The Rambo Battery and Porta-Pak are sold as kits that are easy to assemble. You either scavenge cells from other tool batteries such as Dewalt, Craftsman, Ryobi, Black and Decker, Makita, Milwaukee, Porter Cable, Hitachi, Skil, or Kawasaki, or buy new cells. Of course new Sub-C cells with tabs are the best choice but can be pricey. The more expensive brands of tools such as Dewalt, Craftsman, Milwaukee, and Makita use higher quality cells with more power output and with a higher charge rate and higher discharge rate. Cheap cordless power tools like drill master from Harbor Freight use the cheapest NiCD Sub-C cells. You can't expect much from these cells and they should not be used in a Rambo Battery™ or Porta-Pak™ Power Station™. Some other companies make some really cheap models of tools also like Skil and Coleman. |
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Battery Chargers that are the best to use are the universal chargers that will charge NiCD and NiMH batteries and detect voltages of 7.2 to 19.2 volts and some good chargers we like are the Makita and Milwaukee Universal battery chargers. We just tested the new Craftsman Li-Ion and NiCD charger and it charged a NiMH and NiCD Rambo Battery and Porta-Pak and the cells only got a little warm. We only charged one Porta-Pak made with Tenergy 2400 mAh NiCD cells with a Ryobi 1 hour charger and it cooked the cells, so we say do not use the Ryobi 1 hour Charger. |
The little cheap charger that many companies make like Black and Decker, Skil, Hitachi, Firestorm, Coleman, Drill Master, and Bosch can be used to charge most Sub-C cells because the current output is only about 200 to 600 mAh. Since most Sub-C cells are 1200 mAh or greater there is little risk of cooking the cells when charging. The big risk with the cheap little chargers is overcharging the batteries because they don't have a brain to turn off the charger when it should be turned off. Most Quality companies like Dewalt, Craftsman, Makita, Milwaukee, Ryobi, Porter Cable, Black and Decker and Bosch offer smart chargers that turn off the charging when the battery is full. Don't forget about battery resurrection at refertoday.com |