Hack My Dewalt Charger and Make A Multi-Voltage DC Power Supply
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video I take apart a 20V Dewalt battery charger and turn it into a DC power supply that can output any voltage between 1.5 and 36V.
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As a fellow Dewalt battery hack guy (my most popular video), the thing you're missing is over-discharge protection. If you leave a load on the system with a battery plugged in until it stops working, you will have discharged the battery below the point it is intended to as Dewalt batteries do not have internal discharge protection.
This may be fine a few times, but will damage the battery over time and your dewalt charger will likely refuse to charge a battery that has been over discharged (i've had to manually charge over-discharged batteries to make them start working in OEM chargers). I have not found a good 5s li-ion drop in discharge protection module, which has had me scavenging them from old tools to make these sort of projects.
Not trying to knock what you're doing, I actually may steal the form factor of using a charger if I find a good discharge protection module because that's a cheaper source for a housing with the physical connectors to mate to the battery that using a tool (I typically try to find burned-motor drills), nor am I a safety whiner. I just wanted to warn you/viewers that doing it this way will mean you'll need to manually monitor your battery charge state.
+42Fab - Metal Fabrication & Signage thanks for the comment, but I believe the built in battery voltage protection will prevent them from over-discharging.
@@BaldGuyDIY The dewalt batteries are "dumb" in that they aren't much more than just the cells. The board inside a battery just relays info to the tool/charger about the battery condition, temperature, etc, and runs the battery charge indicator.
In most dewalt 20v tools, there is a little board full of epoxy connected to the battery contacts. That has the battery protection in it. My guess is that as the tool needs some switching components anyway, it's cheaper to build the protection into the tool rather than the battery.
This is best evidenced by the fact the 20v-18v adapter has a circuit board inside it with some beefy mosfets on it. If the battery protected itself (like the old NiCd 18v batteries do just by nature of their chemistry), the adapter would literally just be some wires connecting the two mating contacts.
Not trying to crawl up your end, taking the initiative to make something is awesome, but seeing a $100 battery bite the dust due to an omission would suck. I have a video showing the components in question. Time queued here: th-cam.com/video/ikZQLvKZYMA/w-d-xo.html
I have used a buck converter in a radio powered by a dewalt battery, it discharged it til it was ruined i thought i would keep an eye on it but it happened again 🤦 trust me they don't have discharge protection in them
Thomas Doherty I’ll add a voltage cutoff. Thanks for your feedback.
BaldGuyDIY did you end up adding a voltage cut off ? And if so will you be doing a video on it? I was sitting around wondering how I could turn a dewalt charger and battery into a feed for an LED light for my dirt bike. And sure enough I typed into you tube and your video came up. The voltage cut off would be ideal, I use my batteries for work also so wouldn’t want to mess them up. Thanks!
I've done some weird modification to car audio Amplifiers, subwoofers, home amplifiers, subwoofer home amplifiers etc. I gotta do this. Lol. Sorry for being annoying. American people are the best in tutorial and ideas! Love your channel! 👍👍👍
Thanks for watching and commenting. Great to see you’re passionate about electronics!
You REALLY should add a low voltage shut off, specially with them constantly drain the battery, if the cells completely deplete you'll just have a very expensive paperweight.
I just came up a similar idea and a similar solution and I'm super excited someone has already done this! Good video.
Thanks for watching! I’ve got a couple more DeWalt hacks coming in the new year.
Be careful when you take it apart not to touch those Compassators they will light you up bad. Found that out the hard way. Lol and that was the first time I ever took anything apart to try and fix it guess you could say it sparked my interest and I started learning everything I could about Electronics and bought a lot of tools lol
More effective than a shot of espresso!
So, there’s an easier way. Buy a 3D printed DeWalt battery adapter and add your buck converter or DC to DC solid state converter into the mix. So if you don’t have the extra chargers, this is the route I’d go. But if you do have these extra chargers laying around, it looks like a fun way to tinker.
Very good idea but I would add a low voltage cut out board to it to protect the battery against over discharge.
