charge power tool batteries in car factory

I am always trying to reduce the number of tools I carry into a house. I am thinking about leaving my battery chargers in my van hooked up to a power inverter. Will this drain my battery in my van? If not, what size inverter would it take to run 3 or 4 battery chargers?

That will suck your batteries dry faster than you can say Linda Lovelace. You would have to keep the van running, and at $3.35 a gallon, I"m not idling to charge cordless; if you want a motor running, add a gas powered generator. Just run an extension cord to a power strip in the van. I wouldn"t mess with an inverter.

If you have the right setup you won�t suck your battery dry. However, most inverters put out a modified square wave instead of a true sine wave. This will damage most batteries because of the way the chargers work. Most modern chargers are transformer-less and they rely on the sine-wave being true. If you hook up a charger to an inverter that has a modified square-wave output, your tools� battery life will be shortened considerably. I have a Vector 3000 watt inverter that I use to power most if not all of my tools. I have a separate deep cycle battery to operate it from. I have a boat battery switch to keep it isolated, or in parallel with my car battery or to operate the inverter from just the car battery/alternator. This way I have a choice from which source my battery drain will come from. With the one deep cycle battery and normal tool usage I can average about an 8 hour day before the battery starts to show itself weakened. This does not include my tablesaw or my 1HP compressor, which draw a lot of current. If I run low on battery power at the end of the day I can run the car battery and the inverter battery in parallel to extend the use. I can also run the engine and operate off of the alternator. But this uses expensive fuel and I try to avoid it.

I would rather have my good tools , that my husband has bought me through the years.. than a diamond ring. WHAT GOOD ARE THEY> ha…(One of a kind but feminine..)Glad you enjoyed this article, Cheryl!

does a new lithium battery come with absulutely no power? Mine has and will not take a charge.Hi, Anthony,

No, a NEW lithium ion battery should not come with NO power, in a state where it will not take a charge. Lithium batteries that have been OVERLY discharged, usually while under a heavy current load will trip the battery’s protection circuit or if left discharged for an extended period, it creates a situation where the chemistry of the battery has changed due to inactivety. The battery can most likely be revived. However, lithium batteries will explode if not properly “brought back to life” or even charged incorrectly. Don’t mess with it. Return the battery for a replacement.Exactly, Artorius. Awakening a sleeping ‘li-on’ is possible (see more information here: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/low_voltage_cut_off) but most customers would probably feel more comfortable returning the battery for a replacement.

I have an older Makita drill model 6095D which uses the 9.6 volt Ni-CD battery. It has worked great for many years. However, just recently the charger on all three batteries I have will not charge fully. I have traced it to the charger reaching a thermal limit and turning off because if I put the charger in the refrigerator while charging it will go to the end of the charge time and also in the winter ( I store the tools in the garage) the charger will charge much better. Have you seen this to be a problem?Hi, John,

I have several of the Ryobi cordless tools now. I cannot find any specific info on what temperature range (coldest) they can be stored at. I live in a cold climate and would like to store them in an outdoor building instead of in the house.Hi, Carolyn,

Since Li-ion batteries power most cordless drills, how come they have 12-18V batteries? The answer is simple; they comprise multiple Li-ion cells stacked in parallel and series, as shown in the image. Cells in parallel only affect the amp-hour of the battery and affect how long the battery will last.

So charging a car battery without a charger also needs the same technique as charging a cordless drill battery, however, you will need a powerful charger or will need to charge the car battery for a quite long to charge it.

The best way to charge a car battery without a charger is by using a high-power (Watts) 12V voltage source. Connect the positive terminal of the voltage source with the car battery’s positive terminal and the negative terminal of the voltage source with the car battery’s negative terminal and turn on the power source by plugging it in a power outlet. You will have to wait a couple of hours before it’s fully charged.

This step uses a bench power supply to charge a battery. A lot of us have those sitting around even if we can"t find our cell charger. Or we know where to find an electronics guy who has one. Now what?

You can use a unregulated power brick pretty successfully too. Find a DC wall adaptor with a close voltage and amperage setting to the battery. Because it"s unregulated, the voltage will drop to match that of the battery, but the current will increase. You can check to see if it"s unregulated by measuring the voltage from the adapter, if it"s higher than what it"s rated for with no load, it"s probably unregulated. As long as you don"t go too far from what the adapter is rated current wise, should you be safe. Li-ion batteries have a unique charging profile, where the voltage and current needed to charge depends on how far along the charge is. As your battery charges, the voltage will climb, and the current will drop. This is the basic charging profile for Li-ion. You don"t want to overcharge Li-ion batteries. Once the voltage reaches around 4/4.1 for a single cell, I"d call it quits. Remember you"re trickle charging. You"re only trying to put on a small percentage of current compared to the battery capacity. When I"ve done this in the past, I use a multimeter to measure the voltage, and one to measure current. I wouldn"t do this without one to at least measure voltage. If you don"t have one to measure current, make sure the wall adapter isn"t getting too hot. Don"t stray too far from your operation either.(don"t leave home) Disclaimer: Intended for informational purposes only0

