How to charge Ozito XU1 14.4v XCD-140 cordless drill?

[haggis1952]

I have acquired once of these old drills from a house clearance.  The instruction manual does not advise if the charging stand LEDs indicate when the battery is fully charged.  It currently shows a red and yellow LED whilst charging, and the booklet says it takes 3-5 hours to charge.  Are you supposed to just guestimate if it has fully charged after say 5 hrs max or should there be a change in the LED status?  Tks

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @haggis1952. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about battery chargers.

Typically, battery chargers would indicate with a green light when the battery is fully charged. However, the XCD-140 is a budget-friendly machine, so it might not have a fully charged indicator. I would just leave it on charge for 5 hours and use the tool. You'll soon get a sense of whether it has fully charged, or whether the cells have been compromised over the years, and it can't achieve a full charge.

Given the age of the tool, I don't believe I'll be able to determine the specifications of the charger.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[haggis1952]

Thanks, much appreciated.

Cheers,

NIC

[Nailbag]

Hi @haggis1952 

A little further info on @MitchellMc great information, is that cordless tools of that vintage and price point had very basic chargers and featured Ni-Cad battery technology.

Typically many chargers had two lights, one to indicate power was on and the other that the battery was connected and charging. They had no indication of when the battery was charged, just an indication of time in the owners manual. In your case 3-5hrs. 

Unfortunately Ni-Cad batteries can be very easily over-charged and so it's important that you manually have to watch the clock or they essentially cook themselves. It's also highly likely that the battery/s are well past their use-by date and may only deliver a very short run time. Looking at the underside of the battery will have a ratings plate as will the charger. If you post photos of both I can confirm what I have just mentioned.

Regards Nailbag

[haggis1952]

Thanks for your response.

I did charge the Ni-Cd battery for approx 5 hrs and the drill did work ok.

I am not too fussed about the drill as my wife has laid tabs on it, and she will certainly not be a high user.

Whatever life is left in the overall package won’t cost us anything, as the buyer’s docket attached to the box showed it only cost $25 back in 2007.

Cheers,

NIC

[Nailbag]

Hi @haggis1952 

Thanks for the update. Just be aware, bering Ni-Cad that the battery self-discharges at quite a high-rate. So, though it's fully charged now, it might be dead-flat in several weeks and will require the full 5 or so hours to recharge. Ideally the battery should be fully recharged every couple of months even without use to maximise its life. partial recharges shorten it.

regards Nailbag