(Part 2) Best power tool batteries & chargers according to redditors

Color changing fiber optic lights wired to a hidden battery pack in your back pocket. Or color changing LEDs. I know there are LEDs that you can get in a multitude of colors or even selectable ones, I can't imagine that fiber optics would be difficult to find as well. I'll try to find some links.

Edit: Okay, so here's what we've got.

• [Your fiber optic strands]
  (http://www.amazon.com/PLASTRUCT-92505-Fibre-Optics-PLSU2505/dp/B0006O6X8S/ref=zg_bs_5486433011_6)
  
  
• Your LEDs
  
  
• Your power source
  
  You'll likely need some electrical tape and maybe a soldering iron, and some length of wire. I'm on my phone so forgive me for not knowing ahead of time, but you'll need to use the right type of battery: the LEDs come with 200 ohm resistors, so you'll need to match that up to an appropriate power source using V=IR.
  
  Maybe you'll also be able to find a hosting to hold together your cables and the LED(s) but if you can't then I think you can just tape them right up. If all goes well, take the fiber optic strands and feed some through the cape, maybe tape or adhere some strategically along the bottom so they poke out, and maybe let some dangle.
  
  Good luck if you give it a go!

You can crack them open, and stick a charger on it. Makes it an almost useless microUSB powerbank, but at least it isn't disposable.

Total cost for me, about £5, and some solder.

Edit: Here's a video showing what's inside.

Not when you can buy brand new (not rebuilt) aftermarket ones with a 1 year warranty for about the same price on amazon.

He said that he spent $17/battery, these are being sold on amazon for $21 shipped, new, with warranty. There is no way he could make money doing it. It's not even worth your time to do this yourself...

Milwaukee 48-59-1812 M12/M18 Multi Voltage Charger https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B007PDBHBG/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_3bjPyb0S8Z105

Don't buy off brand

With 1.3ah batteries?! Your poor batteries. I never use mine with anything smaller than a 4ah. If you are looking to future proof go with Dewalts Flexvolt version :-D but really that is overkill for you. I would probably start with a good 4 or 5ah battery and see how that lasts you. This is a pretty good deal.
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCB204-2-Premium-Li-Ion-Battery/dp/B00BQHOI6S
XR never hurts if you can afford it.

But is it frugal?

http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Dewalt-9038-DW054k-2-DW055k-2/dp/B009322TQ4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1407682210&sr=8-4

If we ignore the tool cost, you're only saving $4~ per pack. If we throw in the soldering iron cost it's more expensive until you're rebuilding 3 or more. I don't know about you, but I'd rather just spend a few bucks more to get the ready-made solution and have something I don't have to mess with in order to get working.

This is only frugal if you consider cost above all other things.

What is your budget?

<$20: a good book on caving, or some batteries. Lithium AA/AAA if they don't like rechargeables, AA/AAA NiMH if they do. I've had good luck with the brand Tenergy, which is sold in bulk by AllBattery.com. They're basically cheap Chinese imports but their QA is decent. (Source: I'm a professional photographer who's used them for years.) Go for the 2,500 mAh capacity. You might also consider a decent charger. More on that shortly.

<$50: One of the best chargers on the market is this bad boy, but it's somewhat expensive and only charges 4 cells at once. However, it charges them safely (not overcharging, not charging too fast, etc, which limits long-term life), can identify bad cells, and can charge almost any cylindrical battery out there, including the far superior 18650 cell, which is important for a good headlamp or flashlight. For a good headlamp, consider the ThruNite TH10 in neutral white for $40, or the same headlamp with a battery for $15 more. Note: this light doesn't use AA/AAA batteries; it uses the 18650 battery, which is slightly larger but 4 times the capacity of an AA battery and is able to discharge power fast enough to support amazingly bright lights. Every light I'm linking here supports multiple brightness modes, with a maximum brightness around 1,000 lumens, i.e. as bright as your car's headlights. They also drop to between 0.4 lumens and 1 lumen at their lowest setting, which will last for up to 70-ish days. Yes, really. That's a nice feature to have in a cave.

