Makita 1822 battery not holding charge

To remove the chuck, unscrew the 4 screws that hold the chuck housing to the body of the drill. Put the chuck housing in a vise & remove the bearing retainer... it has a left hand thread, so righty loosey. Once the bearing retainer is out, the chuck slides out of the housing. Don't waste time looking for a screw because there isn't one.

IT IS THE DUST THAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM. YOU COULD TRY HOLDING THE LATCH BUTTON ON THE BATTERY AND THEN BANG THE BACK OF THE BATTERY AGAINST THE WORK SURFACE TO KNOCK IT OFF. CLEAN IT UP AND TRY A LIGHT SPRAY OF MR SHEEN. DUST WILL STICK TO ANY WET SURFACE SO NOT A LOT.

Either bad batteries or a bad charger. You can use a multimeter to test for DC voltage output in the charger.

Really --- come on now

Your luckly they lasted 3 years

I'am not an engineer that can do a forensic
examine on your dead battery. So i don't know

according to the schematic I saw yes you can and I think that you will be pleased with its performance, their operator manual even lists the weight of tool with this battery. Makita has a 1 year limited warranty on the Li-Ion battery that you might want to consider if you have the receipt.

This battery has a known design defect that causes premature failure. The battery is still probably good, but the safety circuit n the battery spuriously locks it, due to a bug. Once locked, it won't charge in the Makita charger (flashing red and green lights). Makita knows about this problem but so far is not actively recalling the batteries. Makita will replace the pack if the charge count is under 150 (some people say 300?) regardless of warranty status, but you have to take or mail it to a Makita Service Center -- the dealers won't handle this unless it's in warranty.
http://www.makita.com/en-us/Modules/Service/ServiceCenters.aspx

If Makita won't fix it, you can try to repair it. If the red and green lights are flashing, the battery is probably locked and cannot be repaired in a way that will let it be charged in the Makita charger (but it can be charged in off brand chargers). Buy a clone charger on eBay for $60 and try it. If it charges, just use it, no repair needed.

Be aware that lithium batteries do lose capacity permanently at a rate of about 20% per year. So, 3-6 years is about the best battery life you can expect - from date of manufacture, so if it sat in the store a while that adds. Makita derates the cells to allow for some shelf life (down from 2400 Mah to 1500 Mah rating).

If the battery is weak, and only gives brief usage, you can replace some of or all of the cells in the battery. These are expensive and worth repairing. See this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5taguEdlkY

If just 1 or 2 cells are weak, you can replace them with the same Sony 18650 size 2400 Mah capacity battery, green sleeve. The Sony's are not sold retail, and are hard to find other than from another Makita pack or from some laptop packs. If more are weak, you're better off just replacing all of them with new 18650 2400 Mah (or higher) batteries with tabs. Look for Tenergy or other quality brand.

Hope that helps.

If both lights are flashing it means the battery is defective so it won't charge it. By defective it could mean the battery is just worn out or there may be a short in the battery. If the battery is under warranty you can get it replaced at a Makita Service Center, if not you have to buy a new battery.

If the charge count on the batteries is under 300, Makita will replace them. Makita has a known defect in this battery that causes the battery to shut down before it is dead. So as of now they are exchanging ones with low use.

If they are truly defective and makita won't replace, you have to open them, find the dead cell or blown fuse, and replace. Search youtube makita battery for a video on repairing this battery. But once the red and green lights on the charger flash, the the battery can't be charged on a Makita charger -- it's been locked. So use a third party charger.

The charger you need is Makita charger DC1801. If you do a search for "DC1801" on ebay you will find heaps of those chargers on there!

The DC1801 charger will charge the 6347D 18v 2Ah Makita NiCad pod-style battery.

It is possible that the batteries are no longer good. They may need to be changed. These batteries do reach a stage where they no longer hold charge.

On rare occasions I have seen the gear box jam or the motor bearings go defective.

Jerry G.