Protool, broken battery; replace with festool 3.0Ah?

Frank-Jan

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Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
1,382
My protool pdc 18-4 is currently out of warranty (bought in september 2008), after about two years it had an electronics problem and one of the batteries died, they repaired the tool and replaced the battery.
Now the other battery-pack stopped working and has the blinking red light on the charger.

Now for my dilemma... a new 18V Protool battery (2.6 Ah) costs the same as a festool 18V battery with the belthook (and the festool 2.6 and 3.0 Ah cost also exactly the same). Allthough the protool batteries appear to be more "rugged" with the thick rubber edge at the bottom,  I do prefer the on-battery belthook of festool over the protool belthook that's on the machine.  And I don't think I'd mind the slight color mismatch.

I just checked the markings on the charger, and it states: " Output: 7,2-18 V  3,0 A" , so my guess is the charger shouldn't be a problem to use with the new 3.0 Ah  battery.

Would the newer type batteries work with an older type machine? I think they would, but there might be something related to the new fuel guage thing that prevents it.

Also, there's a company in Holland that builts in new cells in broken battery-packs, they are too far away from me and I don't like mailing it, but they do offer their services through a diy store network. But I read the prices are still pretty steep compared to just getting a new battery.

Does anyone have experience in having li ion batterypacks rebuilt?
 
You can use any Festool battery there is in your Protool 18-4. Your Protool charger will also load all of them. The battery gauge makes no difference at all.

As for rebuilding batteries, I have no experience with that. I do know that battery cells come in different qualities and only some companies like Panasonic and Festool are known to get the best of the best - with the according price tag. With these cheap rebuild cells, well, I guess at some point you get what you pay for ..... you always do.
 
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