Problems with the dewalt cordless batteries is they discharge to dead flat! Balance board is crap. Yet my old LI-ON Ryobi batteries can be completely discharged and recharged! I have jumpstarted my Dewalt batteries a number of times. I have 2 1200 watt dc to dc converters which I have bridged to get 40 amps at a max of 96 volts. I only take it to 18 if I have to jumpstart a car battery. 18 to 20 volts on your vehicle will not damage anything as your car battery will only climb to 14.9 volts because of car battery AH. I have thought of doing exactly what you are saying and doing. I have multiple 100 watt version which if mini fan cooled can put out 10 amps at easy 48 volts. Im gonna do this. I did electronics techie course and Electronics engineering course! So I have to keep building electronics and repairing etc. Im glad I found this. Subbed and liked because I saw this. Very informative video. 🙂👍👍👍. Cheers from Australia!
You can also use an older high quality computer PSU for free at your recycling center. Those have a lot of AMPS and are quite reliable. Get a dell or HP. I ran a leaf blower once from the 12v line when my battery died.
That’s a great suggestion IF you are using 3.3V, 5V or 12V DC. But if you’re using a different voltage, it’s not very flexible. I have used a computer power supply on my escape room puzzles and it works fairly well, although some electronics still need the voltage to be tweaked up a bit from 5V to work properly.
@@BaldGuyDIY Thank you. Literally came to yt because i couldnt find answers to the question how to hack a charger bc everything is full of people saying "just use a pc psu". Thanks for the video.
@@n.l.3776 so glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!
That was one excellent idea! I'm going to try it as soon as I can! Thank you!
Instead of using strippers for wire that small just hit the end (about 1/4" worth) with a small torch. It'll burn it to the point you can just rub the end between your fingers and it falls off
Ryan Lynch that’s not a bad idea but I find some wires hard to solder if they get contaminants in them from the burned insulation.
this is a great post.. TY...
If you don’t have the security torx bit, then use a small enough punch to fit inside the screw head n give that pin a whack down.
Just use the dewalt usb adapter and a dc to dc inverter with a usb plug (eBay 5$) . It has a potentiometer built in. Nice work however.
If you only want 5V, that’s good. I wanted to be able to produce any lower voltage. Thanks for watching.
Just depends on which one you purchase. None the less good project, great video
One of the nice channel logos ever seen
Thanks so much for that feedback! I spent a lot of time wanting it to be good:)
I'd do a current limiting buck converter and I have seen a couple that you can set a low voltage disconnect as well that's not a bad idea
But those do cost more but for me I'd just do one converter probably a boost buck converter that could do like 30 something voltage down to 0 with a lower voltage supply but also I'd have added a display and mount some potentiometers on the outside to be able to adjust the voltage when ever I needed to
can you make any dewalt charger to work like DCB119 vehicle charger?
Just wondering if you could make a power adapter for a flexvolt tool ( mains power to a cordless tool like the miter saw has) but for a single battery. For those times when you run out of batteries or you know you're going to run through a lot of batteries?
Want help to solar charge a powertool battery then power led lights.Goal is to overcome the lack of sunlight in winter and not enough battery in the original light. Thanks.
I’m working on a couple more charger hacks. I think there’s one that you could adapt for solar. Check back in the next few weeks.
This was a Great Video! Very well explained. I just found your channel I enjoy it. Thanks.
Have you tried making a DeWALT adapter with the 12V input Plug that will charge the 20V Battery with a solar panel?
A different way to put the power in the Battery rather than take it out. LOL
DeWalt charges $110 for their DC to DC charger which is insane when all you need is a $20 converter circuit.
There is room in the market for DIY and commercial products. There’s a lot of research, development and production costs that go into an official Dewalt product. DIY can save you money, but it’s more work and sometimes the finished product isn’t as good. Thanks for watching!
@@BaldGuyDIY Respectable perspective, but it still smells fishy to me that DeWalts AC charger is $30 and their DC is $110. I'm not sure how much R&D is needed to convert 12v to 18v.
Hack the charger to use a DC power source to charge the batteries. ie. 12-48v DC input to charge regular Dewalt batteries.
That’s a good idea! Maybe down the road when I get a little more time. Thanks for watching!
@@BaldGuyDIY I too would like this modification. I have a camper with decent sized batteries and solar (640watts) and would like to modify the charger to go from 12V DC to power the charger Dewalt batteries require. I do not want to use an inverter. It seems like one would need to understand how the charger gets from 110 AC to DC voltage to charge the batteries and replace that section with a DC step up transformer to the DC voltage the charger requires. It seems that there would be others wanting this type of modification. Thanks!
