Makita Lithium ion cordless drill battery – is there a probl

[benjiman]

I have just bought a Makita BHP452RFX 18V Combi Drill from Toolstation.

However I’m now having second thoughts about keeping it as I’ve read in a few places now that Makita have a battery problem which they are refusing to admit.

I am an occasion DIY user, and I’ve read if the battery is left uncharged for a period of time it simply fades after little use and you have to recharge it.

Also read that the cells have a high failure rate and most have given up within a year.

Is there any truth to this? Has anyone got first hand experience of the batteries? I’ve used the drill and it is exactly what I need in terms of power, comfort etc, but I don’t want to be splashing out £100 or so for a new battery in a years time.

 

[alumni]

Nothing wrong with any of mine

 

[crank39]

If it's a li-on battery then there could be some truth in it. I was told this couple of years ago and I mentioned it on here something along the lines of letting the batt discharge past a certain point, eventually it it develops a memory and will not charge up beyond that point

DeWalt were late in releasing their li system to try and remove this problem and they apparently have a clever almost secret system that does it, I don't know how it works but it just does, the tool just stops dead with no indication of the batt going flat, this is the charge point, it will let you have few more go's after waiting a couple of seconds but eventually it stops and it's time for recharge

 

[screech]

Information on the makita battery here.

http://www.recellyourbattery.com/makita-18v

 

[foxhole]

I purchased three nicads with my drills , two failed within 6months , third does not hold charge long, bought cheap copy and it's out performed the makita batteries by long way , so far.

 

[alumni]

Information on the makita battery here.

http://www.recellyourbattery.com/makita-18v[/QUOTE]
Not really independent though is it. By that, i mean the fella is trying to push his own sales.

Also doesn't stack up against the general view of guys on the sites we work on. No one complaining about the batteries, other than old, well used ones finally losing their puff - as will happen.

 

[cajar]

I've got the makita 18v and have had no problems with it. I use it infrequently for diy and have had mine 2 years now (three batts, drill, saw, impact driver)

 

[benjiman]

Great thanks for the reassurance chaps. I'll stick with it and see how it goes.

crank39 - I've also got an 18v hitachi drill/driver for just driving screws and it too stops dead when its time for a recharge.

 

[xdave]

I have around 10-15 of the 3Ah li-ion batteries on the go at any one time as I use the various tools in their system daily. Over the last 2 years I have had to replace 6 after they stopped charging which is approx. 50% failure at £70 a pop. In at least a few of cases the batteries were hammered to the extreme so I am not surprised those failed. To put that in perspective, I have got through two grinders and two combi drills in that time by wearing out the gearboxes (and melted one of the grinders) and in those cases the batteries were fine so it is not like one morning you'll find the batteries don't work anymore - you need to actually kill them.

With regards to the power delivery, you will get full power right up until the moment the tools stop dead. There is no tapering off on the normal drills/drivers but you will notice the saws/grinders/sds drills/impacts lose power at about 10% left. When that happens change batteries immediately and leave the old one to cool if hot to avoid triggering the overheat protection on the chargers. As mentioned if a trigger is reached three times then the battery will auto-shutdown and can not be repaired, even if each triggers are six months apart so don't risk it.

Also bear in mind that the chargers can become faulty too, and they can kill off your batteries by triggering the fault counter on the battery. If this happens then get the charger and any batteries it has charged swapped under warranty because they will go on to fail prematurely.

Having said all that I would still choose the Makita system over the competition because the tools are still excellent value for money and are almost bullet proof. Like anything else if you treat them right they will treat you right in return.

 

[benjiman]

Thanks for the detailed response and advise Dave.

I noticed that when I first got the drill and put it on charge, the fan on the charger came on but never went off whilst charging..

The battery was not hot yet the fan came on for the full 22 mins I left it on charge.

Does this mean a faulty charger? I was expecting the fan to go off and the unit to then charge silently but it continued to make noise. ..

 

[xdave]

No that is normal - the fan on the charger will always be on while charging (and for about 30 mins after charging if you leave the battery connected).

 

[peterperfection]

Just swerving a bit off topic- I got the same drill a few weeks ago of a on-line site 'my mate mark'. £131.00.
I was going to get it from usual place 'tooled up'--but it was £165 there.

I was wary of 'my mate mark' site- but- It was delived here to my house withing 24hrs.

 

[benjiman]

Thanks Dave.

peterperfection - not heard of that site, but looks like a good price...I paid £144 for mine from toolstation.

Will keep a look out on that website for any other deals.

Cheers.

 

[peterperfection]

Thanks Dave.

peterperfection - not heard of that site, but looks like a good price...I paid £144 for mine from toolstation.

Will keep a look out on that website for any other deals.

Cheers.

They do deals on batteries too. In fact- whatever you want- all you have to do is ask them.
You need to look at the site though first- to understand how it works .
Like I said-- I was apprehensive at first so I paid by credit card (they dont charge for that). But- they did what they said they would.

 

[peterperfection]

Thanks Dave.

peterperfection - not heard of that site, but looks like a good price...I paid £144 for mine from toolstation.

Will keep a look out on that website for any other deals.

Cheers.

www.mymatemark.co.uk