Battery tracker

[Cleg79]

Makita battery tracker/Bluetooth

I've seen that there are a few people that's gotten their tools stolen Lately that may find this helpful and I'll bet you'ed love to catch the thieving  BA.....DS!  Even if you're not going to do this please share with as many Tradesmen as possible and it might put the thieves off stealing our tools even if a few people do it. we all know that the batteries a very expensive and tools no good without them.

Some of you may think this is a waste of time on 1 battery but its only about £30 and no monthly fee, and when you've spent as much on tools as me then it's nothing. As I've got a few broken Makita batteries why not. I work as a Kitchen fitter and alway have my tools on people's drives when I am doing worktops etc.  I make sure to have this on one of my tools on the drive. Keep it with or on you most expensive tool. The battery lasts about 3 days with no use and a full charge.

1) Strip the 3Ah Makita battery and throw the inside away.

2)  Strip the copy 1.5Ah battery and desolder the batteries as you need to glue the circuit board in place as it doesn't stick though the other side of the Makita case far enough.

3) Put the sim card in the tracker and keep the top up card safe as you'll need this to put money on at a Pay Point if your tools go missing. Record the date of expire on your phone calendar and you'll need to change the nut battery at this time. The sim cards are only a pound and you can get them with a year till the expiry date.

.

4) you'll need to cut the sheath off the cable and notch the plastic so the wires come out the side.

5) In the Makita base, you'll need to cut the plastic lumps that go in between the batteries.

6) Pair the Nut with your phone and use Playdoh the same thickness as the Nut. don't put too much in as this can arc the batteries.

7) Lay the batterie back over the circuit board that you glued in and resolder. (make sure you get the wires the right way round.)

8) Reinstall the base cover.

9) put £10 on for your first month so you now how to work it after that replace the sim card with a new one.

Love to here your feedback and if you'll do it?

Regards

Graham

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[peter halle]

I really hate to put my Moderator hat on here, but I guess I probably should verbally.

First,  thank goodness that you weren't dissecting a Festool battery and then adding to it.  Because the thread would not be here.

That being said dissecting something from a manufacturer has all sorts or ramifications ranging from safety to insurance and liability.

Peter

 

[Cleg79]

I really hate to put my Moderator hat on here, but I guess I probably should verbally.

First,  thank goodness that you weren't dissecting a Festool battery and then adding to it.  Because the thread would not be here.

That being said dissecting something from a manufacturer has all sorts or ramifications ranging from safety to insurance and liability.

Peter

The makita battery was dead and I've only used the casing. It's a bit like putting a new ford engine in a Westfield, there's not much makita can do about it.

 

[Holmz]

@Cleg - that is a useful post, and interesting.
Do you have a URL-link to the tracker part?

I really hate to put my Moderator hat on here, but I guess I probably should verbally.

First,  thank goodness that you weren't dissecting a Festool battery and then adding to it.  Because the thread would not be here.

That being said dissecting something from a manufacturer has all sorts or ramifications ranging from safety to insurance and liability.

Peter

As opposed to you modifying a skil saw with adding chain saw? Where does one draw the line (Sending it in for a blade change)?

The reach of the legal system is astounding. One cannot even have ways to thwart criminals as it is illegal on this forum?

 

[GarryMartin]

One cannot even have ways to thwart criminals as it is illegal on this forum?

That's not what Peter said and I think you're being a little unfair by implying it.

If you review the FOG Member Guidelines and Information that we all agree to as members, you'll find it states that Festool "...reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove any content posted by a member that encourages unauthorized, unsafe or illegal activity."

I'd personally say dissecting a battery pack without really knowing what you are doing could clearly fall in to the "unsafe" category (and here I'm not implying the original poster doesn't know what they are doing, but someone reading it and attempting to follow along might not).

In this instance, I think Peter is treading a fine line between removing the post because it could be unsafe for someone with limited knowledge/experience to follow along with the guide, but equally it clearly is an interesting option for those who feel they are competent enough to attempt something similar themselves.

 

[Phil Beckley]

One cannot even have ways to thwart criminals as it is illegal on this forum?

That's not what Peter said and I think you're being a little unfair by implying it.

If you review the FOG Member Guidelines and Information that we all agree to as members, you'll find it states that Festool "...reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove any content posted by a member that encourages unauthorized, unsafe or illegal activity."

I'd personally say dissecting a battery pack without really knowing what you are doing could clearly fall in to the "unsafe" category (and here I'm not implying the original poster doesn't know what they are doing, but someone reading it and attempting to follow along might not).