@@johnfaber7106 I’ll take a look. The board already transforms the AC and converts it to DC. I think if we put the same kind of dc converter I used in this video into the circuit at the right place, it would definitely work like you’re wanting. Thanks for watching!
I need a way to charge my Dewalt power station batteries at our campsite using my 12-24v solar panels. Keep inventing.
@@larrywellborn4681 I have plans to do a 12V charger for vehicles in the new year. That should work for your application as well. Thanks for watching and for the suggestion!
Would like to use a battery to power a bilge pump including an on off switch and voltage adjustment
Neat idea! I have a Dual DeWalt battery charger for the 20V where one side isn't working, though planning to troubleshoot and repair if I can. I have wondered over the years about making an inverter like the power bank that uses the 4 batteries. Thanks for the inspiration!
For now, I'm reviewing to make a PAPR power supply since saw the Ford design that uses the DeWalt battery packs and was like... duh... why not use a 20V DeWalt battery or maybe even two and buck down to the 4.5V the current design inflator as a fan is using. I plan to purchase a battery wall mount holder and modify for use since most cost effective.
I have a few videos (I am no way trained on video production or editing) on the adapter since I made a Dewalt 20V battery to Ryobi 18V tool adapter from a new Dewalt adapter and old One+ battery.
I'm planning to make another video since I learned how the batteries and tool work in more detail and I think I might even be able to repair the bad 20V to 18V DeWalt adapter now that I've learned there is a maybe 60A fuse hidden in a wire/wrap and the two transistors are MOSFET's reads like to check and if nothing in the potted section bad... seems feasible and even then... might be able to design that circuitry once verified. Basically, there is a under voltage protection circuit output in the adapter or the 20V tools, sounds like, that the battery inputs to shut down. I still haven't verified specs yet.
However, I was wondering... where did you find six pins? Mine only have 5 pins.
Double checked when watching another video with a disassembly and hack... confirmed there are only 5 batteries also. th-cam.com/video/PNdQdzWtLVE/w-d-xo.html Thanks again!
OK, now I see. I've only worked with the battery tabs on the 20V to 18V adapter and tool (since the tools literally have the adapters build into the grip before the trigger switch and are sometime a cost effective source as a part or from damaged tools where something else is broken). So the batteries have a few more tabs than I realized, TH, ID, C1-C4, B+ and B-. Looks like the charger has similar. Glad this was troubling me, you shared and I kept looking into until I understood what was being presented. Can tell I never looked at a datasheet on these batteries or chargers or studied the batteries or chargers thoroughly enough. :-|)
Sorry I haven’t been able to take a look and explain. Glad you have it figured out! Thanks for watching and sharing:)
You are a tech brother! I am impressed, I love this stuff but my knowledge is very limited. I would like to hack a charger or a battery or both. To use 120 volt stuff with a dewalt battery. Like irrigation timers.
Thanks for watching! I am planning on making a Dewalt battery to 120VAC supply video, so keep checking back!
@@BaldGuyDIY
That will be helpful. I am wondering if lawn mowers volt rectifiers would do the trick to us a dewalt battery to run an irrigation system. It would be awesome. You need to come up with something like that and make 100s of thousands selling to irrigation companies. Thats a serious joke brother. Lol
Will this kill the battery by depleting the cells completely instead of disconnecting when there is low voltage?
Yes, it will prevent the charger from charging them properly if they are used beyond a certain threshold. Check out the next video after that to see a low voltage cutoff option. Thanks for watching!
not sure if it's been mentioned (and awesome idea in and of itself) but the more the drop between the input and output voltages the more heat is generated in the buck converter. what would be better (and sometimes more efficient) is to run your 5 volt regulator from the 12 volt regulator and not VBAT
That’s an interesting suggestion, but I think the increased load on the 20V to 12V step would make up the difference in the heat lost. It would still be the same amount of conversion, just in two stages instead of one, wouldn’t it?
@@BaldGuyDIY nah it depends on how much you put on the 5 volt line, to be honest it wouldn't even notice it.
@@BaldGuyDIY I added a mini cup fan. .018 amps current draw. You won't regret it. Cheers
Can we do this to power a lamp? To be more specific, one that plugs into a 110 outlet. Wanting it to power my lamps we use on Job sites.
