I have an 18v Ryobi battery that I ressurected

[Virginia]

I thought I'd share. I took my 12volt battery charger and taped the clamps to long sticks just in case something blew up. I held + to + and - to - to let it charge a little. I tried 3 or 4 times and each time I got a little more juice into the battery. On the last try I held it about 45 seconds then took it in and put it in the battery charger. It went right to the red light and took a full charge. It's working like a charm now. Before, the yellow and green lights never went off and it wouldn't spin the drill. Now it's a powerhouse. I'm eager to try it on my firestorm 14v batteries.

 

Just thought I'd share in case any of you have dead batteries out there.

 

Virginia

[Pete M]

Hmmm, wonder if that'd work with batteries as high as 18volt. :hmm:

 

On a side note, I'm trying very hard to nurse my Optima yellow top back to life. It just won't hold a charge overnight anymore. :(

[Virginia]

The battery I revived was 18v. The way I saw it done originally, the guy was using a welder and tapping the drill battery. I don't have a welder and when he said you could also use a car battery, I thought of my charger.

 

Can't help you on your Optima. What happens if you disconnect it over night? I'm sure you've thought about something on the truck draining it.

 

 

Hmmm, wonder if that'd work with batteries as high as 18volt. :hmm:

 

On a side note, I'm trying very hard to nurse my Optima yellow top back to life. It just won't hold a charge overnight anymore. :(

[Pete M]

D'oh! Yeah, I see now that you had 18v right there in your title. :roll: I'll have to try that out on my 2 bad 18v batteries later this week.

 

 

One day I needed a battery for the van so I ganked the optima out of my 88 (been sitting disconnected for a few months now) and put it in the van. It was dead so I charged it overnight. Started the van right up after a fresh charge, but couldn't hold that charge overnight, even with it disconnected from the van. :( So I took it to the optima store, only to find out that the yellow tops don't have a 5 year warranty like the red tops. :mad: They held it 24 hrs and declared it dead so I bought a discounted red top to use instead. But I still hold out hope that recharging it over and over and over again might produce a usable battery. It's a deep cycle after all. That dang thing was like $180 (I only paid $40 for it after the red top died under warranty) so I'm willing to sacrifice a little electricity to find out what happens. :D

[Eagle]

Deep cycle batteries are designed to be fully discharged before charging. I don't know if they have any memory effect, like a Ni-Cad, but maybe. More to the point ... once they get really discharged, how much time do they need to bring 'em back to a full charge? Maybe overnight isn't long enough.

[Virginia]

Optimas are gel cells right? Can't empty the chambers and refill with fresh electrolyte.