<$100: A good headlamp/flashlight. Most cavers I know are old-school when it comes to flashlights because they aren't aware of some of the incredible LED and battery innovations that have occured. Most of their headlamps are either small and underpowered or huge and bulky and... still underpowered sometimes. I'd recommend a ThruNite TC-12 v2 in neutral white. It also uses an 18650 battery. The light bundle I linked includes one battery and the light is USB chargable, though that charger I linked earlier will charge the battery faster.

You can add a helmet strap if you know they use a helmet. If you're looking for a headlamp instead of a flashlight, consider the ThruNite TH10 I linked earlier or the Nitecore HC30 in neutral white which is slightly more expensive. Nitecore and ThruNite are fairly similar, though in my opinion Nitecore looks more "tactical" while ThruNite's electronics are slightly better. Both are good companies, however.

<$150: If you decide to get a light and extra batteries, don't get any battery with a brand containing the word "fire". (Those brands are known for lying about the capacities and being fire risks.) I'd recommend a 4-pack of KeepPower 3,400 mAh 18650 batteries if you're going for that kind of batteries as they're a good brand and I own them myself.

Some other considerations: a nice base layer, i.e. thermal underwear. I'd strongly recommend merino wool as it's thin, light, and warm even when it's wet. Cost: $50-$100 per item for a top or bottom/long johns. And they'll always have a warm, fuzzy feeling when they think of you. ;-)

As I didn't really know what exactly was in that kit either I held off ordering extras until I knew what I needed, based on that and what /u/Hard_Max said in another thread, I've ordered the following:

• Nylon spacers
  
• Screws for the motor/mounting cameras etc
  
• Battery Straps
  
• Servo leads for the controller to the reciever (Yeah I didn't know if the myrcmart kit came with any!
  
• Hex nuts for securing the props (As I didn't order the CCW mounts for the props from myrcmart, apparently nylock hex nuts will be fine from the threads on rcgroups)
  
• XT60 connector pairs for the batteries Very much required so you can disconnect your battery from the copter :P
  
• Heat Shrink tubing
  
• LiPo bag My order still hasn't arrived actually..its been three weeks.
  
  Other stuff:
  
  
• Zip ties
  
• Locktite as you said, I need to get some somewhere too..
  
• 14 Gauge wire for wiring the power distribution board to a XT60 connector for the battery(I'm just going to the local maplin store to get this)
  
• Battery tester I don't know if I will actually use this on the copter or just for testing the batteries on the ground.
  
  I hope this helps!

Single batteries tend to go under 100 from 3rd party sellers, not the 2 pack though. This is on amazon

Here’s a link for the lowest the 2 pack has gone for

https://camelcamelcamel.com/DEWALT-DCB205-2-Lithium-Battery-2-Pack/product/B00KQU1ENG?context=search


And this one for the single

https://camelcamelcamel.com/DEWALT-DCB205-5-0Ah-Lithium-Battery-Pack/product/B00KWRM5Z4?context=search

This is for usd prices

After looking around some, I'm not sure there are primary 18650's. I also don't really see the motivation for a primary here. You haven't said if you want to save money, weight or what. Is the goal to throw them away when you're done? Like /u/cosmic_butter_cpu said, a solar charger with some rechargeables would be the best option. Here's a smart adapter which is commonly bought with solar cells (if you look at the "commonly bought with" section).

They make all kinds of 18650 battery holders, some even look like giant AA battery holders, only problem is the cheaper ones have a very poor electrical conductivity. So due to resistance with the holder, each cell would only be able to do ~1.5-2A. Even the Vruzend v1.5 kits have a tough time with resistance, they recommend 3.5A max per cell.

Vruzend 2.0 is the recommended option, but pricey. I suppose it pays off in the long run if you plan to put a lot of miles on the battery and will go through cells quickly. I've also seen people using these brackets with nickel strips, but instead of spot welding, using strong magnets to hold the strips on the cell. No idea how well it works, but I've seen it done.

WALL OF TEXT ALERT:

The most difficult part of building a proper charger for an 18650 bank will be to ensure that the charge system will be able to balance each battery/cell during charging. You can find a lot of single cell charging solutions at sparkfun. The only thing is that product is only meant to handle a single cell. You could run one of those charging boards for each cell but I could see that being pretty bulky.

