After watching your repair, I braved doing mine. My battery is a newer M18 5.0 encased in plastic and each cell pair needed to be pushed out of the plastic housing. 8 of the 10 LG cells decided to go dead 0v. One pair was still going strong. I tried to kick start dead cells but it wouldn't hold a charge. Thankfully I had kept the cells from a broken (plastics) Hoover cordless vacuum which used Samsung cells. Battery was in great condition and I kept the cells charged with an 18650 charger. I swapped the cells in and bam its back to life. I needed to plug it into a charger to wake up the electronics. I don't have a spot welder, I only have a resistance soldering iron, I just soldered the tabs in. With a resistance soldering it heats up the joint quickly and then with my foot switch take the heat off and cool it down quickly. Not ideal but it works. I'll keep it around for light duty work. Fan, portable vacuum, etc.
The lithium batteries tend to die in most power tools because the manufacturer purposely gives incorrect battery care instructions so we damage them and buy new ones. I have been using the lithium ion battery care instructions I got from basic battery care online instead of the info from manufacturer's as they tell you to store them either fully charged or discharged witch is not good for them at all. The proper storage method is around 50% charge not to high and not to low. My batteries are still going strong with zero issues. I highly recommend it.
Great video! This is the best way to get good batteries for a reasonable price. Most generic batteries are poor quality; some only being 5s1p and the other 5 full of sand. Also a lot of the 18650s used in generics are not rated for the current/under capacity/used/etc
GREAT! Question: Since you have opened the battery don`t u think it would be a good idea to clean the Circut Board.. I ask it because, as it looks, they accumulate a lot of dirt and dust that could affect them.
On some of the replacement bms they say if you don’t have a charger when replacing bms (aka the chip in the pack ) if you short pins 2 & 5 on the main pins …it will activate the electronics
It says in the description what the original cells were. I make no recomndations on what cells to use to replace them other than they should have the same max discharge rate as the factory cells.
Hi, i watched your video, very good work. One question for you, I could not make out what you did with the heat temp sensor. Did you re use it, or skipped it? Thanks!
The heat sensor is left in place, it sits between the nickel and the outer case. I should have mentioned it, you need to a little careful when putting the internals back into the case to not pinch the sensor. If it's damaged, the pack won't charge.
Is there an alternative to using that spot welder or whatever it is you have? I have a butane soldering gun (I dont solder with it, just use the torch for my weed) that I could try, but would just wrapping it in electrical tape to keep it in contact be sufficient enough? Or any other methods?
Great video, only thing, you were making adjustments to the welder, realize this was for different number of layers, would be helpful if you gave the settings, not all welders perform the same but it would give a tip to the percentage increase/decrease required.
What would happen if you kept the spot welder set to 45 for the main strip (from circuit board)? You mentioned you dropped it down to 20. Would it just create a deeper spot weld if you kept the setting at 45?
With no cell under the strips to dissipate heat, a too long weld time can cause the welder tips to burn right through the strips. The actual weld time for any welds will depend on the welder. 45 on one may be 35 or 50 on another etc. Better spot welders also adjust the actual joules at the probes, rather than just the weld time, which is how this and other cheap welders use to adjust welds.
Fun fact Walmart sells those 18 650 batteries for their solar lights and at the end of the season they're often on clearance and I got a pack of four for $5.
I buy from a local supplier, but shipping overseas is pretty $. Your best bet is to join an 18650 battery building page on FB try find a local supplier in your country through that.
The factory 4ah packs have Samsung 20r cells with a rated discharge of 22a, the 5ah uses 25s cells with a rated discharge of 20a. You would be safe to use any brand cell with a max discharge rating of 20a or above.
This video was great, got an ETA on when youll upload the video for the other battery type? Im just starting to try to fix these batteries myself and the ones I have are all the other type. Is there really much difference in how you have to repack the other ones?
I'll post as soon as I get one in a d repair it, they aren't common here. The difference is they have a combo of spot welding and soldering to repair them as it's very hard to reliably spot weld to the factory nickel plated copper strips.
I'll fill you in on the soldering. I've soldered quite a few times to the factory nickel. 1...use 63/37 leaded solder with rosin core. The 63/37 has the lowest melting temp of solder...20* cooler than 60/40. Forget the lead free solder, total junk. Use Rosin flux, I like the paste. Pre tin the strip and battery cap. When you solder the two, lay the strip on battery, iron on top of strip, not on iron. Push down and you'll feel the iron sink. Get off the battery. Done. The tinned soldered melted. 100% success rare this way...
A huge proportion of the industry seem to use Milwaukee. I think Dewalt would be 2nd. 3rd would brands like Hilti, Hi KOKI etc which are prob better than Dewalt but aren't very well known.
The strips are 0.12 - 0.15 however I now do 2 layers so they total 0.24 - 0.30. When I weld the new strips to the original strips off the BMS (so no cell under it), I drop the weld time down. It's a bit of experimenting to get thr time right, depending on the welder, the strips, and how charged the batter is that the welder is using.
I've never even opened up one of these batteries before, mate, so please bear with me. At about 26:04 into your video, you adjust the welder setting. I can't understand what you're saying at that point - or see the display on the welder - so would you kindly clarify what the exact welder setting is at that point? In fact, it would be very helpful to know which welder settings you use for double-welding the two nickel strips for the batteries on the end of the pack. In addition, I'd like to know if you somehow reattached that copper braid "ribbon" that seems to be dangling freely at about 30:17 into your video? I've both liked and subscribed to your YT channel, so please keep on making the useful and informative videos. 👍
When welding the strips to the cells I weld for 45ms. When I weld the new strip to the original strip (and there is no cell under it) I weld for about 25ms. These numbers will depend on what type of welder you are using. The flex thays sticking out, has a temp sensor on the end. This just tucks between the cell and the case when you slode it back into the case. I have a revised video to post. I now put 2 layers of new strips down, for added current capacity. 1 layer goes under the original ballance strip, and 1 on top as in this video.
@@spinnanz Thank you for getting back to me about this, mate! 👍 Have you ever made a video while repairing the larger Milwaukee XC battery packs? Do the 5.0, 9.0 and 12.0 Ah Milwaukee XC battery packs require different replacement batteries than the ones you used to repair the XC 4.0 Ah battery pack shown in this video? Cheers!
