Makita drill, bad or battery?

[John Larkin]

Old 14.4v Makita cordless drill. I got it new as a present in 1996. Decided to resurrect it. Took it to the Makita store and had it checked. They said the batteries were bad but the charger was good. However they had no batteries in stock. I bought two new ones from another store and on the first charge it performed great, just like new. Every charge after this the drill quickly ran out of torque. I can hear the drill speed degrade immediately after putting in a new battery. After about 20 seconds I can stall the drill by grabbing the chuck with my hand. The store will exchange the batteries no problem. They are NiCad batteries, not the newest technology but they certainly have worked for 10-15 continuous minutes with full power as I remember.

I am now wondering if the darn drill itself is the culprit. Maybe it draws too much power? Is that even possible? It does not seem bound up at all. I always thought electric motors either worked or not.

Anyone with any experience? This is a Makita 6233d drill.

 

[INEEDAGN]

My money is on bad batteries. Are they NEW OEM makita batteries or rebuilt ones? They can be rebuilt but my experience with them is that the OEM lasts longer. Maybe I'm crazy, for the record I use outdated snap on stuff, no makita experience.

But if you want to test the drill, hook that baby up to a car battery with heavy gauge jumper leads. You could put an ammeter in line to see how much current it draws, but without a reference point you won't know if it's too much. I do know that a cordless drill connected to a car battery can twist your arm off, but I doubt it's good on the drill to have that much current available, especially under constant heavy load.

I've read that you can buy the sub-c sized batteries off ebay to rebuild your own, quality might be an issue but price would be hard to beat.

 

[dynoman]

I rebuilt my DeWalt 14.4v & 18v batteries with pre welded cores from West Coast Battery Builders , or you can send them your battery for a rebuild with better (more amp hrs.) than new cells. Worked for me at less than half the price of new.:biggrin: Sam

 

[John Larkin]

I bought them to be new, aftermarket but new. The cases really do look new. I am looking at the website you noted. That is about the price I paid shipped for their service. I will cross my fingers that the new "new" batteries will work this time. Thanks!

Now that I think about it, I have a 12v converter. I think I will hook the drill up to it and see how it runs. It is alot lower amps than a car battery. I appreciate the suggestion.