Bought the GF a B&D Wizard for Christmas, which I’m now charged with figgering out. It’s got the rechargable Versapack jobbie.
The only head scratcher I’ve run across so far is how long I’m supposed to let the thing charge. It’s got a red LED on the charger base that lights up when you stick the power pack in it. I assured the lady that said light would turn green when the battery was sufficiently charged, at which point she could commence drilling, sanding, scraping, polishing, burnishing, stripping, and engraving to her little heart’s content.
To pass the time, we had sex.
The LED was still red.
To further passed the time, we watched a few hours of “Junkyard Wars” on tape.
The LED was still red.
Went out for Chinese.
The LED was still red.
Went to the bar to visit the Christmas drunks.
The LED was still red.
Had some more sex.
The LED was still red. As I was nodding off in poist-coital/drunken bliss, I heard my beau shouting at the damn Versapack from the kitchen: “TURN GREEN, MOTHERFUCKER!”
“Aw hell,” I mumbled from the bedroom, “put it in and see if it works.”
Which she apparently did, as evidenced by the whirring/buzzing sound emanating from the kitchen, not unlike that of another lady’s instrument of similar size and heft.
Yet the dilemma remains: just how long are you supposed to let the damn thing charge???
I have a bunch of things that run off those versapacks and I still have no idea how long they’re supposed to charge. But, I just checked a couple of them and guess what…the light is red. I know they have been on the charger awhile. Maybe it is not supposed to be green?
The first time you charge these things up it usually needs maybe two full recharge cycles.
Whenever you take the battery out the charger has a timer in it(electronic) which resets itself.There is the chace that you could maybe turn the power on and off a couple of times, like when you are doing a little electrical work such as replacing a light fitting, and you reset the timer several times.This can overcharge the battery and might even damage it.
Are you certain the led light changes to green because on the ones I have seen it simply flashes when it is charging and stays on when the battery is ready for use.
Of course you could read the destruction manual
Actually Casdave, I don’t think that the versapak batteries have any sort of Battery Managment hardware on them except perhaps a current limiting circuit. From memory looking at my Versapak battery I see a Voltage contact point and a ground contact point, I do not see a DIO contact point. Also, considering the function of the Versapak system, a battery management function of that nature would be overkill. NiCad tools don’t need them.
Also, I seem to remember that Versapak would recommend that one charge the battery 24hrs before first use. I wish I had my notes from the battery seminar to find out if NiCad’s required an initial ‘setting’ charge to be fully charged. Memories still exist to a point on them, I’m fairly certain of that though.
Next year buy her a high capacity air compressor and pneumatic tools. These puppies are the next step after the battery powered tools. Air powered nail guns, staplers, ratchets, impact wrenches, grinders, sanders, drills, screw drivers, metal cutters and saws. Impresses the neighbors in “tool wars” too.
Fletch: I’m considering getting her a turret lathe for Valentine’s day…
goat: My first clue was when she would grab my leg with a viselike grip and make “oooh-ooooh-ooooh” and gurgling noises when the Dremel holiday commercials started showing up on the tube. She also likes to fondle my ratchet set. Grrrowwwrr…
Though my initial pronouncement that “the light is gonna turn green” sounded manly enough at the time (not to mention the, ahem, fringe benefits that all that spare time afforded me), I discarded the notion fairly quickly. It’s been almost 48 hours, and the light is still red (well, as of this morning).
don’t know about this model specifically, but we’ve got a bunch of rechargables up at the theatre. On all of them, there’s only a red light indicating that the charger is plugged in and a battery is plugged in.
My Makita has a funky charger with a couple of buttons and a red light; that will eventually stop sharging and the red light will go out.
Danke, Alphagene. For some reason, I couldn’t get into the B&D site earlier… probably due to millions of lucky Wizard recipients trying to do the exact same thing.
I got a bunch of those Versapack tools a few years ago, along with extra batteries and a charger kit ('twas a set of co-ordinated presents from several relatives). The set lives on a rack in the basement, and I confess that I’ve left batteries in the charger for months at a time. I’m not much of a power-tool user, I’m afraid.
The lights have always been red when I wandered down there.
OK, handy - I’ll read it. Almost forgot about the “Scum Buster” I got for Christmas. (seems like it’ll be real good for cleaning tires and aluminum wheels)
Ahem. From the B&D manual:
“An indicator light will come on…and will remain lit as long as the battery is in the charger. If this is your first use, let the battery charge for 6 hours, or until you finish having sex - whichever (or whoever) comes first. (OK, it didn’t really say that part). After normal usage, your battery will be fully charged in 3 hours or less.”
handy: I woulda if I coulda, but a manual for the versapak wasn’t included. Just a few lines in the Wizard manual warning me not to use the wrong voltage charger and informing me that if the base was warm, it was working.
Dire Wolf: It normally only takes me a half hour or so to “recharge.”
