Modify Ryobi charger

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cep32

50 posts

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#679482 30-Aug-2012 21:49

Sorry, Try this.

Unplugging is best practice to avoid the risk of power surges or other electrical faults from the wall socket to the charger. The chargers are designed to switch to a 'trickle feed' once the battery is detected as being fully charged. This simply means that the battery is monitored by the charger and topped up if a reduction of charge is detected. There is no problem with the charger being plugged in for long periods of time and no damage will occur to the battery either.

This feature is specific to the 1 hour dual chemistry chargers used by ONE+ and as the customer has specified our BCL14181H model this advice is relevant.

Thanks everyone for the replies as it made me push a bit harder for an official response from Ryobi.

Cheers,
Chris

oxnsox

1923 posts

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#679487 30-Aug-2012 21:52

I have seen both Ni-MH and Li-Ion fail through over charging as a result of poor/failed charging solutions. It was interesting to have one manufacturer described a cell failure as 'a thermal event', although their was no acceptance of any liability

grant_k

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#679492 30-Aug-2012 22:03

cep32: Sorry, Try this.

Unplugging is best practice to avoid the risk of power surges or other electrical faults from the wall socket to the charger. The chargers are designed to switch to a 'trickle feed' once the battery is detected as being fully charged. This simply means that the battery is monitored by the charger and topped up if a reduction of charge is detected. There is no problem with the charger being plugged in for long periods of time and no damage will occur to the battery either.

This feature is specific to the 1 hour dual chemistry chargers used by ONE+ and as the customer has specified our BCL14181H model this advice is relevant.

Thanks everyone for the replies as it made me push a bit harder for an official response from Ryobi.

Cheers,
Chris

Thanks for posting that Chris. I have two different Ryobi "Dual Chemistry" chargers and they both work in the same way, with the green light remaining on steady once charging is complete. Prior to this, the red light is on, and the green one flashes. The 1-hour charge time as claimed by the manufacturer seems about right, and I have been very happy with the shelf-life of the fully charged Lithium-Ion cells. Unlike NiCd, they retain a useful amount of charge for many months, and if you need more, it's very quick to top them up.

Niel

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#679545 31-Aug-2012 06:49

It is not optional for a Li-Ion charger to permanently trickle charge. It is a requirement to switch off and wait for the voltage to drop below a preset threshold before recharging. The Li-Ion has a built-in safety circuit which prevents over charging, but usually does not have a timeout for trickle charging. It is only a secondary safety.

In the case of Li-Ion charging the "trickle charge" mode is an on/off cycle at battery cell supplier specified thresholds, not a Ryobi design option. Reading between the lines, this is what it does but the customer services person either did not make it clear or does not fully understand it himself.

The dual mode charger detects which battery chemistry is fitted and applies the appropriate charging algorithm. Looks like Ryobi does this. The light does not tell you everything it is doing, rather they make it work consistently with legacy products so that customers do not get confused.

A Li-Ion battery cannot fully charge in 1h. It gets to 80% and then the rest is a slower charge. Period. Some manufacturers spec the 80% level as the full state and simply de-rate the performance.

People that think they know how battery charging work, please read my posts as I actually do know (expression of frustration). And if you find a Li-Ion battery being constantly trickle charged without switching off after a couple of hours, then stop using it as it is dangerous and get the manufacturer (or a watchdog organisation) to do a product recall.

Can someone open his charger and give us the part number of the charger IC? Then we can find out exactly how it works.

You can never have enough Volvos!

cep32

50 posts

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#679601 31-Aug-2012 09:55

Sorry Niel. In investigating further and asking Ryobi direct I didn't mean in any way to discount your earlier posts.

I had been told definitely by the tool specialist at Bunnings when I bought the drill that the charger would just keep on charging until the battery was cooked unless I used a timer at the wall socket so was keen to have it from the manufacturer themselves that it was OK to keep the battery on the charger for longer.

I'll see if I can open it up this weekend and get any part numbers from it.

Cheers,
Chris

richms

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#679604 31-Aug-2012 09:57

"tool specialist at Bunnings" - Yup ;)

Richard rich.ms

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#679606 31-Aug-2012 10:02

richms: "tool specialist at Bunnings" - Yup ;)

Also LOL'd

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cep32

50 posts

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#679737 31-Aug-2012 14:00

Yup.

Hence the questions here.

Niel

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#679782 31-Aug-2012 16:38

cep32: the tool specialist at Bunnings

Yea, like the "specialists" at Dick Smith... (I know there are 1 or 2 with good knowledge, but in general not.)

No worries, I was frustrated with a number of posts rather than your specific one.

You can never have enough Volvos!

webwat

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#680154 1-Sep-2012 18:00

richms: The nicd chargers are all junk on the ryobis I have had in the past - constant current with the limiting done in the plugpack and prone to variations in line voltage.

the one plus kit is the first stuff I have seen from them approching usable as far as the batteries go.

And the One+ charger that comes with the impact drill is different from the other One+ chargers, does a faster charge time. Planning to get one, Seems like a good system although bigger batteries would be nice.

Time to find a new industry!

grant_k

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#680155 1-Sep-2012 18:06

webwat: And the One+ charger that comes with the impact drill is different from the other One+ chargers, does a faster charge time. Planning to get one, Seems like a good system although bigger batteries would be nice.

Yeah, you only get 2 x 1.4AHr batteries, rather than the bigger 2.4AHr I got originally. The tri-colour charge indicator LED in the battery is also missing from the 1.4AHr ones. Last time I checked at Bunnings, they were still charging $147 for the 2.4AHr, which seems just a bit on the exorbitant side. Hopefully, the price will come down eventually.

gregmcc

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#680166 1-Sep-2012 18:25

richms: "tool specialist at Bunnings" - Yup ;)

I guess that's why they work at bunnings, putting all their technical skills to work

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