@@bt5526 the method for replacing the cells in the 5.0s is different, that requires a combination of welding and soldering as their factory strips are nickel plated copper. The method of repair for the 9 and 12ah is also a combo of welding and soldering, but it's diffefent to the 5.0 as their internal cases are also a shell.
@@spinnanz As I mentioned early on, I've never taken one of these battery packs apart. I do have an electrical background, however, so soldering is something I've done a lot of. Other than having to add soldering to the job, is the battery replacement work the same for a Milwaukee XC 5.0? In fact, are the batteries used in all of the Milwaukee XC battery packs the same type that you used to repair the 4.0 Ah battery depicted in your video, mate ( Samsung INR18650 )? I'm asking because the smallest battery packs we have are XC 5.0. From there, we have some XC 9.0 packs and a couple of XC 12.0 packs. Although we have more than a half-dozen "dead" Makita battery packs here, it's really the Milwaukee XCs that I'm worried about. I've noticed that one of our XC 9.0 packs is draining faster than normal; hence, why I'm trying to learn as much as I can about repairing these things.
@@bt5526 the cells I'm using are for demonstration of repair method only and I make no recomndations on repapcment cells. The repair method is quite different for the xc 5.0. The cells are all contained in a housing and there is rubber packing between the cells which needs to be cut. The strips used are squares rather than straight segments.
Subbed to ya for this vid. Ive got a couple these. Whether they old or new they look a lil different. Im gonna try to repair them, thanks for the good vid on em.
Do you know how to balance charge the individual cells within the Milwaukee battery? I’m interested in doing this but not sure how. Ideally I want to end up building an adapter so that the cells can be balanced using an after market charger.
@@fwd9609 to do this use an 18650 charger. I have wire off the (+) and (-) on the charger with mini crocodile clips on the end. This can be used to charge each set of cells, one set at a time.
@@spinnanz thanks mate appreciate the reply. I’m considering buying an IMAX b6ac charger and will follow your advice with that. With the 18650 cells being in parallel and series does this affect what charging option to select? 1S or 2S when attempting to charge a pair that have dropped below voltage. Have you used any of the PCB battery balancers? And balanced in this method before? Cheers
Interesting, but im a bit confused as to why the insulation is needed. It seems to me you are insulating 2 bits of metal from each other, then connecting them together??? a6 26:53 for example
The join I do shortly after the 26:53 mark is stepped, its a few mm off the cell and it only joins the strip and the main negative contact of the BMS. The insulation stops this weld melting the plastic wrap around the battery. The insulator also holds the BMS connection up so I can put a bit of force on it when I weld it.
@@GeorgeStyles melting it really isn't an issue as it's on the negative side anyway, I just like to to look aesthetically nice as well as functional. On the positive side this insulation IS required.
Hi, could you tell me settings on the spot welder, when you change Between 18650 and on the main Nickel Strip. And what Kind of car battery, Amps and CC
Nickel to cell I use 45ms, for new nickel to original nickel I use 30ms. I now repeat the new nickel step and make it 2 layers thick for extra capacity. I need to do an updated video. The battery is a generic 360cca sealed lead acid.
Yes true, mine was fully dead. No lights. After replacing all the cells, still no lights. You need to wake it up plugging into a charger. That was the case for my, it may vary.
You know I am curious to see how the discharge rates 10a (20a total) for the 18650BD compares to the 20a (40a total) discharge from the 25r and the 30q with the 15a discharge (30a total) in real tool usage with performance. With driving 4" lags into wood you've got me inspired to try the combos out. As I have 4 pack out of warranty I fixed 1x 4.0 by rebalancing. the others 1x 4.0 and 2x 5.0 have spot welds that came off the cells i may experiment with the 4.0 not sure yet though lol
I suspect when used in general light to med duty stuff like drills, torches and screwdrivers the 18650BD will be fine. However id also suspect heavy draw items like saws and impact drivers will give them a lower overall lifespan as this will draw more then their rated 10a per cell.
I've just had my 1st repack of a repack. It was a dewalt 2.5ah which uses 1 row of 5 cells. It was repacked using the Panasonic 19650bd cells and lasted 2 years. Testing the cells the, worst cell has now has a capacity of 2880mah capacity, which is a 10% loss from 3200mah. The only reason it was repacked is that the BMS failed so I swapped the cells out to see what they were like.
Sooo.. big question.. each cell is 3.7v but what amp hour? And I'm assuming depending on the pack amp hour.. rather it's a 2ah or the big boy 12amp hour. That the 18650's have various amp hours.. for example.. a milwaukee m18 3amp battery.. are the 18650's 3.7v 1.5amp? But how would this work for the 5amp hour?.. and with 10 batteries I'm assuming 5 are series other 5 are series.. then parrellel together.. but how the heck does the 9 and 12amp hour work? 15 batteries?
For the 3, 4, 5 and 6ah the cells are in 2 rows of 5 cells. The cells mah is multiplied by 2 as there are 2 rows, so a 3ah uses 2 rows of 1500mah (1.5ah) cells, 4ah uses 2 rows of 2000mah (2ah) cells etc. The 9ah uses 3 rows, so uses 3 rows of 3000mah (3ah) cells to obtain 9ah. The 12ah also uses 3 rows but it has 21700 cells instead, with a capacity of 4000mah.
Great vid! Question: I was under the impression from reading other vid posts that Milwaukee has a counter built into their circuit board that allows them to tell how many times a battery has been charged if and when they were to ever come in for service or warranty work?. If so how to overcome this if it happens to put restriction's like possibly not allow it to be charged after reaching this limit?
If you hold down the battey check button SOME do flash a code. I assume this can be used to check maybe the age or charge number (like snap on packs) but I've never worked it out. I think it's very unlikely they build a maximum number of charges thats built in to the battery.
@@spinnanz I was reading that the battery board resets a chip that prevents charging if it detects the batteries removed and renders it useless. Have you heard anything about this? Ive just repacked one and welded the new cells into it and no more lights come on when pressing the button to check the charge. Apparently you need to keep power applied to the unit from another power source while removing the cells. Any ideas?
@@nzoomed check the end of the video. Milwaukee batteries won't reactivate the LED level meter until its been put into a charger. Snap on are like this too. Some other batteries (ryobi as an example) have an earth and "rst" contact that must be connected for a couple of seconds to reactivate the battery.
@@spinnanz OK, thats good to know, there must be a bit of misinformation going around perhaps? I dont have the charger for this unit, but would a lab power supply be enough to test this with by setting the current at a low amount? I am repacking this for a friend.
