The NiCd battery life in my old Makita 18v drill/driver finally annoyed me enough to do something about it! This video shows the adapter I bought to enable the more modern Makita 18v LXT lithium ion batteries to be used with older NiCd / NiMh tools like my 8391D cordless combi hammer drill driver.

Here is a link to the adapter https://ebay.us/PSg6aJ

After showing the adapter, I go on to give some suggestions on how to look after the Makita lithium ion batteries. I suspect that by using the adapter I am circumventing some of the usual features to look after the batteries, particularly stopping them from overdischarge. By this I mean that I think (although haven't managed to confirm it for certain) that the functionality to switch off the power when the battery voltage gets too low is within the tool rather than the battery itself.

Later in the video I look at the battery voltages when each of the charge status indicator lights go out, to get an idea of when I should stop using the battery and recharge it.

Thanks for watching!
andrewfixes.com
#makita #battery #adapter