Lithium-ion batteries are currently used in most portable consumer electronics such as cell phones and laptops because of their high energy per unit mass relative to other electrical energy storage systems. They also have a high power-to-weight ratio, high energy efficiency, good high-temperature performance, and low self-discharge. Most components of lithium-ion batteries can be recycled, but the cost of material recovery remains a challenge for the industry. The U.S. Department of Energy is also supporting the Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize to develop and demonstrate profitable solutions for collecting, sorting, storing, and transporting spent and discarded lithium-ion batteries for eventual recycling and materials recovery. Most of today"s all-electric vehicles and PHEVs use lithium-ion batteries, though the exact chemistry often varies from that of consumer electronics batteries. Research and development are ongoing to reduce their relatively high cost, extend their useful life, and address safety concerns in regard to overheating.

Nickel-metal hydride batteries, used routinely in computer and medical equipment, offer reasonable specific energy and specific power capabilities. Nickel-metal hydride batteries have a much longer life cycle than lead-acid batteries and are safe and abuse tolerant. These batteries have been widely used in HEVs. The main challenges with nickel-metal hydride batteries are their high cost, high self-discharge and heat generation at high temperatures, and the need to control hydrogen loss.

Lead-acid batteries can be designed to be high power and are inexpensive, safe, and reliable. However, low specific energy, poor cold-temperature performance, and short calendar and lifecycle impede their use. Advanced high-power lead-acid batteries are being developed, but these batteries are only used in commercially available electric-drive vehicles for ancillary loads.

Ultracapacitors store energy in a polarized liquid between an electrode and an electrolyte. Energy storage capacity increases as the liquid"s surface area increases. Ultracapacitors can provide vehicles additional power during acceleration and hill climbing and help recover braking energy. They may also be useful as secondary energy-storage devices in electric-drive vehicles because they help electrochemical batteries level load power.

EVSE Port: An EVSE port provides power to charge only one vehicle at a time even though it may have multiple connectors. The unit that houses EVSE ports is sometimes called a charging post, which can have one or more EVSE ports.

Charging equipment for EVs is classified by the rate at which the batteries are charged. Charging times vary based on how depleted the battery is, how much energy it holds, the type of battery, and the type of charging equipment (e.g., charging level, charger power output, and electrical service specifications). The charging time can range from less than 20 minutes to 20 hours or more, depending on these factors. When choosing equipment for a specific application, many factors, such as networking, payment capabilities, and operation and maintenance, should be considered.

AC Level 2 equipment (often referred to simply as Level 2) offers charging through 240 V (typical in residential applications) or 208 V (typical in commercial applications) electrical service. Most homes have 240 V service available, and because Level 2 equipment can charge a typical EV battery overnight, EV owners commonly install it for home charging. Level 2 equipment is also commonly used for public and workplace charging. This charging option can operate at up to 80 amperes (Amp) and 19.2 kW. However, most residential Level 2 equipment operates at lower power. Many of these units operate at up to 30 Amps, delivering 7.2 kW of power. These units require a dedicated 40-Amp circuit to comply with the National Electric Code requirements in Article 625. As of 2021, over 80% of public EVSE ports in the United States were Level 2.

Another standard (SAE J3068) was developed in 2018 for higher rates of AC charging using three-phase power, which is common at commercial and industrial locations in the United States. Some components of the standard were adapted from the European three-phase charging standards and specified for North American AC grid voltages and requirements. In the United States, the common three-phase voltages are typically 208/120 V, 480/277 V. The standard targets power levels between 6 kW and 130 kW.

Extreme fast chargers (XFC), such as the SAE DC Level 2 standard, are capable of power outputs of up 350 kW and higher and are rapidly being deployed in the United States for heavy-duty vehicle applications (e.g., for in-route charging of electric buses). While XFC are currently available from several charging manufacturers, the U.S. Department of Energy"s Vehicle Technologies Office is pursuing research that will bridge the technology gaps associated with implementing XFC charging networks in the United States. A 2017 report highlights technology gaps at the battery, vehicle, and infrastructure levels. In particular, most EVs on the roads today are not capable of charging at rates higher than 50 kW. However, vehicle technology is advancing, and most new EV models will be able to charge at higher rates, enabling the use of XFC. You can find additional resources on XFC charging and advanced charging system research efforts on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory website.