@@nzoomed I've never managed to get them to reactivate by applying voltage. I assume there is some sort of communication between the charger and battery for this to happen.
I have a M18 5.0 Milwaukee battery pack that I replaced the cells just as you did in your video, spot welded and the whole nine yards. I replaced the cells with the same brand and part number (Samsung INR18650-25R) that I purchased from 18650 Battery store but the pack will only charge to ¾%. Any suggestions?
Fully charged the package showing 18.8 V, but Only three LEDs light up on the front of the battery. I have a stand light that I use to discharge the batteries and test them, it will burn the light for about an hour and a half where it should last about three hours Maybe I need to go to a different distributor and get my cells.
@@Insain330 full charged should be pretty close to 20v. Have you measured each of the 5 banks? It should like one is lower than the rest. Generally they are usually within 0.01-0.02 of each other.
@@spinnanz .... Hi, great expletory video. Do you think the welder is a good buy for the job and if I get one could you tell me what the modifications are that it needs please. I would be unable to do without your input. I see you used the positive straight through. Cheers. James
You can but you'd need to check the tools current doesn't exceed the rating on of the cells protection. Some tools can draw up to 40a so the cells protection would need to be at least 20a in a cell like this, with 5s2p configuration.
@@GeorgeStyles standard 18650 cells have some form of protection in the cap, some trip at low amps, some at high amps. Cells with raised caps, made to be stacked in a row like in a torch may not fit.
No sorry, the only m28 I did was a kit I built from Ali express. The kit itself was OK but the case quality isn't up to the standard of the genuine packs. Over here the m28/v28 suff is very rare.
Here in the US where I would take the dead or almost dead cells they won’t take them unless they are in the battery case. Where can I take them now? Anyone??
Over here a 5ah pack is about $250 to buy. I charge $85 to repack a 3/4/5ah pack (repcacked to 5 or 6ah depending on what cells I use). I'm not sure how much 9ah packs were as they don't sell them anymore but I charge $125 to repack them
I have a deal with an ebike/scooter importer, I repair their new but faulty packs in exchange for the same, ie I fix a faulty 40 cell pack, I get another faulty 40 cell pack to keep. I harvest the cells from the ones I can keep. Usually its a faulty BMS, so all the cells are fine.
@@spinnanz well aren't you lucky lol just looking on websites and those ncr18650BD are about $30 for one now, $300 to replace 10 in milwaukee battery 🤦
Hello my friend, greetings from Puerto Rico. Thanks for the video, it's very professional. I would like to know how and where I can buy the batteries, since I searched on eBay and Amazon and did not find them. If you could send me a link where to buy them I would appreciate it. Thank you very much. Pedro
Greetings friend, is this model that I got Samsung INR18650-33G 3150mah 18650 batteries compatible with the batteries that the Milwaukee brings? thanks for your help
@@Pedro-fe4gx it will work however max discharge is a bit low. They are rated at 9.75a max discharge. The factory samsing 20/25r cells have a max discharge of 20a. They would be best used in packs containing 15 cells.
I'd be looking to buy a factory case with faulty cells rather than an aftermarket one. You'll need to make sure it has the same internals as yours though as they only fit the type of internals they come with.
Amazon has a few kits that match awesome. It includes PC board, battery holder, pre cut nickel strips, everything except batteries for $17.99. If you just need cases, $11.99
I think they are 21700 4000mah cells. If I'm right there would be 3 rows of 5 cells. The welder is from ali express. RUclips has a good bunch of reviews from a guy called "Luca" on them and modifications that they need
@@tannerwyse6007 in a 3/4/5ah pack the factory cells have a discharge rating of 20a so ideally the cells used have a discharge rating of 20a too. The 9ah packs have 3 rows of 5 18650 cells instead of 2 rows so the 9ah can use cells with a lower discharge rating. The welder is available from ali express but need modifications to be reliable.
I bought a Seesii spot welder a bit ago. 10,000 mAh, adjustable pulse delay, 80 gear (power levels). Have repaired 20 packs with it with zero modifications and it will spot .2mm nickel.
I'm not sure on the 2ah but the 1.5ah use Samsung 15m cells, which have a discharge rating on 23a. I'd assume you will need 2000mah cells with a rated discharge of at least 23a.
hi, just replaced the cells on an m12 6ah battery and charged it. but when I putt it in my impact the voltage meter flashes two leds at a time and doesn't work.... any clue what's wrong?
Are all 5 pairs of cells at the same voltage.? Tonbe honest I've never done a 6ah as the only one I've had in was water damaged. The BMS on them is different to the 3/4/5/9ah packs.
@@spinnanz before I replaced the cells the battery kind of worked... just with low capacity. could it actually be the BMS? maybe the cells I put are with different capacity and it doesn't fit?
@@guyelemcapacity won't change if the BMS works or not. I suspect your BMS is either faulty or has locked when the cells were removed? I'm 99% sure those BMSs don't normally lock though.
@@spinnanz according to the manual of the batteries this intermittent flashing indicates battery temp too high, could it be that the temp sensor has damage somehow? Or may the leads of the sensor doesn’t connect right?
I get them from our local ebay type website from a seller who repurposes cells. He tests then guarantees their capacity at not less than 3000mah. It works out about $25us per repack.
Here we have mix of this and the other type. Most I do are for the Australian and New Zealand market.. I like doing this type better as its only spot welded. The other type require spot welding and bit of soldering too.
@@spinnanz kwelder is the best it can do 0.3mm copper strip make sure you get a good psu as well as bank of supercap Meanwell PSU works very well if you solder a lot, get a pair of psu
The cells are from online and are 2nd hand with a capacity not under 3100mah. The strips are from ali express, although it took me a while to find a supplier that sold genuine pure nickel strips rather than nickel plated.
@@JunkyardPerformance I'm in nz so my supplier is no good for you. Your best bet is join the "18650 battery packs for beginners" on Facebook and ask on there where the best supplier for cells in the states is. There is also a lot of good info on how to build packs in general.
the replacement small batteries will cost you more than the new original one from the store, but, the price it is a big scam, it cost dewalt or Milwaukee 5-6 dollars per battery and they sell them for $58. So when your battery dies down, buy a new one swap the internals and return to home depot, free batteries for life. beat them at their own game
The BMS has a date code on it. Not to say it won't work but if they catch on you're looking at a charge of theft or obtaining by deception just to save $58.
