BL1830 issues after not being used

[Amt1989]

I'm hoping that someone has run into this issue before me
I am just using my tools for DIY but like the Makita range, so slowly bought up a nice set

I have 4 x 3.0AH Starred Original batteries that are 4 years old, 5 tools and a hoover

3 weeks ago, 1 drill BHP456 had a case of chuck wobble so i replaced it with DHP458 drill.
last week, while all of my tools were in their case, i picked up the DHP458 and pulled the trigger, the light lit but no turn
(battery 1) the indicator on the drill showed full battery

i placed battery 2 (also fully charged) into this drill and it worked fine
after placing battery 1 onto the charger for 2 minutes it showed fully charged again, and worked in the drill.

i left it for another week with battery 4 in the dhp458 and the battery is fine. the drill works and no battery issue.
i drilled 2 6mm masonry holes before putting away without charging

however, i left battery 2 in my impact driver and battery 2 has now developed the same fault

they are all showing as fully charged but only lighting up the light.
could this be a bad cell in both batteries ?
or could the dhp458 have done this when in use ?

these batteries are never over drained, as soon as they start to lose power they get charged and all 4 are rotated so not to over use 1
none of my tools are ever stressed close to what they would be expected to do
even my sds has an easy life

none of my tools have ever had non genuine chargers or batteries placed near them (although i may be getting some of the batteries if these are dead)


After metering the batteries
1 - 20.10v
2 - 20.07v
4 - 18.7v (slightly used as above)
all showing as fully charged

[Thewindowguy]

Hi
I have countless Makita tools and 12 batteries! And mine are abused daily! And I have never had this problem and some of my batteries are 6 plus years old and some tools non starred however a work colleague had a simliar fault to yours and if you pull the battery out and put it back it worked but this was only in one drill after a couple of days of this it stopped almost like the battery wasn't seating right in the new drill and it's been fine since, But you say it's the same in a new drill and a older tool I'm not quite sure. When you put the batteries on charge is there just the green light when full showing or anything else ? I know early Makita batteries there was some faults

[Amt1989]

Hi
I have countless Makita tools and 12 batteries! And mine are abused daily! And I have never had this problem and some of my batteries are 6 plus years old and some tools non starred however a work colleague had a simliar fault to yours and if you pull the battery out and put it back it worked but this was only in one drill after a couple of days of this it stopped almost like the battery wasn't seating right in the new drill and it's been fine since, But you say it's the same in a new drill and a older tool I'm not quite sure. When you put the batteries on charge is there just the green light when full showing or anything else ? I know early Makita batteries there was some faults

thanks for the reply, this is a very strange fault
no faults at all, just the green light when charged

I just re checked battery 2, it only lit the lights up on my drills. 2 minutes on the charger, showing fully charged and works in both drills

[wine~o]

I could be wrong, but I think it's been discharged for too long.

Once it goes below a certain percentage of charge it won't accept a recharge. (depending on battery type)

It'll lose charge over time even when not in use. Try leaving it on charge for say 1/2 an hour then remove, wait 1/2 an hour then try again.

Might work.. might not.

[Job and Knock]

In Makita batteries there is a chip which contains the charge history of the unit. This chip holds a number of "strikes". Overheat the battery and it may give you one "strike", for exampke. If the charger finds a fault which it recovers from it may or may not add a "strike". The significant feature of this chip is that it is kept "hot" by being permanently attached to one of the cells in the battery pack. Fail to recharge battery packs in storage (several months) and the cell will eventually discharge almost completely and the chip will ten lose it's data - and the charger reads a chip minus data as having "three strikes" and will flash red and green indicating a bad battery. Other manufacturers have variations on this system, I believe.

The upshot is that even when stored it is necessary to take the Makita batteries out from time to time to charge them. This is especially true with older batteries (3 years old or more or 500+ charge/discharge cycles) and items stored outside in places such as garden sheds, etc

BTW I have 11 batteries (10 Makitas, 1 Axminster) and my experience is that they last 3 to 5 years in trade use.

[Amt1989]

thanks for the help guys, these have 90% been put away fully charged and never left for too long

i emailed makita directly and they have asked me to send them both batteries directly and if they have filed, they will replace both free

i now need to find a mail carrier now that will accept the batteries