What about using an old DeWalt charger base like this but with a 12vdc supply and a cigarette lighter plug so you can charge the DeWalt batteries on the job site or driving down the road? DeWalt has the DCB119 but that rascal's a hundred bucks!
Thanks for watching and for the question. It would be possible to convert an original 120V charger to work with the 12V vehicle outlet. I have it on my list of possible projects. It isn’t quite as simple as it might sound, and requires some features that aren’t in the original charger. $100 sounds like a lot at first, but to know that your vehicle’s battery and tool batteries are going to be protected from under and over voltage, maybe that alone is worth it. I’ll take another look at the merits of the project.
Thanks!
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE BATTERY ADAPTERS (FOUND ON EBAY/AMAZON) FOR CORDLESS TOOLS (USE AN M18 BATTERY ON A 20V DEWALT TOOL)? MY CONCERN: THE ADAPTERS HAVE ONLY POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CONTACTS. THE TOOLS USUALLY HAVE AN ADITIONAL 2 CONTACTS FOR SYSTEM MANAGEMENT. THESE ADAPTERS ARE ABLE TO RUN THE TOOLS BUT, WILL THE BATTERIES BE DAMAGED DUE TO OVER DISCHARGING?
Can you send me the link to an example?
110 volt battery charger 945. DeWalt
Have you converted a DEWALT charger be powered by solar.??? 🌞 🌞🙌
Good job man! I stumbled across this video trying to repair my DeWalt battery.. SUPER GLAD I came across this info though! I could use a couple of those voltage regulator things for sure. I just started dabbing my feet into trying to understand electronics.
Thanks for the upload & really useful info👍🤙 subscribed ✌️
+Joey GunZiLLa thank you so much! Be sure to check out the 1.1 version where I added some low voltage protection so the battery didn’t run too low. Thanks for subscribing, I’ve got plenty more projects on the way.
where i can buy the converter that you use?
great. project
+1 "John Faber" commernts. Like BaldGuy I have MANY Dewalt 20v AC chargers, (from 2 AH to 8 AH) Would love to learn how to turn any one of them into a DC (cigar lighter) charger, similar to the Dewalt DCB119 but without spending $120. Don't know if Buck Converters can do 110v AC to 12v DC??? Good Video!
I want to run my Dewalt 20V fan from the wall. How can I use an old battery and add a cord to power the fan this way? Basically, I want a DCA120, but 20V so a DCA20 that I can connect instead of a battery pack to 20V tools/items like my fan.
Is there a way to hack the 110V input charger to use a 12V input?
Gday mate... good to see you getting into the guts of a charger... would you have any advice for me regarding my charger which got some water on it and now although it indicates proper operation, does not actually charge the batteries. I havent gone into the guts of it as yet and wondered if you have had any experience with maybe a fuse or something that is replaceable that might have caused this problem. Regards Chris
Thanks for watching! Water is a tough thing to guess on, because it can cause short circuits and failures all over. If you take the case apart and look closely at the circuit board, you may see evidence of rust or a burnt component that was still wet when you tried to use it. If it doesn’t look damaged anywhere, you could try drying it out better by putting it in an oven at low heat for a few hours. Probably nothing over 200F. Any residual moisture could be causing the problems.
Awesome hack. Thanks
Thanks for watching!
I am trying to make a cordless DeWalt circular saw DCS391 into a corded saw. Can you give ideas?
How about turning a mains charger into a car charger. is it possible.?
How does the converter affect battery life compared to using say a 18v 9ah battery normally. Will a 18v battery converted down to 12 volts last longer then if it was used at the 18 volts? Great video.
Thanks for watching! It’s a little more complicated than yes or no. Amp-Hours is a function of how long a battery will last at a given current draw. A 9Ah battery should last 9 hours drawing 1A, or 1 hour drawing 9A. It’s not a perfect relationship because higher current draws produce more heat losses in the battery, but it’s a good reference.
Voltage and Current have their own relationship. Power = Voltage x Current. If you think of the same amount of power (in watts), the higher the voltage the less current required and the lower the voltage the higher the current required to give the same overall power.