A genuine 5ah milwaukee pack is $260 here in NZ. 10x Samsung 25r cells will cost me $109. (this is nz $) www.18650batterystore.com/products/Samsung-25r-18650 can do 25r cells for $4.99us, making it $49us for 10 cells to give 5ah capacity.
@@FreeYourBrains the higher capacity cells tend to have a lower max amp rating. Example: a 10 cell pack made with 25r cells has a max output of 40a. If the same pack was made with 30q cells it would have a larger capacity of 6ah, but would only have a max output of 30a. 30q cells would be best used in a 15 cell pack (9ah), which would give it a max output of 45a. The 3500mah cells you speak of are likely the 35e which have a max rated output of 8a. In a 10 cell pack they would be 7ah with a max of 16a. In a 15 cell pack they would be 10.5ah with a max of 24a
@@spinnanz what happens if you solder the batteries instead of spot welding? I have Stay Brite silver solder and stay clean liquid flux which is capable to solder stainless to stainless, copper to stainless etc. Basically it’s excellent for disimilar metals. Is there a damage to the batteries?
@@spinnanz for what exactly? For any repairs I have on vacuum, hair dryers, etc I always use hand tools because you have more feel since they are small screws and don't want to over do it
After watching your repair, I braved doing mine. My battery is a newer M18 5.0 encased in plastic and each cell pair needed to be pushed out of the plastic housing. 8 of the 10 LG cells decided to go dead 0v. One pair was still going strong. I tried to kick start dead cells but it wouldn't hold a charge. Thankfully I had kept the cells from a broken (plastics) Hoover cordless vacuum which used Samsung cells. Battery was in great condition and I kept the cells charged with an 18650 charger. I swapped the cells in and bam its back to life. I needed to plug it into a charger to wake up the electronics. I don't have a spot welder, I only have a resistance soldering iron, I just soldered the tabs in. With a resistance soldering it heats up the joint quickly and then with my foot switch take the heat off and cool it down quickly. Not ideal but it works. I'll keep it around for light duty work. Fan, portable vacuum, etc.
The lithium batteries tend to die in most power tools because the manufacturer purposely gives incorrect battery care instructions so we damage them and buy new ones. I have been using the lithium ion battery care instructions I got from basic battery care online instead of the info from manufacturer's as they tell you to store them either fully charged or discharged witch is not good for them at all. The proper storage method is around 50% charge not to high and not to low. My batteries are still going strong with zero issues. I highly recommend it.
100% agree. I always recomend storing with 2 or 3 out of 4 lights going on the charge meter.
could you post links to websites for the tools and supplies?
Would love if you could post the video for the older style Milwaukee batteries as you mentioned. But great video and appreciate the walkthrough!
Great video! This is the best way to get good batteries for a reasonable price. Most generic batteries are poor quality; some only being 5s1p and the other 5 full of sand. Also a lot of the 18650s used in generics are not rated for the current/under capacity/used/etc
Awesome video. You made it look easy.
It is easy after doing heaps!
Nice video mate! Was quite surprised when I realized that's actually my battery, thought I'd give it a go myself this time!
Tool packs are def the best type of battery to learn on!
GREAT! Question: Since you have opened the battery don`t u think it would be a good idea to clean the Circut Board.. I ask it because, as it looks, they accumulate a lot of dirt and dust that could affect them.
Usually this circuit board is covered by a thin insulation layer, so normally don't need to remove the dust unless its very dirty
I enjoyed your detailed step-by-step video. Thanks mate.
I needed this. Thank you, very simple and great video. I can't wait to see the old M18 repair.
Turns out the old maybe the new and the new maybe the old, but either way I'll show how to do both!
Good video. Could you show how to rebuild the newer M18 batteries?
Thanks
As soon as I get one I will. I've still to post up the video for the 2nd type of m18
I don't have a charger but I've changed the cells of my milwaukee battery and the lights don't turn on😂😂 Luckily to find this video
On some of the replacement bms they say if you don’t have a charger when replacing bms (aka the chip in the pack ) if you short pins 2 & 5 on the main pins …it will activate the electronics
Good video. Please inform your viewer the number of the new battery.
It says in the description what the original cells were.
I make no recomndations on what cells to use to replace them other than they should have the same max discharge rate as the factory cells.
Hi, i watched your video, very good work. One question for you, I could not make out what you did with the heat temp sensor. Did you re use it, or skipped it? Thanks!
The heat sensor is left in place, it sits between the nickel and the outer case. I should have mentioned it, you need to a little careful when putting the internals back into the case to not pinch the sensor. If it's damaged, the pack won't charge.
Is there an alternative to using that spot welder or whatever it is you have? I have a butane soldering gun (I dont solder with it, just use the torch for my weed) that I could try, but would just wrapping it in electrical tape to keep it in contact be sufficient enough? Or any other methods?
Make sure you don't use it after you torch the weed
Hey, good video, dod you end up uploading the video for the older style fof battery? Couldnt find it on your channel list
Hi mate can you post a link to the other video of you doing the older type milwaukee battery cheer
Great video, only thing, you were making adjustments to the welder, realize this was for different number of layers, would be helpful if you gave the settings, not all welders perform the same but it would give a tip to the percentage increase/decrease required.
That was 0.1 mm or 0.15 mm nickel strip?
it was 0.12 . I recommend going and adding a 2nd layer, to make it total 0.24mm
Can you please post the link to the video for the older style batteries . Thanks
What would happen if you kept the spot welder set to 45 for the main strip (from circuit board)? You mentioned you dropped it down to 20. Would it just create a deeper spot weld if you kept the setting at 45?
With no cell under the strips to dissipate heat, a too long weld time can cause the welder tips to burn right through the strips.
The actual weld time for any welds will depend on the welder. 45 on one may be 35 or 50 on another etc. Better spot welders also adjust the actual joules at the probes, rather than just the weld time, which is how this and other cheap welders use to adjust welds.
Fun fact Walmart sells those 18 650 batteries for their solar lights and at the end of the season they're often on clearance and I got a pack of four for $5.
Thanks for the vid. Learned a few new techniques
What spot welder are you using? Where are you sourcing material?
Great tutorial. Now were do you get the batteries from?
I buy from a local supplier, but shipping overseas is pretty $. Your best bet is to join an 18650 battery building page on FB try find a local supplier in your country through that.
