Makita charger buzzing

[Tom McDonald]

I noticed that the Makita charger was buzzing loudly in the workshop so I unplugged it.  There is a battery in it.  Does this belong to anyone?

[d...@jigsawrenaissance.org]

it's nominally mine, but has fallen into general use around jigsaw.

i seem to remember that it's not a good idea to leave batteries charging
on an extended basis in there. not sure if that has anything to do with
it, or whether it's just broken.

dunno who used it last...

On Thu, 28 Mar 2013, Tom McDonald wrote:

> I noticed that the Makita charger was buzzing loudly in the workshop so I unplugged it. �There is a battery in it. �Does
> this belong to anyone?
>

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[Roy Hardman]

Thanks for unplugging it.

---

Those 18V Makita tools are awesome.

I have one of those chargers and even new, they make a pretty LOUD fan noise when it is charging or sometimes just when there is a battery in it. 

I am not sure how loud yours has become, but I bet you can disconnect that fan or replace it with something quieter :)

That charger is normally pretty expensive.

Makita DC18RA

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=DC18RA&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Looks like ebay has em for about $30

Cheers

---

From: "d...@jigsawrenaissance.org" <d...@jigsawrenaissance.org>
To: dav...@jigsawrenaissance.org
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 3:43 PM
Subject: Re: [da Vinci] Makita charger buzzing

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[Michael Park]

I don't know who used it last, but I certainly have used it. It's really handy, so thank you, Doug, for letting us all use it! 

[d...@jigsawrenaissance.org]

no problem. that thing is a beast, and i'm glad to see it getting used.

[Pat Tressel]

I noticed that the Makita charger was buzzing loudly in the workshop so I unplugged it.  There is a battery in it.

The buzzing may be entirely normal.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1VF4FZ9I5WWFQ/ref=cm_srch_res_rtr_alt_1
"The Battery charger is huge and makes a disagreeable buzzing sound while charging..."  (That's part of an otherwise 5-star review of a Makita drill.)

What may not be normal is...

i seem to remember that it's not a good idea to leave batteries charging on an extended basis in there.

...if it keeps charging and doesn't shut off by itself when the battery is fully charged.  Most recent chargers do turn off -- even my decade old Makita charger did.  So if we catch it running past when the charged indicator comes on, that's a problem.  Or if the charged indicator doesn't come on for way too long (but that could be a battery problem, not a charger problem).

What we could do, if we want to find out if either of the above are happening, is...  When someone starts it charging, put a sticky note there with the date/time it was started.  If we know how long it should take to charge, worst case (this is usually in the specs), we can check for it buzzing on significantly past that point, and whether the charged indicator is on or off then.  No reason to buy a new charger if this is just normal behavior.

-- Pat