You specified that you want the bank to be 12 V with a capacity of 50 Ah. The nominal voltage for an 18650 is 3.7 V but fully charged is 4.2 V. That would mean that you want 4 batteries in series to ensure > 12 V during use while they drain down to 3.7 V each before needing a recharge (This is assuming that your output regulator does not have a boost on it). To achieve the 50 Ah mark you will need a total of 17 batteries (or 16 for a capacity of 48 Ah if the 50 Ah is not a strict requirement). That would need that you need 4 sets in parallel of 4 batteries in series (If that makes sense). I would go for the 4 sets of 4 to keep the parallel sub-groups of the system symmetric and balanced during discharges. You will definitely need some regulation out of the battery bank for the devices you want to charge. Probably a 12 V out and a 5 V out for various devices. This also assumes that the batteries internal behaviors during discharge will let every set of batteries discharge all at the same rates, which will probably not perfectly be the case.

Like I said, the most difficult part of this build will be making the charging side be able to balance the cells during charge. It might be easier to just get a hold of a 4 cell 18650 balance charger, unplug the batteries from your system, and charge the batteries in a pre-made charging system. For the most optimal charge times you would want 4 of those chargers so you can charge each parallel group at the same time. Something like this.

I did find this charging PCB on EBay that could be built into your bank with the input pads all soldered in parallel for each sub-bank of batteries (Make sure the wiring can handle more than 12 A or bundle 4 sets of wires together that can handle 3 A each). The board is rated for a maximum current of 3 A meaning that to charge 4 batteries up to 3000 mAh (3 Ah) would take roughly 4 hours for each sub-group of cells. The big charger would definitely charge each set of batteries much quicker, but would be a separate system from your charger bank.

Keep in mind that everything I've discussed was just a quick breakdown of the difficult parts that I can see right now. I'm not 100% sure what kind of output rails you want to build or the currents you want to be able to run out of the bank. I tried to focus mainly on the charging portion of the project. Since LiPos need a proper charging system to keep the batteries healthy over long periods of use and each cell needs to be balanced for everything to remain in spec over the duration of the life of system any charging system needs to be able to perform proper balanced charging to each cell.

Let me know if you have any other questions or are looking for any particular out-of-box solution for any piece of the project. Something like this could be very useful to have, but you definitely want to make sure that the batteries will be properly handled to ensure longer lifetimes.

https://www.amazon.com/Crazepony-Camera-Transmitter-Splitter-Inductrix/dp/B01LYAW6S6

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N4K6UD6?psc=1

8 grams total.

DONT apply 5V on the hoppers body! The battery is direcly connectet to the body and 5V will kill your battery ( and may be the electronics). You can see the polarity in the picture. http://imgur.com/a/y1GDo
you can use a cheap lipo /liion usb charger to charge the battery.
Something like this (amazon ca)
The hopper charger cable has a module like that in the black thing near the USB plug. May be the exact same thing. ( didn't check ). So the hopper cant do anything with 5V (except die and explode).

However. Making something that will attach nicely to the hopper and make good contact will be hard to make. You will need a round magnet some nice solution for the contacts to rebuild the original charger. Or you take big ass alligator clips or solder wires on (pls no).
you could take the charger module and make a really chap lipo/liion charger. But that will be hard to make nicely again. Even if you have a maker space with a 3D printer laser cutter tools ect...
If you have still questions feel free to ask.

I agree about staying OEM. I wouldn't venture into off-brand for batteries or chargers.


There are certainly a few chargers to choose from:

• M18 6-Pack Sequential Charger 48-59-1806. | $100 at Home Depot. | $129+ on Amazon. Allows you to attach up to 6 M18 batteries and then charges them sequentially.
  
  
  
• M18 & M12 Rapid Charge Station 48-59-1807. | $170 at Home Depot. | $191.96 + Shipping on Amazon. Can hold up to 3 M18 batteries and 3 M12 batteries at once, and will charge 3 batteries simultaneously.
  
  
  
• M18 & M12 Multi-Voltage Charger 48-59-1812 | $60 at Home Depot. | $29.93 shipped on Amazon. This is the standard charger that usually comes with the M18 kits and combo's.
  
