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Battery cycle indicator?


wayneburgess

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O.K so we now have batteries with lights to tell us how much charge is in them, but what about how many cycles they have done?

You might think "what's this idiot going on about?" but stick with me on this because there's a point to it.

The manufacturers of modern batteries brag how they will go 1500 0r 2000 cycles before they are dead for good, but with sometimes 4,5,6,7 or more batteries in your kit if you are a pro,how do you know if you are hammering only 2 of them instead of spreading the usage over them all?

And how do you know when you are reaching the number where the damn thing is going to peg out and die for ever?

Manufacturers already have the technology for this, and it can't be too difficult to build it into the chargers so a number is displayed when you put a battery in. :)

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I know Milwaukee has a cool tool that just slides onto the battery pack and can tell all kind of information about the battery. I remember it doing some things like recording whether the pack overheated, charge cycles, and I think it even registers what tools it was used on. This tool was a dealer only tool, but I did find a dealer who was willing to sell me one if I offered him way to much money. I'm sure the other manufacturers have similar means of determining what has gone on with their Lith-Ion batteries. You may be able to download this info off the chip yourself, if you were determined enough.

If your interested at all in the chips (integrated circuits) that manage your batteries

http://liionbms.com/...p_bms_chips.php

http://www.electroni...912782&cmp_id=7

There is a guy over in the Dewalt owners group who likes dissecting tools and batteries and posting about them.

http://dewaltownersg...f82f&board=26.0

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My question is why they don't put it on the charger? As it is a genuine selling point for anyone wanting to get the most out of all the battery packs they buy.

Why is it my Missus can borrow my super expensive multi-bladed razor to shave her legs,

but, when I borrowed her hair straighteners to warm up the felt for the shed roof,she went mental? LOL :D

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My question is why they don't put it on the charger? As it is a genuine selling point for anyone wanting to get the most out of all the battery packs they buy.

Same reason they don't have diagnostic scanners built into cars, your supposed to go pay the dealer to deal with your problems, regular folks aren't supposed to care about anything other then who to give their money to. Just think of all the poor dealers who couldn't survive if anyone but them could fix their things.

If your really going to get into it, the remote control modelers are always on the bleeding edge. They have much more sophisticated chargers and battery management systems then we in the power tool world are accustomed to. Head on over to RC Groups and dive in.

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It was not the diagnostic element that I mean.Just the ability to know how many times the battery has been charged so you can spread the cycles over all your battery packs.

I try to use mine evenly by writing on them, A B C D etc. as well as purchase or rebuild date. Then I cycle through them in order,

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Man I am missing the boat. I have to do that. I have no rotation or anything set. I just burn through the battery, put a new one in and move forward. I think a lot of these manufactures are banking on people like me. If my battery fails, I will never realy know. I am just going to assume, I cycled the battery of the full life. I am grabbing my marker and keeping track. It would be cool to have something on the battery or charger that did tell you.

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  • 1 month later...

Man I am missing the boat. I have to do that. I have no rotation or anything set. I just burn through the battery, put a new one in and move forward. I think a lot of these manufactures are banking on people like me. If my battery fails, I will never realy know. I am just going to assume, I cycled the battery of the full life. I am grabbing my marker and keeping track. It would be cool to have something on the battery or charger that did tell you.

I like to write the date that I purchase a battery as well, so I can figure out how long they are lasting, I also write rebuild dates as well, and if the rebuild company doesn't leave a sticker, I'll write that info too.

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  • 7 months later...

haha Its probably because if their batteries arent used everyday and sit on a tool bench and lose charge and have only got to 1000 cycles before they die people would probably have some good reason to demand a free battery from them. Its probably all a money thing like it usually is.

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  • 6 months later...

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