteries. Info is available on their web site. I've not used it myself, but just found out about it after bemoaning my own 6-7 year old DeWalt battery woes.

The batteries inside yours are almost certainly standard NiCd batteries, so they (or you) can service/replace them pretty easily as long as you have the tools to get the battery open and ability to determine the correct size.

This route is almost certainly cheaper than buying a whole new battery unit with plastic case, connectors etc when all that's really needed is new cells.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Mr Fishies said:


> The Source (The Store formerly known as Radio Shack), has a battery rebuild service including cordless tool batteries. Info is available on their web site. I've not used it myself, but just found out about it after bemoaning my own 6-7 year old DeWalt battery woes.
> 
> The batteries inside yours are almost certainly standard NiCd batteries, so they (or you) can service/replace them pretty easily as long as you have the tools to get the battery open and ability to determine the correct size.
> 
> This route is almost certainly cheaper than buying a whole new battery unit with plastic case, connectors etc when all that's really needed is new cells.


I forgot to mention my cells -ARE- NIMH. They are listed on the battery pack. I was thinking of repacking my own after seeing this website and having seen how to battery packs online for years for RC models. My method I was thinking of using was soldering but my concern has always been overheating the battery and a bomb going off. It's one thing to have a bomb so off but it's another thing when it's 1 foot in front of you in your working space as you need to be close to work on it.

Where on The Source's website is the repack info? Could you URL link me? I can't seem to find it in their battery page.

Thanks


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

What kind of batteries are they if they are NiCad keep charging and draining the cells it'll break up the crystals that formed. Use a higher charging voltage to speed the cycle up. 

If NiMH you can try the same thing but watch the temps don't let them get too hot as the internal resistance is up. Most likely it won't work. 

If they use Li-ions you know where you can get cheap 18650s seeing as how you're a CPF member.

EDIT: You got that post in while I was posting. If NiMH I suggest just going on ebay or batterystation to get some Sub-C cells and just rebuild. Going this route may just save 10-20 over just getting a completely rebuilt pack.

Make sure when you're rebuilding the pack yourself you get cells with tabs it's a lot easier to work with and chances of overheating are greatly reduced.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

tebore said:


> What kind of batteries are they if they are NiCad keep charging and draining the cells it'll break up the crystals that formed. Use a higher charging voltage to speed the cycle up.
> 
> If NiMH you can try the same thing but watch the temps don't let them get too hot as the internal resistance is up. Most likely it won't work.
> 
> ...


Tebore,

Batteryspace is a rip off on shipping. I was thinking of getting a helmet and bar mount for my bike to mount my crazy LED setup but they wanted ~$30 to ship those small items and forced me IIRC either UPS or FEDEX. Hell a pack of 4xAA Sanyo 2700mAh's they still wanted about $25 to ship. W..T...F!?! 

Yah I was thinking of doing my own rebuild but my worry is the soldering issue. Overheating the cell is not good for the cell and the overall worry is a bomb 1 ft from the face going off. Tho the risks are less IMHO then li-ion/-po as I would not mess around with li-ion/po given the ifreball videos I've seen and buy a replacement or have someone do it for me. BTW know any CPF'ers in the T.O that do this on the side? I can't afford the $89ish Home D wants for the 12v 3.0Ah replacement. I've got 2 batteries here trhat need replacement. If I can get them replaced for $100 and they keep on keeping on going then I'll be sure to be passing that contact more jobs for sure.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

OEM Makita batteries?

Should be able to get them from the Tool Doctor in Scarborough (70 Milner) or try Markham Industrial Tool (on Woodbine just south of 14th). If they don't have it they should be able to order it in for you.

If you want to do a rebuild, then you'll want to visit my bro Phil in Pickering. His place is called Battery Experts and its at 1755 Plummer Street, Pickering. Tell him Kevin sent you.

If you're going to order cells online, I'd avoid batteryspace; instead go to all-battery.com. The Tenergy batteries are about the same price as the Powerizers, but they are of better quality.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

AquaNeko said:


> I forgot to mention my cells -ARE- NIMH. They are listed on the battery pack.
> --SNIP--
> Where on The Source's website is the repack info? Could you URL link me? I can't seem to find it in their battery page.


NiMh, NiCd...pretty sure they can supply either. I should have just said standard _sized _batteries (ie: sub C which comes in both types) since that was what I was trying to convey.