  
  
• M18 & M12 Rapid Charger 48-59-1808 | $80 at Home Depot. | $42.55 shipped on Amazon. This is the newer, rapid charger version of the previous one. This one is bundled with the 9.0AH kits.
  
  
  I have the last two, the Multi-Voltage Charger and the Rapid Charger. Before purchasing any tools, I was disappointed in how difficult it was to find good reviews and charging times for the Milwaukee batteries and chargers. As in I was unable to do so, but I had a strong feeling the Makita batteries/chargers were much faster. I have not used my tools enough to get average charge times from either charger for comparison yet, but both have charged my batteries more quickly than I initially expected.
  
  EDIT - Reddit formatting kicked my butt.

> So is there a way I can use either battery pack to power the christmas lights? I guess some sort of transformer that accepts a USB 2.0 input of 5V/1-2.5A and outputs 6V/6A

Can't be done.

Assuming that the 6V/6A input on the lights represents actual power consumption, that's 36 Watts, and your chargers only output 10 to 12.5 Watts.

Whenever you step up Voltage, you also step down Current, and vice versa, so that the total Power (Voltage times Current) remains the same (minus efficiency losses).

5 Volts at 2 - 2.5 Amps might light the LED string, it would be dimmer than normal but the bigger problem is that it could damage the battery pack (depending on how the battery pack handles excess draw).

For some perspective, this $74 20V/5Ah battery would give you a little over 2 hours of run time, after converting down to 6 Volts.

You could paint the cord to match the wall, to make it look less conspicuous, or decorate it with a cable raceway.

If the DC side of your light's power supply is long enough you could make a small hole in the wall behind the painting, and another one directly below it and behind the couch, fish the DC cord of the power supply through it, and plug it in; optionally you could use AV wall plates where the cable passes into and out of the wall. Just don't run any 120 Volt cords through the wall.

Nice looking wall, by the way.

We use these when building aircraft wheels. It can tighten about 100 nuts with this battery. It can also break 170 ft-lbs torque on antisiezed bolts/nuts.... if you don't use extensions (they absorb some impact). I will say that our pneumatic impacts are stronger and preferred when breaking the 170 ft-lbs nuts.

I got this solar charger. 23000mAh. So far I've charged 3 gopro batteries, one VTC4, and my iphone and the 100% charge light on the unit hasn't even turned off. This thing is awesome so far.

Poweradd™ Apollo Pro 23000mAh High Capacity Solar Panel Multi... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F4KBA3M/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_BdYhub00RTQJF

Then I got this 18650 charger. Works well but it took 3 hours to charge one battery. And when I checked it, the battery was at 4.22 volts. Kinda makes me nervous but I'll keep an eye on them.

XTAR MP1S Intelligent USB 14650/17670/18650/18700 Battery Charger(No adaptor) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AIG8Q7U/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_shYhub03V9GBS

I has two other Xtar chargers and they're amazing. So I trust the company.

VR cover ships to Canada, I had no problems ordering for my VIVE.

I use this Eneloop kit and it works amazingly and always lets you keep playing when a set runs down.

https://www.amazon.com/Hongbous-Nitecore-Intellicharge-Charger-Battery/dp/B01F04ZWFI

If you do go that route, you can save a lot on the printer of time by just buying pre-made 18650 holders. They're really cheap now.

The "Customers who viewed this item also viewed" display at the bottom of the page also has links to products that are probably related to other people building home-built powerwalls (charge controllers, hardware, and the like)

I have my ryobi tool from a secondary market at a very cheap price， also and I purchased the ryobi battery from this amazon store: Gerit Batt, less then $37 get 2 ryobi batteries, I have to say they fit my drills very well, yes , very cheap price, used for reparing my sister's house. So I recommend this to you:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H6ABABY Always good.

Im talking about the batteries.

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-BL1830-2-18-Volt-Battery-2-Pack/dp/B000EDRT70/

Look up the 3ah lxt batteries on amazon. Lotta early failures, working batteries the charger refuses to charge, blinks a light instead. Been happening for years. May be more prevalent among high drain models like the angle grinder and circular saw. You must have tough thumbs, that redhawk hammer sure is abrasive, but i guess the other end does a hell of a lot more damage.

This is a portable vacuum on top of an RC flatbed truck, if anyone's looking to replicate it.