Awesome video. I have question about 18650 battery brands. Does it have to be exact brand and model or just 18650 with same specs? What you recommend?
The factory 4ah packs have Samsung 20r cells with a rated discharge of 22a, the 5ah uses 25s cells with a rated discharge of 20a.
You would be safe to use any brand cell with a max discharge rating of 20a or above.
@@spinnanz thank you.
This video was great, got an ETA on when youll upload the video for the other battery type? Im just starting to try to fix these batteries myself and the ones I have are all the other type. Is there really much difference in how you have to repack the other ones?
I'll post as soon as I get one in a d repair it, they aren't common here. The difference is they have a combo of spot welding and soldering to repair them as it's very hard to reliably spot weld to the factory nickel plated copper strips.
I'll fill you in on the soldering. I've soldered quite a few times to the factory nickel. 1...use 63/37 leaded solder with rosin core. The 63/37 has the lowest melting temp of solder...20* cooler than 60/40. Forget the lead free solder, total junk. Use Rosin flux, I like the paste. Pre tin the strip and battery cap. When you solder the two, lay the strip on battery, iron on top of strip, not on iron. Push down and you'll feel the iron sink. Get off the battery. Done. The tinned soldered melted. 100% success rare this way...
Real nice work!
Throw some 25s in there and get a big upgrade both in A out and capacity. Imagine they would play ok with the onboard BMS. Cheers.
These were re-wrapped 30q cells, so upgraded to 6ah but a slight loss of max current. The BMS works with all.
New subscriber here. I am trying out a M18 impact driver to see if I want to migrate from Ryobi to Milwaukee.
A huge proportion of the industry seem to use Milwaukee. I think Dewalt would be 2nd. 3rd would brands like Hilti, Hi KOKI etc which are prob better than Dewalt but aren't very well known.
Hi, great video, what size nickel strips are you using?, and are you reducing the welding current when connecting strip to strip?
The strips are 0.12 - 0.15 however I now do 2 layers so they total 0.24 - 0.30.
When I weld the new strips to the original strips off the BMS (so no cell under it), I drop the weld time down. It's a bit of experimenting to get thr time right, depending on the welder, the strips, and how charged the batter is that the welder is using.
I've never even opened up one of these batteries before, mate, so please bear with me. At about 26:04 into your video, you adjust the welder setting. I can't understand what you're saying at that point - or see the display on the welder - so would you kindly clarify what the exact welder setting is at that point? In fact, it would be very helpful to know which welder settings you use for double-welding the two nickel strips for the batteries on the end of the pack. In addition, I'd like to know if you somehow reattached that copper braid "ribbon" that seems to be dangling freely at about 30:17 into your video? I've both liked and subscribed to your YT channel, so please keep on making the useful and informative videos. 👍
When welding the strips to the cells I weld for 45ms. When I weld the new strip to the original strip (and there is no cell under it) I weld for about 25ms. These numbers will depend on what type of welder you are using.
The flex thays sticking out, has a temp sensor on the end. This just tucks between the cell and the case when you slode it back into the case.
I have a revised video to post. I now put 2 layers of new strips down, for added current capacity. 1 layer goes under the original ballance strip, and 1 on top as in this video.
@@spinnanz Thank you for getting back to me about this, mate! 👍 Have you ever made a video while repairing the larger Milwaukee XC battery packs? Do the 5.0, 9.0 and 12.0 Ah Milwaukee XC battery packs require different replacement batteries than the ones you used to repair the XC 4.0 Ah battery pack shown in this video? Cheers!
@@bt5526 the method for replacing the cells in the 5.0s is different, that requires a combination of welding and soldering as their factory strips are nickel plated copper.
The method of repair for the 9 and 12ah is also a combo of welding and soldering, but it's diffefent to the 5.0 as their internal cases are also a shell.
@@spinnanz As I mentioned early on, I've never taken one of these battery packs apart. I do have an electrical background, however, so soldering is something I've done a lot of. Other than having to add soldering to the job, is the battery replacement work the same for a Milwaukee XC 5.0? In fact, are the batteries used in all of the Milwaukee XC battery packs the same type that you used to repair the 4.0 Ah battery depicted in your video, mate ( Samsung INR18650 )? I'm asking because the smallest battery packs we have are XC 5.0. From there, we have some XC 9.0 packs and a couple of XC 12.0 packs. Although we have more than a half-dozen "dead" Makita battery packs here, it's really the Milwaukee XCs that I'm worried about. I've noticed that one of our XC 9.0 packs is draining faster than normal; hence, why I'm trying to learn as much as I can about repairing these things.
@@bt5526 the cells I'm using are for demonstration of repair method only and I make no recomndations on repapcment cells.
The repair method is quite different for the xc 5.0. The cells are all contained in a housing and there is rubber packing between the cells which needs to be cut. The strips used are squares rather than straight segments.
Subbed to ya for this vid. Ive got a couple these. Whether they old or new they look a lil different. Im gonna try to repair them, thanks for the good vid on em.
Do you know how to balance charge the individual cells within the Milwaukee battery? I’m interested in doing this but not sure how. Ideally I want to end up building an adapter so that the cells can be balanced using an after market charger.
@@fwd9609 to do this use an 18650 charger. I have wire off the (+) and (-) on the charger with mini crocodile clips on the end. This can be used to charge each set of cells, one set at a time.
@@spinnanz thanks mate appreciate the reply. I’m considering buying an IMAX b6ac charger and will follow your advice with that.
With the 18650 cells being in parallel and series does this affect what charging option to select? 1S or 2S when attempting to charge a pair that have dropped below voltage.
Have you used any of the PCB battery balancers? And balanced in this method before?
Cheers
Interesting, but im a bit confused as to why the insulation is needed. It seems to me you are insulating 2 bits of metal from each other, then connecting them together??? a6 26:53 for example
The join I do shortly after the 26:53 mark is stepped, its a few mm off the cell and it only joins the strip and the main negative contact of the BMS. The insulation stops this weld melting the plastic wrap around the battery. The insulator also holds the BMS connection up so I can put a bit of force on it when I weld it.
@@spinnanz cool thank you. Didn't think it might be thermal insulation.but makes sense. Cheers
@@GeorgeStyles melting it really isn't an issue as it's on the negative side anyway, I just like to to look aesthetically nice as well as functional. On the positive side this insulation IS required.
