OT: Charging power tool battery packs with MRC 969

[kurbe]

Sorry for this off topic post, but this group would know better than anyone.

I bought a Black&Decker Firestorm 12v cordless drill without a charger
thinking I could just use my MRC 969 charger with it. I used the 969 on
my older drill with good results. When I connect the 12v 9-cel pack to
the 969, it reads everything just fine. Detects the number of cels and
reads voltage correctly. When I try to charge though, I see the current
charge rate drop from the 2 amps I set down to 0 amp charge rate. I had
the thing charge for hours and got 0 charge into the pack. It never
peaked, just sat there at 0 amp charge.

I'm have the B&D Firestorm PS130 12v pack.
Has anyone else done this with any success?

TIA

[kenji]

In article <_F9Yb.530712$X%5.433360@pd7tw2no>, kurbe
<bgills@hotmail.com> wrote:

> When I connect the 12v 9-cel pack to
> the 969, it reads everything just fine

Isn't the 969 meant for a total of 8 cells?

[kurbe]

Crap. Thank you. Helps to read the manual. I thought the 969 did up to
10, but you are correct. 8 cels max. Funny thing is that it detects the
9 cels just fine.

kenji wrote:
> In article <_F9Yb.530712$X%5.433360@pd7tw2no>, kurbe
> <bgills@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>When I connect the 12v 9-cel pack to
>>the 969, it reads everything just fine
>
>
> Isn't the 969 meant for a total of 8 cells?

[Doug McLaren]

In article <hwbYb.532275$X%5.222035@pd7tw2no>,
kurbe <bgills@hotmail.com> wrote:

| Crap. Thank you. Helps to read the manual. I thought the 969 did up to
| 10, but you are correct. 8 cels max. Funny thing is that it detects the
| 9 cels just fine.

If the pack is rated 12 v, it's probably 10 cells rather than 9.

In any event, the 969 is limited by the input voltage, which is a bit
more than 12 v. Your pack will probably require at least 16 volts to
charge this pack at a decent rate.

You might want to make sure your next charger is meant for planes.
They can usually handle more cells. I'm personally very fond of my GP
Triton. $130 and it can charge just about everything, up to 18 or so
cells.

| > Isn't the 969 meant for a total of 8 cells?

--
Doug McLaren, dougmc@frenzy.com
Stupidity got us into this mess -- why can't it get us out?