In this instance, I think Peter is treading a fine line between removing the post because it could be unsafe for someone with limited knowledge/experience to follow along with the guide, but equally it clearly is an interesting option for those who feel they are competent enough to attempt something similar themselves.

Hi
I saw the post late last night and asked Peter to post on the thread - a heads up to the moderator basically. Mainly because of the potential for people to be unaware of the dangers involved in taking any battery apart.
rg
Phil

 

[Cleg79]

@Cleg - that is a useful post, and interesting.
Do you have a URL-link to the tracker part?

Thanks for your feed back.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/331822976039

 

[peter halle]

@Cleg - that is a useful post, and interesting.
Do you have a URL-link to the tracker part?

I really hate to put my Moderator hat on here, but I guess I probably should verbally.

First,  thank goodness that you weren't dissecting a Festool battery and then adding to it.  Because the thread would not be here.

That being said dissecting something from a manufacturer has all sorts or ramifications ranging from safety to insurance and liability.

Peter

As opposed to you modifying a skil saw with adding chain saw? Where does one draw the line (Sending it in for a blade change)?

The reach of the legal system is astounding. One cannot even have ways to thwart criminals as it is illegal on this forum?

The product I used on my Skil brand saw was a product manufactured by a company expressly for that installation and has been available for decades.  I did not MOD my saw or any part.  I installed a product in accordance with the manufacturer's detailed instructions.

Peter

 

[Doug S]

Dewalt have some batteries that connect to your phone via Bluetooth which can be disabled if they go out of range, also alert your phone when fully charged etc. I guess in time all batteries will have this and wireless charging like bosch also.

Doug

 

[Cleg79]

Dewalt have some batteries that connect to your phone via Bluetooth which can be disabled if they go out of range, also alert your phone when fully charged etc. I guess in time all batteries will have this and wireless charging like bosch also.

Doug

I totally agree with you, someone else pointed out that Milwaukee have also got something similar called One Key.

 

[ajones]

One cannot even have ways to thwart criminals as it is illegal on this forum?

That's not what Peter said and I think you're being a little unfair by implying it.

If you review the FOG Member Guidelines and Information that we all agree to as members, you'll find it states that Festool "...reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove any content posted by a member that encourages unauthorized, unsafe or illegal activity."

I'd personally say dissecting a battery pack without really knowing what you are doing could clearly fall in to the "unsafe" category (and here I'm not implying the original poster doesn't know what they are doing, but someone reading it and attempting to follow along might not).

In this instance, I think Peter is treading a fine line between removing the post because it could be unsafe for someone with limited knowledge/experience to follow along with the guide, but equally it clearly is an interesting option for those who feel they are competent enough to attempt something similar themselves.

Hi
I saw the post late last night and asked Peter to post on the thread - a heads up to the moderator basically. Mainly because of the potential for people to be unaware of the dangers involved in taking any battery apart.
rg
Phil

Its a funny old world, reading the above and Thinking that festool is happy for Rick to modify their range of dust extractors for commercial gain, and are endorsing the product by letting him tout for business on this site.

Maybe festool could have the ability to have this tracking in all their tools it would slash  the amount of claims for stolen tools

 

[Holmz]

@Cleg - that is a useful post, and interesting.
Do you have a URL-link to the tracker part?

I really hate to put my Moderator hat on here, but I guess I probably should verbally.

First,  thank goodness that you weren't dissecting a Festool battery and then adding to it.  Because the thread would not be here.

That being said dissecting something from a manufacturer has all sorts or ramifications ranging from safety to insurance and liability.

Peter

As opposed to you modifying a skil saw with adding chain saw? Where does one draw the line (Sending it in for a blade change)?

The reach of the legal system is astounding. One cannot even have ways to thwart criminals as it is illegal on this forum?

The product I used on my Skil brand saw was a product manufactured by a company expressly for that installation and has been available for decades.  I did not MOD my saw or any part.  I installed a product in accordance with the manufacturer's detailed instructions.

Peter

You are correct, but in spirit the battery mod is not overly extreme.
The risk management part always makes me sigh.

 

[demographic]

Dewalt have some batteries that connect to your phone via Bluetooth which can be disabled if they go out of range, also alert your phone when fully charged etc. I guess in time all batteries will have this and wireless charging like bosch also.

Doug

I looked at those De-Walt batteries and thought it would just annoy me more than anything else. Just another thing to fail and then get locked out of.

I did think Bosch's idea of having a charging station in the van that wirelessly charges the batteries while its in the box was a good one.
Personally I have all my tools in a toolsafe so it wouldn't work for me but I still like the idea for other people.

The GPS battery idea might be a good one though as it might show who's doing the thieving.