Hi, could you tell me settings on the spot welder, when you change Between 18650 and on the main Nickel Strip. And what Kind of car battery, Amps and CC
Nickel to cell I use 45ms, for new nickel to original nickel I use 30ms.
I now repeat the new nickel step and make it 2 layers thick for extra capacity. I need to do an updated video.
The battery is a generic 360cca sealed lead acid.
@@spinnanz I need new spot welder 😀 mine cant spot weld through new nickel Strip to the original one
I heard milwaukee boards have protection if they completely lose power they won’t power on anymore please confirm
Yes true, mine was fully dead. No lights. After replacing all the cells, still no lights. You need to wake it up plugging into a charger. That was the case for my, it may vary.
@@mpitogo1978how do you wake it up
Awesome video, thanks.
Thank you very much
You know I am curious to see how the discharge rates 10a (20a total) for the 18650BD compares to the 20a (40a total) discharge from the 25r and the 30q with the 15a discharge (30a total) in real tool usage with performance. With driving 4" lags into wood you've got me inspired to try the combos out. As I have 4 pack out of warranty I fixed 1x 4.0 by rebalancing. the others 1x 4.0 and 2x 5.0 have spot welds that came off the cells i may experiment with the 4.0 not sure yet though lol
I suspect when used in general light to med duty stuff like drills, torches and screwdrivers the 18650BD will be fine. However id also suspect heavy draw items like saws and impact drivers will give them a lower overall lifespan as this will draw more then their rated 10a per cell.
I've just had my 1st repack of a repack. It was a dewalt 2.5ah which uses 1 row of 5 cells. It was repacked using the Panasonic 19650bd cells and lasted 2 years.
Testing the cells the, worst cell has now has a capacity of 2880mah capacity, which is a 10% loss from 3200mah.
The only reason it was repacked is that the BMS failed so I swapped the cells out to see what they were like.
Sooo.. big question.. each cell is 3.7v but what amp hour? And I'm assuming depending on the pack amp hour.. rather it's a 2ah or the big boy 12amp hour. That the 18650's have various amp hours.. for example.. a milwaukee m18 3amp battery.. are the 18650's 3.7v 1.5amp? But how would this work for the 5amp hour?.. and with 10 batteries I'm assuming 5 are series other 5 are series.. then parrellel together.. but how the heck does the 9 and 12amp hour work? 15 batteries?
For the 3, 4, 5 and 6ah the cells are in 2 rows of 5 cells. The cells mah is multiplied by 2 as there are 2 rows, so a 3ah uses 2 rows of 1500mah (1.5ah) cells, 4ah uses 2 rows of 2000mah (2ah) cells etc.
The 9ah uses 3 rows, so uses 3 rows of 3000mah (3ah) cells to obtain 9ah. The 12ah also uses 3 rows but it has 21700 cells instead, with a capacity of 4000mah.
@spinnanz very informative! 21700 huh.. that makes sense! Appreciate that alot!
Great vid! Question: I was under the impression from reading other vid posts that Milwaukee has a counter built into their circuit board that allows them to tell how many times a battery has been charged if and when they were to ever come in for service or warranty work?. If so how to overcome this if it happens to put restriction's like possibly not allow it to be charged after reaching this limit?
If you hold down the battey check button SOME do flash a code. I assume this can be used to check maybe the age or charge number (like snap on packs) but I've never worked it out. I think it's very unlikely they build a maximum number of charges thats built in to the battery.
@@spinnanz I was reading that the battery board resets a chip that prevents charging if it detects the batteries removed and renders it useless. Have you heard anything about this? Ive just repacked one and welded the new cells into it and no more lights come on when pressing the button to check the charge. Apparently you need to keep power applied to the unit from another power source while removing the cells. Any ideas?
@@nzoomed check the end of the video. Milwaukee batteries won't reactivate the LED level meter until its been put into a charger. Snap on are like this too.
Some other batteries (ryobi as an example) have an earth and "rst" contact that must be connected for a couple of seconds to reactivate the battery.
@@spinnanz OK, thats good to know, there must be a bit of misinformation going around perhaps? I dont have the charger for this unit, but would a lab power supply be enough to test this with by setting the current at a low amount? I am repacking this for a friend.
@@nzoomed I've never managed to get them to reactivate by applying voltage. I assume there is some sort of communication between the charger and battery for this to happen.
I have a M18 5.0 Milwaukee battery pack that I replaced the cells just as you did in your video, spot welded and the whole nine yards.
I replaced the cells with the same brand and part number (Samsung INR18650-25R) that I purchased from 18650 Battery store but the pack will only charge to ¾%.
Any suggestions?
Were the cells all the same voltage when installed?
Yes, 3.6 volts
@@Insain330 what's the total voltage now? Is it possible the full charged led is faulty?
Fully charged the package showing 18.8 V, but Only three LEDs light up on the front of the battery.
I have a stand light that I use to discharge the batteries and test them, it will burn the light for about an hour and a half where it should last about three hours
Maybe I need to go to a different distributor and get my cells.
@@Insain330 full charged should be pretty close to 20v. Have you measured each of the 5 banks? It should like one is lower than the rest. Generally they are usually within 0.01-0.02 of each other.
Hi! Nice work! What is model of the spot welding device?
Its a cheap $15us one from ali-express. They require modifications to be reliable though.
@@spinnanz .... Hi, great expletory video. Do you think the welder is a good buy for the job and if I get one could you tell me what the modifications are that it needs please. I would be unable to do without your input. I see you used the positive straight through. Cheers.
James
@@Jasfras1 I've found this unit good for the price. If you get one I can more than likely help you sort the mods.
@@spinnanz ... Thanks. I'm ordering one tonight but will take some time to arrive. How do I ask for help with mods ?
@@Jasfras1 if you leave some sort of contact I'll try get hold of you
Great video! Can this also be made with protected batteries?
Thanks
You can but you'd need to check the tools current doesn't exceed the rating on of the cells protection. Some tools can draw up to 40a so the cells protection would need to be at least 20a in a cell like this, with 5s2p configuration.
Thanks for your heads up.
@@spinnanz Arent protected cells a little longer than regular 18650s?
@@GeorgeStyles standard 18650 cells have some form of protection in the cap, some trip at low amps, some at high amps. Cells with raised caps, made to be stacked in a row like in a torch may not fit.
Protected batteries will not fit. Why would you use them? They cost more and your PCB is your BMS, no protection needed. The board takes care of it.
