Bryanf Posted October 24, 2020 Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 Hi Guys, New to this forum. Hoping someone might be able to help. Bought a pair of Ryobi RB18L50 batteries and a charger for my nail gun a couple of years ago. Charged both the batteries and then didn't use the gun for some time. A few days ago when I tried to 'freshen up' the battery that wasn't left in the in the gun (the one that was left in the gun is fine), I discovered that it is cactus (0 volts on the output tags). The charger tests the battery for some hours and then deems it to be stuffed. Did a bit of sniffing around on the Net and tried a few of the fixes suggested (there was talk that the battery had gone into a 'hard' sleep mode), but none of these worked and I couldn't get any charge into the battery either from the Ryobi charger or another power supply I have. Next, I took the battery apart to reveal the cells and discovered that they were sitting at 0.9V, so I attached the power supply directly to the cells to see if I could get a bit of charge into them, which I did. By the time I took them off the power supply, they were holding a charge of about 18.9V. When I measure the output of the good pack, it reads 20.5V at the terminals, but the dud one seems to drop about 5V, which leaves me with about 13V at the terminals. I've stuck it back into the Ryobi charger but it tested the pack and deemed it to be stuffed. All that said, I'm wondering if the battery pack has a DC/DC converter built in to bump up the voltage to the tools and whether it looks like this is the part that is stuffed. I've tried to get a schematic of the charger and the battery, but to no avail. Any sage advice would be very much appreciated. Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryanf Posted October 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 Hi again Guys, Further to my last, further dismantling revealed that the PCB under the cells was covered in some sort of white powder (probably conductive as well as corrosive). After cleaning it as best I could and applying some moisture repellent, it still tests as defective (not really surprising). Given that the board is full of surface-mount devices that I don't have the gear or the will to diagnose, the question becomes whether these can be had as spares. Again, your sage advice appreciated. Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric - TIA Posted October 24, 2020 Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 When it comes to batteries, I am lost. We have a couple of guys in here who know this stuff inside and out. Hopefully they will chime in soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryanf Posted October 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 Indeed. Many thanks. Shall watch this space. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryanf Posted November 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2020 OK... They had their chance... I have contacted Ryobi on several occasions and I must say that I've seldom come across a less helpful and caring organisation. Notwithstanding the fact that they don't seem to know what I'm taking about (or maybe what they're talking about), they keep bombarding me with the same by-the-numbers replies. I've tried lodging questions on their website (rote replies) and even ringing them. On one occasion, they assured me that my details and question would be submitted to the engineering department and someone would get back to me. Never happened. After I rang, they assured me that someone from the engineering department would contact me. Again, never happened. At this stage, I've got hold of a microscope, through which I can examine the PCB, as well as a solder sucker, which I will use to remove the PCB from the batteries. I'll have a look at the under-side and see if there is more of the white powder there and try to remove it as I have a sneaking suspicion that, if I can clean the board well enough, it should come back to life. I'll keep you fine folk informed just in case anyone else has the same issues, or perhaps someone out there might actually reply to this thread. Onward & upward! Wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric - TIA Posted November 30, 2020 Report Share Posted November 30, 2020 Sorry to hear that they didn't get back to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryanf Posted December 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2020 Ta for that 😞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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