Without getting too much deeper into it, if you powered a 12V device with a 12V battery that was 9Ah, it would deplete faster than if you used an 18V or 20V battery that was also rated at 9Ah, because the current draw on the higher voltage batteries would be less. There are a few other considerations, but hopefully that answers your question satisfactorily:)
@@BaldGuyDIY thanks for the quick reply. I was wondering if the converter drains off the extra power of 6 volts (18v-12v) to heat and that would be a waste of power from the battery? It really doesn't matter because I have a bunch of Ridgid 18v batteries. (More curiosity) and they pack a lot more punch for the size so I am going to convert the power to 12 volt to run my underwater camera. I don't like hauling standard wet cell batteries around. You have great videos. Thanks
@@royyoung5731 it doesn’t waste or burn off the excess energy. What it does is convert to your output voltage. So per the power formula I mentioned, if your 12V device draws 7.5A, your 18V battery will only have a 5A draw. It’s not 100% efficient in converting, the converter is my video is about 92% efficient, so it might be around 5.4A. If you have the choice between using a 9Ah 12V battery and a 9Ah 18V battery, the 18V battery will definitely last longer, about 40% longer when you convert it to 12V. Good luck!
@@BaldGuyDIY 1000 thank you.
How would one wire a corded "battery pack"? I'm looking to make something like that for my cordless tools in case of emergencies or times when I don't have a charged battery and need to use a drill or saw.
Thanks for watching! That’s a great question and something I’ve thought about before. I haven’t pursued it before because I have a lot of batteries and a large charging bank so I’m never without a charged battery. The basic process would be 120VAC into a transformer down to 24-40VAC. Then using a Full Wave Bridge Rectifier, convert to DC. Then into a converter like I used in the video, rated at 20-30A, to regulate the voltage down to 20V or whatever the batteries are normally rated for. Finally, connect to the device. However, DeWalt and other brands often put other mechanisms in place to detect battery integrity and safety, so I’m not sure if you’d also need to do something else to make it work. All that, plus the tools still won’t perform as well as true corded tools do, because they have a lot less torque. Maybe I’ll try it down the road, but I think it would be better in most cases to just have more batteries/chargers, or to have a backup corded drill/saw if all battery options are depleted. Plus, it usually only takes 15-20 minutes to charge a small battery, and you probably deserve a break;)
Have you , or any of your followers made any progress on how we can run a 20volt MAX Dewlt tool of 120 AC input. Those far the only thing I am seeing is to use a old PC power supply to get the required amperage needed by say a circular saw or saw zaw?
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting. Sounds like you’re wanting to power a 20V cordless tool from a 120V AC supply. I did post a video recently discussing this very idea. I am still in the process of putting the components together to make it work, however, if you watch the video I did, it’s not very practical, especially for the higher current requiring tools like saws. The video describes all the components required, check it out and let me know if you think it’s worth it.
th-cam.com/video/E0pq6vJi_7g/w-d-xo.html
@@BaldGuyDIY I watched it, thanks. Yeah, the cost of the components makes it not make sense. The only way I could see it working physically is if the converter and all the parts was a floor unit that then ran 12 or 20 volt long leads to the tool. I was thinking something like a low voltage lighting power supply, before they all went to LED's and got smaller again.
@@bartelsjoshuac10 Thanks for watching it and for the feedback. Maybe there will be an easily convertible device in the future that makes it economical. If you find one, be sure to let me know!:)
Why doesn't someone make an adapter to use 120 volt AC on 20 volt DC DeWalt? And the same for other brands?
You’re not the first one to suggest that! I guess I better get on it:)
@@BaldGuyDIY Why aren't adapters available for all brands of tools?
Could that power supply setup be used for powering a 12v bilge pump to run a mini sluice?
Definitely! Just need to make sure the amperage of the device doesn’t exceed the converter rating.
The bilge pump I was thinking of useing is a 1100gph pump also a 2000 gph possibility. The whole idea was I am trying to decrease the weight I will be lugging down to the creek or river as I am getting old and weight is a big deal now. So gas powered pumps are weighty so is the gas can as well as a car battery. Drill batteries seem a likely option. Could you tell me where in Alberta I could get these supplies to build this pack? Thankyou for your help.
@@roberthink1712 the only thing to make sure of is what amperage the pump requires. If it’s under 20A and 12V you should be alright.
I’d buy the converter on Amazon as well as a voltage cutoff so the batteries don’t get too depleted. Send me an email and I can send you some specific links. You’ll also need a Dewalt charger that can be sacrificed to put the components into.
