My old B & D pro series cordless has got either charger or battery problems or both . I've got two batteries and two chargers . One charger has heat problems ,caused by a resistor overheating. The other charger shows both batteries as fuly charged ,although both show a viltage of 7.8v on an 18v battery .

Q1 - Anyone got any idea of where I can get my hands on a circuit diagram for a charger .

q2 - bit more drastic, but a new modern equivalent B & D is arounf £99, but one place is showing a De Walt ( with a similar battery ) at £129. And the offer is with three batteries. So if I could find something like this with a new charger and compatable batteries, I'd be able to use a spare battery in B & D. Anyone know if there's a B& D /De Walt compatable battery chart ?

I'd be very surprised if a DeWalt battery fitted into a B&Q drill as that's where after market dosh is made.

Also, why not take the opportunity of testing a lithium drill (with maybe less batteries) as they really are better to use.

I'd be very surprised if a DeWalt battery fitted into a B&Q drill as that's where after market dosh is made.

Also, why not take the opportunity of testing a lithium drill (with maybe less batteries) as they really are better to use.

It's not a B & Q drill, but a B & D ONE. Looking at the B & D site I'd have thought that De Walt was the pro version of B & D.

The damaged (overheating) charger may have damaged the two batteries, perhaps destroying a cell or two, hence the other charger saying they are full when they show such a low voltage. A completely FLAT battery with all good cells wouldnt show that low a voltage, so I would suggest that the overheating charger and the two batteries are scrap.

If you pop down to your local Lidl or Aldi you might find one of their cordless drills left, at £35-45 they are EXCELLENT value, coming as they do with a THREE YEAR warranty and (usually) a second battery. I have been using mine for 4-5 years now, it has even survived a couple of drops off of the (single story) roof onto concrete

I am so fed up having to wait for my cordless drill to recharge each time I need to use it around the house that I recently invested in a Stanley 803 hand drill. The original one I had lasted over 40 years until broken when I lent it out. The chuck size limits drill bit size but at least I know the drill will be instantly available when I need it.

Apologies for mixing up B&Q with B&D but I still think they have to justify the price differential and that's one of the ways to ensure you can't shortcut their pricing policies.

Also, whilst you can get cheap supermarket tools, I don't think you can totally compare the drills. The spanners etc are exceptional value though.

The damaged (overheating) charger may have damaged the two batteries, perhaps destroying a cell or two, hence the other charger saying they are full when they show such a low voltage. A completely FLAT battery with all good cells wouldnt show that low a voltage, so I would suggest that the overheating charger and the two batteries are scrap.

If you pop down to your local Lidl or Aldi you might find one of their cordless drills left, at £35-45 they are EXCELLENT value, coming as they do with a THREE YEAR warranty and (usually) a second battery. I have been using mine for 4-5 years now, it has even survived a couple of drops off of the (single story) roof onto concrete

GG- I managed to get the overheating charger opened . Still haven't un engineered enough of the circuit to work out how the full charge circuit operates , but the charge circuit is a simple charger and the overheating is due to a what i'd suggest ( due to the low value) wirewound resistor.This is in the control path of a powere transistor, so perhaps a junction has died . Strangely enough I found one battery worked in one charger -no fully charged light immediately and battery charged up nicely. I still had another charger so tried other battery in it and it charged to complete the cycle.

I'm a bit wary of Aldi/Lidll/Netto power tools. Mostly they're 12/14.4Volt stuff ( which are low on power ) .I prefer to go for at least 18v ones. I was looking at the modern version of my old B &D ,when a DE Walt on offer in Machine Mart with three batteries caught my eye .( It's 18v, and the batteries look very similar to those in my B & D) . Not much dearer than a new B & D with one battery . If my suspicions are right, then I'd get three batteries ( meaning two decent drills =my old one + a new one) for a few quid more than a replacement B & D .

My Lidl drill is 18.8v; for the first few charge cycles it was a bit weedy, then it got going and is still going strong; TBH I cannot remember how long ago I bought it, but it was the year Lidl first opened in Malvern, so at least 4-5 years ago.

The only issue I have is that, if you leave the battery in for too long after it finishes charging, it discharges it for you, a good way of keeping your batteries in good condition, but no good if you need it in the morning and forgot to take it off of charge the night before.

You get what you pay for here...

I have a host of Makita power tools all LXT lithium batteries.

As said -you get what you pay for - my drill is over ten years old. Origonal charger has now started to work again. Both batteries are doing the job. I'd suspect a glitch on charge, but on first impressions on charger circuit, I'm not impressed .