Hi guys,
I bought one of these (Cel Power8 Workshop) ages ago, and for sometime now it stopped charging. I believe the company is no longer functioning or I am not able to track them down, so before I discard this item, I wanted to check if anyone here has or knows about this machine so can shed some light on how can it be repaired or find a solution to it. Thank you in advance!
Hi,
Do you have more information? How many batteries did you try to charge? What indicators do you have to suspect it’s not charging? Any lights showing? Do the tools power on at all? What are the model numbers of the charger and battery? What cell technology is it? Ni-MH? Li-Ion? etc? What is the approx. age of the batteries?
It looks like a similar “workshop” variant by the same people stopped selling on Amazon just before Christmas, for just under £800, and those used “20V” Li-Ion. Another online shop sells something similar again using 4.0 Ah 18V Li-Ion. Maybe they use 8 x 18650s in there that you can replace? Otherwise something popped in your charger?
If the battery is faulty and not repairable, it might be possible to 3D print and make an adapter- see e.g. 3D print models of adapters for makita batteries. You might need to adapt one of those designs to suit - if there is a battery which could be suitable with same voltage.
Hi,
Thank you for the replies. The machine uses 18V 2.6Ah lithium Ion battery. I thought the issue might have been with the charger but it makes sense that the battery inside the handle might have been over discharged, and wont charge up again. I am not savvy on these matters but is it possible to jump start the battery? Do you know if we have any equipment in the MakerSpace?
Reviving lithium ion packs is a relatively simple and important skill but fraught with danger. Lithium cells will continue to burn without additional oxygen as the reaction provides more oxidizer. I would definitely pair with someone experienced!
I don’t think we’re well equipped for li-ion battery fires in the space. Happy to hear proposals to permit this activity at the space!
Or get some 18650s and 3D print some Cel Power8 battery packs:
I saw that, looks like a good project to test the new 3d printers 
Although I am triggered to learn more about batteries, as Kyle said, is an important skill mostly in this day and age. About the health and safety, cant say much, would a water bucket next to it be enough?
I always work on lithium battery packs outside, if something goes wrong there’s not only the fire risk but also a lot of very nasty smoke/fumes.
I would never recommend building or disassembling lithium battery packs inside.
The toxicity of gases given off from any given lithium-ion battery differ from that of a typical fire and can themselves vary but all remain either poisonous or combustible, or both. They can feature high percentages of hydrogen, and compounds of hydrogen, including hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen cyanide, as well as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and methane among other dangerous chemicals.
Basically a hard no.
Never build or dismantle lithium battery packs in the space.
I prefer banning them completely.
Nothing wrong with 3d printing parts and preparing to build a battery pack.
But it’s very very easy to make a mistake and cause a nasty toxic fire.
I’ve built loads and dismantled a few, I always do it outside.
I assumed so, was joking there. Thanks for the insight
With 18650s? But ok, put the batteries in the holder when outside….
Yes with 18650s.
They’re just small incendiary devices with added toxic smoke, disguised as a battery.
Putting batteries into a battery holder isn’t really building a battery pack, but if someone gets the polarity wrong and isn’t using protected cells then nasty things can happen.
It’s easier to make a mistake with flat top cells, mostly because they don’t look like more common batteries.
Battery packs are normally spot welded together with nickel strip, or sometimes soldered. This should definitely be done outside.
Cool! My torch which can use 18650s just became exciting!