@@roberthink1712 I have a bilge with spade connectors that I plug straight into the battery pins. Its for a portable camp shower so it doesn't run very long, but its submerged so its not going to get too hot
Hi thats a great idea.Would you be able to tell me how to use my dewalt charger to charge a battery that only has 5 pins instead of 8 please,many thanks Mark.
Send me an email with picture of the battery and I’ll see what I can do. brandon@baldguydiy.com
@@BaldGuyDIY many thanks
Good video 👍👍
@Mohammad Andres scam
@Camilo Ryan scam. Your account is brand new. Nice try though.
u are using expensive dewalt charger as a housing only... good job!
When you’ve got a bunch, they don’t seem very expensive:)
Is it possible to make a 110v AC to 12 or 24v DC Variable Volt and Current output Power supply? Using a Dewalt battery charger to power a 100watt LED full spectrum Growing light.
Doug Despins you want to start with a Dewalt battery or start with a 120V AC supply?
@@BaldGuyDIY I guess it would be easier with the 120 AC supply , and I've seen a few using a ATX desk top power supply, but not a battery charger.
Doug Despins All the necessary components are in the battery charger to make a 120VAC to DC supply, then you could use the converter I used in my video to regulate the supply to your chosen voltage. You’d need to bypass some of the battery monitoring components from the charger so it would work as a power supply. I’ll see about doing a video for that in the future. It’s possible to get a new ATX power supply for about $50, or free from an old computer, so it might be the more convenient option than hacking a battery charger if the voltage it supplies is what you’re looking for.
@@BaldGuyDIY Thanks for the info. I decided to order a ATX power supply for my son, his is making a little ticking sound, then I'll use his old one. I'll be watching out for next video on this topic.
I have the Dewalt 20v tower light. I’ve often wondered if it could be converted to 110v using one of the extra 20v chargers. Would you know how that can be achieved?
Depending on which model it is, it may already have a 110V AC adapter. I have a Dewalt tower light and it has both a plug for connecting an extension cord and a pass through outlet so you connect an additional device.
@@BaldGuyDIY
DCL 079B 20v only
Following this comment - bump
Take a multi battery charger and turn it into a power station? Like the DeWalt PS ?
The Toolmat The Dewalt power station produces 120V AC doesn’t it? This is for DC, and it allows for a variety of voltages.
BaldGuyDIY yes it will, I have seen the power caps for the 18-20v batteries and thought why can't a multi charger such as ryobis 6slot, be converted to an output and add a sine wave inverter to accomplish what DW has done? There is a guy on YT that's has done it with the power caps, but it looks messy
I misunderstood your comment. I thought you were saying my project does the same thing as the power station. You definitely could hook an inverter up to what I did and make your own ac supply with it. I’ll consider it for a future project. Thanks for the comment!
I am interested in how to use an external power supply to at DeWalt tripod light DCL079.
I have an old battery and a 19V laptop charger, but can’t figure out how to power the light on.
We have to use B+, B-, TH and C3 terminals.
Thanks for watching. I’m in the planning stage for just such a project. Hope to have something posted in the next few weeks.
I’ve been thinking of something similar
Nice! Go for it!
Is it a possibility to make me a power supply for my milwaukee chop saw. Willing to pay a good amount for ut! Thanks, Dustin
Send me an email to brandon@baldguydiy.com with the details and I’ll take a look.
@@BaldGuyDIY I'm looking to do something very similar, all my tools are DeWALT XR or Flexvolt but my tile trim saw is 240v and looking to attempt to make it cordless, I'm rubbish with electrics and watched your video hundreds of times but really struggling to get my head round it, any help would be very appreciated
I’m just buying my first set of wires and really don’t quite have an understanding of anything electrical but I thought the same as you...why can’t I convert my Dewalt batteries to be an emergency backup for my Cpap? I’ve purchased a step down buck converter and just have a question on what voltage and amperage to set up a cigarette lighter car type socket to plug in my Cpap machine. Thinking 13.3 volts and 9.6 amps. Any feedback would be appreciated. Also bought a low voltage cutoff unit to add to mine since I have no idea what you did on that circuit board.