Inductive charging equipment, which uses an electromagnetic field to transfer electricity to an EV without a cord, has been introduced commercially for installation as an aftermarket add-on. Some currently available wireless charging stations operate at power levels comparable to Level 2, though this technology is more common for transit or other fleet operations at higher power levels comparable to DC fast.

multiple batteries / no charger (what i do) is a good choice but may not always work. my opinion is this and have seen it done. 1 or 2 chargers on a hardwired inverter that is switched to only be on with the engine. carry an extra battery or 2 for a total of 2-4 batteries depending on how many tools you need to run at a given time. this should keep the batteries in the chargers topped off even in short runs and you have the option of letting the truck run for a bit if you need a full charge. you also have the option of plugging them into the welder/generator for larger jobs.

We do a lot with both tools and batteries. A case in point is our articles on the DeWalt FlexVolt technology and the Milwaukee 9.0 Ah batteries. But what about the battery chargers that resupply energy to these batteries? As it turns out, there are possibly even more differences among battery chargers than the packs themselves. While we don’t think anyone will “jump ship” from one platform to another just because of charger technology, it’s good to know who stands out. For this article, we requested the best battery charger from every major tool manufacturer. Most responded and participated. We then took a close look at each to see how they were made. Following is our evaluation of the best battery chargers for power tools.

Notice we said WHAT makes the best battery charger, not WHO. Answering the first question really depends on your needs and how you use your power tools. As you go through this article, realize that we don’t expect anyone will shift their tool platform of choice based on a charger. What we do want to communicate are any standout features for each platform. Some manufacturers have really done something special with their tool battery charger technology. That deserves some recognition. By the end, you should know which charger offers the best benefits for your tool platform.

Also, there are chargers that exceed the capabilities of the basic models included with tool kits. Knowing that can decrease your charging time should you choose to purchase a more advanced model. For any Pros and power users wanting to increase productivity, this could rock your world.

Since we do literally hundreds of hands-on power tool reviews each year, having access to every charger was critical. When we started collecting them all, we decided the best way to serve our particular needs was mounting them to a piece of 3/4-inch plywood. On the back of the plywood, we mounted two industrial power strips which we connected to two separate 20-amp circuits. This gave us plenty of current for simultaneously recharging multiple packs from different manufacturers. We can’t run them all at once—but we’ve never needed to.

Big Picture: You can buy the DeWalt Portable Power Station with (DCB1800M3T1) or without batteries. This system not only recharges 4 batteries simultaneously, it can use those charged batteries to power your corded tools when you’re done. With its 3600W/30A of peak power output, we actually used it to operate a 120V MIG welder! It can put out 15A of continuous output, making it perfect for miter saws, circular saws, rotary hammers, and similar tools.

Highs: Parallel charging of 20V Max or FlexVolt 60V battery packs. Obvious benefits of being a power station. Pass-through power. Excellent form factor with well-placed handles and protection for battery packs. Integrates with the DeWalt ToughSystem.

Highs: Since this is a 5A charger, charging speed is actually very respectable. Hilti claims you can get one of their 5.2Ah battery packs up to 75% charge in just 20 minutes. We also love that you can use one multi-port charger to handle all of your Hilti lithium-ion batteries. Our 12V, 18V, and 36V Hilti tools are all taken care of on a single platform.

Big Picture: Fein is well-known for its high performance grinders and oscillating multi-tools. The ALG 50 charger works for all Fein Lithium-ion batteries. While this is billed as a rapid charger, we found the charging speeds to be average. Fein has yet to develop or release a multi-port charger.

Big Picture: Kobalt 24V XTR tools have impressed us with their power and features. They seem committed, and the line has seen regular updates since its debut. The 110W charger is an upgrade from the standard charger sold with most of their kits. It will recharge a 2.0Ah battery pack in less than 30 minutes. Like many manufacturers, Kobalt has yet to release a multi-battery charger.

We don’t expect you to jump ship at any point just because we identified the best battery charger. Hopefully, this article helps you know which charger is the best on your platform. Kits often come with only the most basic battery charger. Knowing how to increase your productivity with the best battery charger for your power tools could be the key to saving you time and money.

We’re most excited to see a shift towards air-cooled systems. With the integration of newer battery cells (20700 cells in particular), cooling is going to be key. It will allow for greater use of the cells, higher torque and speed in power tools, and faster charging. You can also tell a charger will be faster by the current load. If it has less than a 4A draw, it’s not a rapid charger regardless of what it may say on the box. What charger(s) have you been most impressed with? Let us know in the comments below.