Look at the menu on the left hand side of the main page, the 3rd item down is "Battery Rebuild Program".

Seem to recall you`re up in the sticks...so to speak. If you can easily contact someone small and local as suggested, you might get a better deal but the source is pretty easily found even in smaller towns IME.


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

AquaNeko said:


> Tebore,
> 
> Batteryspace is a rip off on shipping. I was thinking of getting a helmet and bar mount for my bike to mount my crazy LED setup but they wanted ~$30 to ship those small items and forced me IIRC either UPS or FEDEX. Hell a pack of 4xAA Sanyo 2700mAh's they still wanted about $25 to ship. W..T...F!?!
> 
> Yah I was thinking of doing my own rebuild but my worry is the soldering issue. Overheating the cell is not good for the cell and the overall worry is a bomb 1 ft from the face going off. Tho the risks are less IMHO then li-ion/-po as I would not mess around with li-ion/po given the ifreball videos I've seen and buy a replacement or have someone do it for me. BTW know any CPF'ers in the T.O that do this on the side? I can't afford the $89ish Home D wants for the 12v 3.0Ah replacement. I've got 2 batteries here trhat need replacement. If I can get them replaced for $100 and they keep on keeping on going then I'll be sure to be passing that contact more jobs for sure.


I've done plenty of pack rebuilds(laptops, DVD, etc) but in my opinion tool pack rebuilds are some of the worst. It's because they like to use that little pod shape. So it makes soldering the tabs a pain, now if I had a tab welder it'd be easier. NiMH are the worst packs to rebuild/salvage. With a NiCD pack you can just tear the pack down enough to jolt each cell and recondition with a hobby charger. Or with those 14.4V packs I use a running car engine to jolt them, to break up the crystal layer then drain and recharge until it supplies decent use. It'll usually bring it back to 80% of new. With NiMH since the OEM decided to use a dumb charger the cells are toast.

If you're willing to give up some runtime on the pack and want some longer lifetime out of the rebuild pack go with NiCD especially with a dumb charger because they can tolerate a lot of abuse compared to NiMH (at least till we get eneloop sub-Cs). Their current delivery is better and most of the time you can salvage the pack before it's too far gone with a few full charge/drain cycles. They better tolerate overcharge/discharge too which is what most packs will experience.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Mr Fishies said:


> NiMh, NiCd...pretty sure they can supply either. I should have just said standard _sized _batteries (ie: sub C which comes in both types) since that was what I was trying to convey.
> 
> Look at the menu on the left hand side of the main page, the 3rd item down is "Battery Rebuild Program".
> 
> Seem to recall you`re up in the sticks...so to speak. If you can easily contact someone small and local as suggested, you might get a better deal but the source is pretty easily found even in smaller towns IME.


Ha. Pac. Mall isn't really the sticks now a days. Yah 20-30yrs ago my area would have been called the 'semi-sticks' but more the 'suburbs' then. Now it seems Now it seems anything north of Major Mac is the 'burbs' and the Keswick area is the so called sticks.

Thanks fo rthe help. I did find it and spoke with a local Rat Shack guy (still refer to them as Radio Shack aka Rat Shack to the tinkers). did not get a pricing via the phone as thier Missy HQ for that stuff closes at 18:00 and I was -30mins to retail store closing when I called. 

Interesting thing I read on Voltmans site is that they use BYD cells which they explained if Warren Buffet is interested and investing in and the history of the cells are so called the best you can't go wrong. I read into BYD's company history and the CEO. Interesting guy. In about 10yrs he's in the top 4 battery makers in the world with as far as I know and the reporter did not correct him any battery recalls. Check the aritcle. Interesting guy and background. He's a chemist and goverment researcher tho the chemist part is what intriged me and the fact the guy drank his product to make a point of how clean the energy is. 

Only problem is I know I'm going to bent over twice at the border when this ships over with the duty/charges and shipping. >.<; Thus why I was looking for a local solution. Rat Shack offers 1yr warrenty but so far no disclosure on the cells. I'm sure they repack in the same way in the Voltman video. Voltman offers 180days for NIMH.

Hmm...