Thanks for watching. If the CPAP already has a lighter plug, it should be able to handle even up to 14V pretty easily. The amperage typically does not need to be set, unless you bought a converter with an amperage setting. The machine will just draw however many amps it needs to work at that voltage.
One word of caution because you said you don’t have any electrical understanding. If the CPAP machine doesn’t come with a lighter plug and if it’s rated for AC and not DC, you won’t be able to use the method I did. You’d have to use an inverter to create the 120V AC.
I hear those machines are expensive, don’t blow it up!
Thanks for the reply. Yes, the buck converter I bought has an amp setting too. I do have the cigarette plug converter for my Cpap machine so the socket is just what I need and yes, they are expensive which is why I am so nervous to try this...that’s why I posted to try and get a little more comfortable. I have already tested my hookup with a dc fan and no problems except for my mistake trying to check amperage. No smoke thank goodness.
@@gsmiley7700 sounds like you’re being careful. Be sure to set the amperage of the converter well above that of the CPAP machine. If you limit the current, the machine could be throttled and not work correctly, which could reduce the effectiveness and lead to problems with the machine itself. If you supply the correct voltage with no amperage control, the machine will only draw what it needs to function correctly. So don’t worry about the amperage being set too high as long as your voltage is correct. Good luck!
the best idea if you wanna kill your 100USD battery. dont do this at home. it may cause fire.
I might have missed it, but do you have any protection for over-discharge in this?
Thanks for watching! I added a voltage cutoff on the 1.1 video after this one.
I would like to make a 110v system to run my RV using Dewalt batteries. Any ideas on how I could do this?
Thanks for watching! Depending on the RV, that could be a tall order for cordless tool batteries. Basically need to convert the DC voltage down to 12-13V, then invert it up to 120VAC. Do you know how much current you’ll require at the 120VAC output?
It's possible to find inverters that have a wide input voltage range. I've never seen 18V specifically but there's definitely 36V unit's that would run on 2 in series. If you have lots of them, you may be able to run certain loads by simply connecting 6 in series to get 120V DC -- like a small fridge, heater, or lights.
I’ve been rackin’ my brain trying to learn about buck converters to make a 12v kayak and camping power station out of my Ryobi 18v one+ batteries.
This video is exactly what I wanted to do!!! Thank you for the information!! My question is:
could I use two 18v batteries ran in a series to 36v then buck them down to a 12v output to get more amp hours (or total watt hours) out of the power supply? Would it be beneficial or redundant to run two?
Hi, thanks for watching! That’s a great question. The batteries have the same amount of energy stored in them, so whether you do an 18V supply in parallel or a 36V supply in series, the amp hours will be the same. In parallel you add the Ah together, in series you only add the voltages together, the Ah stay the same. There is the possibility that in series they would last a little longer if you’re going to be putting a lot of load on them, because in series the current will be lower, cause less heat, and batteries tend to perform better in those conditions. However, if you connect them in parallel, there’s the opportunity to swap one battery out for charging without interrupting the supply to whatever you’re powering. That feature may be worth it on its own.
BaldGuyDIY thank you so much for the reply and information! And just to be sure: essentially (for my purposes) the in series idea would be a redundancy, and depending on outlook even parallel is a bit redundant because there would be no difference in running two batteries at once; compared to one after the other; aside from a slight interruption when swapping?
twisted4good The parallel connection would be redundant and unnecessary if you don’t mind the interruption when you swap batteries. The series connection wouldn’t offer redundancy, because any problem or removal of one battery would break the circuit and prevent your load from being powered unless you changed the connection. Also, be sure to check out the version 1.1 video so you can see how I prevent the battery from discharging too low. If it goes too low it can prevent your charger from charging it back up. Good luck!
BaldGuyDIY awesome. Just awesome info. I did watch the other video regarding the over discharge because I too was curious regarding just that. Fantastic two part series full of well explained knowledge. I’m excited to start my power source project. Thanks again for the replies and tutorials 🙌🏻
Build me one I’ll buy it .
Link for the DC converter
Hello, thanks for checking out the video. The link is in the description of the video, two different sizes based on how many amps you need. Good luck!
I need a charger sell one
Unless you live in Alberta, Canada, I’m guessing you’ll find one cheaper in your area:)
Send me one of your chargers please
EXAMPLE VIDEO LINK: th-cam.com/video/Mqd9wL59dt8/w-d-xo.html