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So I've got this pole saw that I use for trimming trees, and while I don't use it much, when I need it I need it. I got it out to do some trimming at the end of August, and the first thing I had to do was charge the battery - which takes 9 hours with the included charger. I let it got through the charge cycle, and went to work.
When it was new, this thing would go forever on a charge, but I barely made it through a dozen or so small branches before it ran out of power. I didn't have 9 hours to recharge the battery, and I needed to get the brush to the curb that evening. So I got out the charger I use for quadcopter batteries, set it for .5 amp nicad discharge/recharge, and turned it on. 85 minutes later it had completely discharged and recharged the battery, and it was back to its old self. And adding to the interesting things I discovered - with the included charger the battery always got hot, but it charged faster and stayed cool with my hobby charger.
Lesson learned - the chargers they include with power tools are not great chargers, and they may leave you thinking your battery is toast when its got lots of life left. With a good charger you may be able to recondition older batteries, and you might be able to charge them much faster, too.
When it was new, this thing would go forever on a charge, but I barely made it through a dozen or so small branches before it ran out of power. I didn't have 9 hours to recharge the battery, and I needed to get the brush to the curb that evening. So I got out the charger I use for quadcopter batteries, set it for .5 amp nicad discharge/recharge, and turned it on. 85 minutes later it had completely discharged and recharged the battery, and it was back to its old self. And adding to the interesting things I discovered - with the included charger the battery always got hot, but it charged faster and stayed cool with my hobby charger.
Lesson learned - the chargers they include with power tools are not great chargers, and they may leave you thinking your battery is toast when its got lots of life left. With a good charger you may be able to recondition older batteries, and you might be able to charge them much faster, too.