Battery charger refurbishment

cathead

cathead

CATWERKS LTD
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The other day I stopped by to drop off my recyclables and in the dumpster was a Craftsman battery charger and a 7.25 inch Skil saw. Of course
I had to take them home. I'm not a dumpster diver but when the opportunity arises, why not? The charger was pretty dirty but someone
had installed new cords on it so I plugged it in and it actually worked! Someone had grafted on a 60-0-60 ammeter from an alternator
and of course that wouldn't be much use on a 6 ampere charger. My junk box provided a 0-10 ampere meter so used that instead. The
power cord was stuck through a 3/8 inch hole with tape on both sides of the metal to hold it. My fix was to remove the wiring as it was
poorly soldered anyway and use a Greenlee chassis punch to make a standard 3/4 inch hole for a proper wire holder. It was a rain day
so even though it was time consuming, it was enjoyable and worth the effort. The Skil saw works fine so will give it to the first person
that shows interest in it.


P1030964.JPG

This is my repair and also in the photo is the 3/4 Greenlee chassis punch. A friend gave them to me some years ago and this is the
first time I have used on of the set. I will have to call him and let him know they did get used.



P1030966.JPG
Here it is charging at about 4 amperes with the new meter installed. I like to take the time to restore the old style chargers as it won't be
long and the only kind available will be likely the high-tech switch mode type chargers...:frown:
 
I like the old transformer chargers too. I had some high tech ones I used to take on the plane (checked) when I would travel around the country going to F3B contests. We needed to buy batteries whenever we arrived, they had to be below a certain CCA. Anyway the tranformer type were heavy, so I went to the lighter switch type... They all failed quickly. Even very expensive ones... When I say quick, some lasted 3 years, but for the price that was quick... others not even a year.

Transformers are simple, durable and cheap in the old days.
 
markba633csi said:
Oldie but goodie- how about the saw? I just bought a brand new Skil for 50$ and I have to say I like it
They still make 'em good
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The saw is a complete mystery to me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it and in like new condition. There is no indication
that there is any wear on the skid plate. The cord is fine but has the two prong plug so it must be fairly old. Maybe I better
do some sawing with it just to make sure it's in good shape.:cautious:
 
I bought a new saw last year when my Craftsman of fifty years finally died. I still have hopes of resurrecting the Craftsman as the field winding had shorted out and it can be rewound. The OEM windings were aluminum and I counted the number of turns as I dissembled it and bought a spool of suitable copper wire to replace it My stumbling block is the insulation the forms the bobbin on the core had deteriorated to the point that it was unusable and I need to find a way to replicate it. If successful, it will become my saw for cutting metal and concrete.

The saw had a grounded plug the replacement Skil saw has a two prong plug, as is common on a lot of portable power tools of late. The very old tools had two prong plugs as there was no standard for safety. The progression to grounded pugs occured sometime in the fifties or sixties. Later tools adopted a double insulated strategy, along with polarized two prong plugs. I'm not sure of the time frame but I expecrt the transition happened around twenty years ago.
 
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