Is the spot welder anything special or did you just get a generic one off of Ebay?
£11 from Ali express, althogh it's been modified to be reliable.
is it o.k to replace samsung 20r with 25 r in a m18 xc4.0 battery
That should be fine although the 20r do have a slightly higher discharge rating of 22a. The 25r have a discharge rating of 20a.
You'll also get a 5ah pack instead of 4ah...😀
You can the Molicel P28A...2800mAh with a 25A CDR
Hey were can I buy the battery for m18 battery please can u send me a link or anything that will help me find battery cells for m18 5.0
Would you do this replacement for the customers here in the U.S. ?
I would but to ship to my country and back would likely make it more expensive than just buying a new battery.
What is the name of that spot welder and where do you get one?
It's a generic red "mini spot welder" on Ali express. Depending on the exact model you get, it may need modding to be reliable.
@@spinnanz found it on ebay for $25 thank you
Hi, do you have any vids on overhauling m28 batteries?
No sorry, the only m28 I did was a kit I built from Ali express. The kit itself was OK but the case quality isn't up to the standard of the genuine packs. Over here the m28/v28 suff is very rare.
@@spinnanz ok, thanks mate
very good video
Did not see heat sensor being replaced
@@user-qr5zk2xf1h it wasn't replaced.
Assuming these are 1.8v cells as there are 10. ?
Nominal voltage is 3.6v per cell. Each cell is paired with another in parallel.. The pairs are then in a row of 5 cells. 3.6v x 5 = 18v.
Here in the US where I would take the dead or almost dead cells they won’t take them unless they are in the battery case. Where can I take them now? Anyone??
How much would you charge to fix one of my milwaukee 9 amp battery ? And one of my 12 amp battery, ?
Over here a 5ah pack is about $250 to buy. I charge $85 to repack a 3/4/5ah pack (repcacked to 5 or 6ah depending on what cells I use).
I'm not sure how much 9ah packs were as they don't sell them anymore but I charge $125 to repack them
How do i send batteries to you to be repacked?
What's your business name and or number?
@@jeremymadderom1936 what's your location?
@@spinnanz masterton nz. I was assuming your nz?
@@jeremymadderom1936 correct. 0221004320.
Is there some way we can talk I have a 5.0 that went out in me they told me the cells were dead so I wanna rebuild it
if you leave some sort of contact I can get hold of you
Everyone knows that it's backwards...the one rebuilt is the old style. The one without the bridge over the PCB is the new style..
the spot welder is a? available where? thanks!
I got it from Ali express, it's a small red one, about £11.
What type of spot welder your using
A mini spot welder from Ali express. Depending on the exact model, some need modification to work reliably.
a.aliexpress.com/_mMymCAE
Ahhh you can't buy batteries on eBay anymore unless the come with flash light, what website did you buy those Panasonic 18650 bd mate? Cheers
I have a deal with an ebike/scooter importer, I repair their new but faulty packs in exchange for the same, ie I fix a faulty 40 cell pack, I get another faulty 40 cell pack to keep. I harvest the cells from the ones I can keep. Usually its a faulty BMS, so all the cells are fine.
@@spinnanz well aren't you lucky lol just looking on websites and those ncr18650BD are about $30 for one now, $300 to replace 10 in milwaukee battery 🤦
@@wogboy4708 new they are $12 here ($7.30 USD)
@@spinnanz around $27-35 here in QLD Australia, for those exact ncr18650BD
Samsung 25R's can be bought for $4-5 US dollars. Cant u order from out of country and just have them shipped in?
Can you tell me please what kind of cell Milwaukee 12ah uses and how much mah are.thank you
The 12ah uses 21700 cells in 5s3p configuration. The cells will be 4000mah each.
@@spinnanz thank you so much bro. gracias
Hello my friend, greetings from Puerto Rico. Thanks for the video, it's very professional. I would like to know how and where I can buy the batteries, since I searched on eBay and Amazon and did not find them. If you could send me a link where to buy them I would appreciate it. Thank you very much. Pedro
I get mine from a local supplier, but they don't ship overseas. You could try batteryhookup.com who I think ship to PR
Thanks
Greetings friend, is this model that I got Samsung INR18650-33G 3150mah 18650 batteries compatible with the batteries that the Milwaukee brings? thanks for your help
@@Pedro-fe4gx it will work however max discharge is a bit low. They are rated at 9.75a max discharge. The factory samsing 20/25r cells have a max discharge of 20a.
They would be best used in packs containing 15 cells.
@@spinnanz thanks!!
Where are you bay the replace the battery
Trademe.co.nz
Anyone know where to buy a replacement shell for an m18b4 battery? 4.0ah 10x 18650. I have a cracked outer housing i'm looking to replace - thanks
I'd be looking to buy a factory case with faulty cells rather than an aftermarket one. You'll need to make sure it has the same internals as yours though as they only fit the type of internals they come with.
Amazon has a few kits that match awesome. It includes PC board, battery holder, pre cut nickel strips, everything except batteries for $17.99. If you just need cases, $11.99
What size nickel plate are you using ?
I use 0.15
I use 0.15mm, but now I use 2 layers of nickel sandwiched on each side of the BMS nickel, to increase capacity. I need to do an updated video of this.
Does anyone know what size batteries are in the 12 ah packs?
15x 4000mah 21700 cells.
Very nice 👌🏻
Greetings. can I send you my battery for repair?
Only if you're in New Zealand!
I have a couple of 12ah batteries that need this kind of replacement, do you know what cells they use? Also where can I pick up the spot welder?
I think they are 21700 4000mah cells. If I'm right there would be 3 rows of 5 cells.
The welder is from ali express. RUclips has a good bunch of reviews from a guy called "Luca" on them and modifications that they need
I've got a 9ah battery that needs this and I have the same question about what cells to use, also thank you very much for the info!
@@tannerwyse6007 in a 3/4/5ah pack the factory cells have a discharge rating of 20a so ideally the cells used have a discharge rating of 20a too.
The 9ah packs have 3 rows of 5 18650 cells instead of 2 rows so the 9ah can use cells with a lower discharge rating.
The welder is available from ali express but need modifications to be reliable.
Man you literally are going to save me some big time cash. I have around 10 or so batteries that all need new cells. I cannot thank you enough.
I bought a Seesii spot welder a bit ago. 10,000 mAh, adjustable pulse delay, 80 gear (power levels). Have repaired 20 packs with it with zero modifications and it will spot .2mm nickel.