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

tebore said:


> I've done plenty of pack rebuilds(laptops, DVD, etc) but in my opinion tool pack rebuilds are some of the worst. It's because they like to use that little pod shape. So it makes soldering the tabs a pain, now if I had a tab welder it'd be easier. NiMH are the worst packs to rebuild/salvage. With a NiCD pack you can just tear the pack down enough to jolt each cell and recondition with a hobby charger. Or with those 14.4V packs I use a running car engine to jolt them, to break up the crystal layer then drain and recharge until it supplies decent use. It'll usually bring it back to 80% of new. With NiMH since the OEM decided to use a dumb charger the cells are toast.
> 
> If you're willing to give up some runtime on the pack and want some longer lifetime out of the rebuild pack go with NiCD especially with a dumb charger because they can tolerate a lot of abuse compared to NiMH (at least till we get eneloop sub-Cs). Their current delivery is better and most of the time you can salvage the pack before it's too far gone with a few full charge/drain cycles. They better tolerate overcharge/discharge too which is what most packs will experience.


I think the reason why mine went fubar was they storage. It was out in the -20C temps over night in the car or in hot summer days. Told my dad to take it in but half the time it was out there. With my being a battery person myself I own a Maha C-9000 for over a year now and before then always liked to take care of my cells. My charing habit with the Mikia drill was always when the light turned green I took the battery off. Most the battery got was about 1hr after the green light was on due to me being up in the ceiling or doing something else. Most of the times I had a timer on my watch so the batteries got taken off 10-15mins after done. No really abused by the charger IMHO but that's just IMHO.

I know you're a CPF'er and the man with the HID canon.     (sorry I always get this image of a 90's cartoon grunt (Radical Squadron: SWAT CATS~?) with this honking HID strapped to their back with it turned on like a light saber running around to the Blue Oyster Cult song 'Godzilla' around Toronto. LOL   )

Think you can help me out with this? I've got a Weller vari-dial temp solder station I can packup in the bag, solder wick, solder, safety gear. Just need a hand on sensei to learn from. I'm sure we can work out something in return. ^_~; Hey who knows we might get crazy enough with ideas and make a bat signal to go over that HID (insert CPF whistling emoticon here).


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

AquaNeko said:


> I think the reason why mine went fubar was they storage. It was out in the -20C temps over night in the car or in hot summer days. Told my dad to take it in but half the time it was out there. With my being a battery person myself I own a Maha C-9000 for over a year now and before then always liked to take care of my cells. My charing habit with the Mikia drill was always when the light turned green I took the battery off. Most the battery got was about 1hr after the green light was on due to me being up in the ceiling or doing something else. Most of the times I had a timer on my watch so the batteries got taken off 10-15mins after done. No really abused by the charger IMHO but that's just IMHO.
> 
> I know you're a CPF'er and the man with the HID canon.     (sorry I always get this image of a 90's cartoon grunt (Radical Squadron: SWAT CATS~?) with this honking HID strapped to their back with it turned on like a light saber running around to the Blue Oyster Cult song 'Godzilla' around Toronto. LOL   )
> 
> Think you can help me out with this? I've got a Weller vari-dial temp solder station I can packup in the bag, solder wick, solder, safety gear. Just need a hand on sensei to learn from. I'm sure we can work out something in return. ^_~; Hey who knows we might get crazy enough with ideas and make a bat signal to go over that HID (insert CPF whistling emoticon here).


It's still a pain with a decent soldier station because the OEMs weld them then fold the cells in to a sort of pyramid shape. A solder joint is not as strong as weld and when you fold it over it could break. A second reason for why soldering tool packs is not as good as welding is the vibrations COULD overtime break up the solder joint [slim chance] causing high resistance and all the bad stuff with it. A friend of mine asked me to rebuild a pack for him I found 2000mAh Sub-Cs at ~3 bucks a piece on ebay. The pack needed about 11-12 cells which was about $40 shipped. A replacement pack complete with case was $50 shipped it wasn't OEM but if it's not a li-ion pack that's so important because with li-ions the 18650s' quality and the protection circuit matter. So even the rebuilding route isn't that much cheaper.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

AquaNeko said:


> Ha. Pac. Mall isn't really the sticks now a days. Yah 20-30yrs ago my area would have been called the 'semi-sticks' but more the 'suburbs' then.


Apologies if I offended your delicate sense of community pride , but I don`t really try to commit members whereabouts to memory...but some (false) memory of some past thread said you were much farther up the 400 than that.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Mr Fishies said:


> Apologies if I offended your delicate sense of community pride , but I don`t really try to commit members whereabouts to memory...but some (false) memory of some past thread said you were much farther up the 400 than that.


Hehe. No worries mate.


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