Here are some options:

RC flatbed trucks

$17 https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Control-Tractor-Trailer-Flatbed/dp/B00O3KV1OC

$33 https://www.amazon.com/Construction-Trailer-Semi-Truck-Removable-Excavator/dp/B00QAWUE5S/

$116 https://www.amazon.com/Fistone-Mercedes-Benz-Semi-Trailer-Engineering-Electronics/dp/B0722VMP5X

Portable Vacuums

$100 https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCV580-Cordless-Wet-Dry-Vacuum/dp/B00CP8DF3O

$130 Vacuum Battery https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCB204-2-Premium-Li-Ion-Battery/dp/B00BQHOI6S

If you have electronic stores near you you should be able to just grab a battery pack like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/1-5V-Battery-Holder-Black-Leads/dp/B00E0IXRUS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426098517&sr=8-1&keywords=battery+holder

You mentioned a drill battery being too big. I use a few Milwaukee v12 tools and the batteries are pretty small and light. Here's a link if you want to check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CHU9ZDE/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1395800442&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

Even if everything works with heat dissipation, you would have to change the 9V battery every ~8 hr or so.

If you could power it down and only come on once a minute, you could make it last a while, but I don't think that works if you are using it as an alarm.

I've used these for a project, and they last an hour or so. You could size up and get a bigger lipo, or use an 18650, which might get you a couple days without sleeping. (maybe several 18650 in parallel could give you a reasonable time to replace them).

It's an Opus BT-C3400

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015LB8DFG/

It's very similar looking to the Maha c9000 or the La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger. Even how the functions work. It has some features that are different, and it has a fan. It can take almost any type of battery, AA, AAA, 16340, etc. I've very pleased with it. I've put in 18650's backward, and it has protection for that.

Buy an aftermarket battery. $40-65 will get you a decent 3AH 18V LiON battery.

https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-48-11-1828-LITHIUM-Lithium-ion-Cordless/dp/B001F0QLCA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_469_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=41K7WvN5N9L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL320_SR320%2C320_&refRID=PF6B30YYKQRRH6K9HN4E

So which replacement battery have you chosen? I have purchased a replacement battery from Amazon store, 2 pcs of 18volt ONE+ 3.0amp battery just cost US$ 45.99. It seems that One is just about 20,https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013UL5H8U It works good on my drills and yeah, my drill has come back to life.

I did not say they were cheap on amazon.. they are really fucking expensive in the makita store here

here is a 2-pack
http://www.amazon.ca/Makita-BL1830-2-18-Volt-Battery-2-Pack/dp/B000EDRT70/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1419768706&sr=8-2&keywords=makita+bl1830

You should know about lithium replacement batteries for your Roomba. The electronics are a bit tricker to design, but it seems companies are getting better at it. It looks great in theory too -- the batteries are lighter (more runtime), hold more energy (again, more runtime), and last for more cycles. This one averages 4.5 stars over 71 ratings. I've had one a few months and the battery life is unbelievable.

Also, wifi controllers are the ultimate in Roomba pimpage these days. Check out the RooWifi (available now) and the Thinking Cleaner (currently being Kickstarted).

Just buy this

Milwaukee 48-59-1807 M18 & M12 Rapid Charge Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UI0HOP6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rFyKDb6VFTDW4

Amazon has them. You can buy a kit that comes with 8 AA, 4 AAA, and a charger in a nice little case. https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-K-KJ17MC124A-eneloop-Adapters-Individual/dp/B00JHKSLLY/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=eneloop&qid=1572619142&sr=8-5

They have them on sale every now and then.

I got this one for my 660 and it works really really well

Amazon Anewpow 4400mAh

I don't know how it will work with a 980 given the other posters comment about the voltage.

You can get fireproof bags, so when you charge a device its slightly safer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fireproof-Li-Po-Battery-Charge-Protecion/dp/B00EZJKLNS.

• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IHXFQK
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GAVCNZI
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B5RGAWY
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002N2XJ8I
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CHU9ZDE
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051D3MP6
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INNP5VU
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EIHY56
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032XVNMQ
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002IT37Z6
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CRFOMK
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007K4UKXG
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006V4WNYU
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ACTN54
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061LW0PK
  
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EBFJXS