PSA: My old drill battery died right when I was putting up a shelf in my garage

I was halfway through drilling the second hole and my Ryobi 18V just gave up, no warning at all. I remembered reading that sometimes the contacts get dirty, so I took a pencil eraser and rubbed the metal terminals on both the battery and the drill. Popped it back on the charger for like 20 minutes and it took a full charge, got the shelf up no problem. Anyone else have a quick fix for when a tool battery acts like it's totally dead?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookebailey1d ago

Did the eraser trick work on the charger contacts too?

the_jake1d ago

Yeah, the eraser thing on charger contacts. I tried that on an old laptop charger that wouldn't connect right. It cleaned off some gunk for sure, but the real fix for me was using a cotton swab with a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol. The eraser left little rubber bits that got stuck in the port, which was a whole new problem. So it can work, but you gotta be careful and maybe follow up with something to clean the residue.