Nickel strip size please
What battery cells needed to replace 2Ah pack?
I'm not sure on the 2ah but the 1.5ah use Samsung 15m cells, which have a discharge rating on 23a. I'd assume you will need 2000mah cells with a rated discharge of at least 23a.
Thanks for your quick response
Samsung 18650 25A good?
I meant 25R 2500mAh
@@marknguyen6512 25r are rated a little lower, 20a.
hi,
just replaced the cells on an m12 6ah battery and charged it. but when I putt it in my impact the voltage meter flashes two leds at a time and doesn't work.... any clue what's wrong?
Are all 5 pairs of cells at the same voltage.?
Tonbe honest I've never done a 6ah as the only one I've had in was water damaged. The BMS on them is different to the 3/4/5/9ah packs.
If the BMS is faulty, they are available from ali express for about $30us.
@@spinnanz before I replaced the cells the battery kind of worked... just with low capacity. could it actually be the BMS? maybe the cells I put are with different capacity and it doesn't fit?
@@guyelemcapacity won't change if the BMS works or not. I suspect your BMS is either faulty or has locked when the cells were removed? I'm 99% sure those BMSs don't normally lock though.
@@spinnanz according to the manual of the batteries this intermittent flashing indicates battery temp too high, could it be that the temp sensor has damage somehow? Or may the leads of the sensor doesn’t connect right?
Hey can you rebuild one for me
Question. Can you replace the 18650's with 21700's or is the board specifically designed for 18650?
Can only repalace with 18650. The 21700 packs are a little wider.
Where do you buy your replacement cells
I get them from our local ebay type website from a seller who repurposes cells. He tests then guarantees their capacity at not less than 3000mah. It works out about $25us per repack.
I'll just buy a battery thank u
What name brand original Cell milwaukee ?
Samung 15r in the 3ah pack, 20r in the 4ah pack, 25r in the 5ah pack, samsing 30q in the 9ah pack.
@@spinnanz thanks bruh
@@spinnanz so if one were to use 8x 30q (the spec sheets show they are same dimensions) one could make a 12a pack with a 4.0/5.0 case
@@nopemerp you'll fit two rows of five 30q cells in a 3/4/5ah pack. That will give you a cpacpty of 6ah (2 rows of 3ah = 6ah).
@@spinnanz yep you're right hah sorry I was over thinking it
One you are swapping cells are old old style
the other one is all they use now for North America.
Here we have mix of this and the other type. Most I do are for the Australian and New Zealand market.. I like doing this type better as its only spot welded. The other type require spot welding and bit of soldering too.
@@spinnanz i use the spot welder with bank a bunch of supercaps
@@TranTek I want to get a kweld
@@spinnanz kwelder is the best
it can do 0.3mm copper strip
make sure you get a good psu
as well as bank of supercap
Meanwell PSU works very well if you solder a lot, get a pair of psu
Do you have business of replace cells?
No, I just repair batteries as a side job in my spare time.
not worth repairing unless you have extra batteries laying around. the cost of putting all new cells is not worth it.
Genuine 5ah costs $279 here. Cost to repack with new Samsung 25R costs $99.
Buy your nickel plating strips
where do you get your 18650 cells and strips from
The cells are from online and are 2nd hand with a capacity not under 3100mah. The strips are from ali express, although it took me a while to find a supplier that sold genuine pure nickel strips rather than nickel plated.
Do you have the website or a Amazon link for the batteries all I find is aa batteries and I feel like they are not right thanks
@@JunkyardPerformance I'm in nz so my supplier is no good for you. Your best bet is join the "18650 battery packs for beginners" on Facebook and ask on there where the best supplier for cells in the states is. There is also a lot of good info on how to build packs in general.
The 18650 Battery Store, Liion Wholesalers, etc
the replacement small batteries will cost you more than the new original one from the store, but, the price it is a big scam, it cost dewalt or Milwaukee 5-6 dollars per battery and they sell them for $58. So when your battery dies down, buy a new one swap the internals and return to home depot, free batteries for life. beat them at their own game
The BMS has a date code on it. Not to say it won't work but if they catch on you're looking at a charge of theft or obtaining by deception just to save $58.
@@spinnanz where do you find these samsung batteries at a good price?
@@spinnanz and home depot only does a small visual inspection, you can swap the whole cartridge out, they will never ever know.
@@spinnanz wow how did you learn that? about the BMS having a date code. Thats good to know.
Everywhere I look these Samsung batteries are expensive, so it’s cheaper to buy the whole thing, unless you can tell us where to buy them cheaper
A genuine 5ah milwaukee pack is $260 here in NZ. 10x Samsung 25r cells will cost me $109. (this is nz $)
www.18650batterystore.com/products/Samsung-25r-18650 can do 25r cells for $4.99us, making it $49us for 10 cells to give 5ah capacity.
@@spinnanz isn’t better to use the 3500mAh which I’ve seen on the internet? In theory should last longer and have longer times between charges?
@@FreeYourBrains the higher capacity cells tend to have a lower max amp rating. Example: a 10 cell pack made with 25r cells has a max output of 40a. If the same pack was made with 30q cells it would have a larger capacity of 6ah, but would only have a max output of 30a.
30q cells would be best used in a 15 cell pack (9ah), which would give it a max output of 45a.
The 3500mah cells you speak of are likely the 35e which have a max rated output of 8a. In a 10 cell pack they would be 7ah with a max of 16a. In a 15 cell pack they would be 10.5ah with a max of 24a
@@spinnanz thanks
@@spinnanz what happens if you solder the batteries instead of spot welding? I have Stay Brite silver solder and stay clean liquid flux which is capable to solder stainless to stainless, copper to stainless etc. Basically it’s excellent for disimilar metals. Is there a damage to the batteries?
It hurts to see you using a screwdriver and not an impact driver
An impact driver for what?
@@spinnanz for what exactly? For any repairs I have on vacuum, hair dryers, etc I always use hand tools because you have more feel since they are small screws and don't want to over do it
@@zukezukowski5944 exactly, so why would I use an impact driver? An impact driver is for removing stuck nuts and bolts.
Maybe he needed to repair the battery to get his impact working again. 😆
What did the cardboard pieces insulating cards do? Do I need to install them?
In the event the strips get hot it stops them melting the top insulation of the cells on the (+) end.