The 40V battery lends itself to both a series or parallel connection of its Li-ion cells. In a series connection (40V battery on 40V tool), each cell adds its voltage potential to obtain the double voltage of 40V. By connecting the Li-ion cells in parallel (40V battery on 20V tool), the result is an output with a double capacity: it will boost the capacity from 2600mAh to 5200mAh.
o come on! it seems obvious... that the tool which uses 20 volts has its (B1- B2-) , and (B1+ B2+) bridged in tha way. And the tool which uses 40 V ONLY BRIDGE (B1+ B2-) . THAT WILL COVER ALL THE POSSIBILITIES. AND PREVENTING ONE TO WORK IN THE OTHER.
Yes! Always assume the simplest solution. It's not crude, as Julian suggested. It's better on the cells since they will each provide less power than if it switched between the too and it's more reliable.
He does like dragging things out, now I remember why I stopped watching. I don't really care that he doesn't like yellow either, like the value of the product is based on the colour of the leds it uses.
I bought this drill from Aldi 4 years ago when it was branded as "Workzone" its done really well and still going strong. Back then they were selling this with 2 18V 2.AH batteries but this drill is my go to battery power drill driver. I would definitely buy another if it broke down on me.
I wouldn't buy this again, at least not right now. My battery died and I can't get a replacement. Not in the shop nor online. Now I have a number of new tools that I can't use. At least not without modification to take a different battery.
My suggestion for the question at 1:49 :To make such a battery, I would arrange the two 20V banks in parallel and I would implement the "serial bridge" if 40V are needed in the different tools. With this arrangement, the total capacity of the two banks can be used with both systems, with the same amount of wattage.
DeWalt has a similar system, called FlexVolt, with 18 and 54 Volt. ua-cam.com/video/VAmghq7XadQ/v-deo.html DeWalt is doing this by having the battery divided into 3 parts, with each 5 cells. For 18 V they use the 3 battery parts parallel, for 54 they use it in series. There's a special mechanical switch on the battery which is only activated by 54 Volt tools. In this case there are probably only 2 parts with each 5 cells, and they name it 20 V and 40, but it's the same battery like a 18 and 36 volt battery. If you look to the connectors, it looks like they have a output of 18 V out of each 2 connectors, so they could switch them parallel in a 18 V machine's cabling, or in series in 40 V devices. This would be the most simple way, like Makita, but they do it with 2 separate batteries.
12:50 you got the pins wrong. the tool uses the temperature sense (not the ID, it doesn't care about ID). So it can shut down the tool if the battery is overheating. The ID is probably to indicate to the charger that it is LiIon or NiMh (or NiCad depending on how old the battery spec is), and not if it's a 1 battery or 2 battery unit. So it can adjust charging style. A microprocessor based charger probably doesn't even need ID and can sense the type of battery. where an ID may be useful for a more low tech simple charger. The charger also probably just bridges the 2 batteries negatives and positives (paralel) and charges it to 20V.
I thought you had it wrong for the middle pin, glad to see you figured it out, orientation screws with perspective. EDIT: The charger probably uses the ID to work out the charge level, the drill won't care about that and you will just see a reduction in speed/power.
I don't think the ID pin says if it is 20 or 40v, it'll probably just be used as way to gauge the power level of each set of batteries. A shared pin plus the + or - of each set of batteries. The charger probably takes the temperature as well, the battery pack looks quite dumb. I suspect all the brains are in the charger but even then it won't be very smart given the price point.
It can see the voltages from the battery contacts. The 40v tools need to identify the battery as a 40v one to run it at 40v. Something has to connect the 2 batteries to series to run at 40v and it obviously isnot a mechanical switch that does so.
From the look of this it's the tool that does all the work for 20/40v but doesn't check it just works. If you plug the 20v battery into a 40v device it won't make a connection and won't work. Where as with a 20v device it works either way, just longer with a 40v battery.
This is just the most simple commercial solution (and pretty obvious right from the start). No matter how it is used, both sets of batteries in the dual voltage pack will be at the same residual charge level, so no problem just parallelling them up to use. Charger just charges the whole lot back up again.
Yeah I cut a slot and taped the bit on a screwdriver to get into Sky TV boxes. The whopping 320 GB HDDs live on in my PC and Sunon Maglev fans fixed my LOUD AF Creality 3D printer.
Thanks. This didn't solve a mystery for me but it was very interesting and got me thinking with muscles that I hadn't exercised in a while. I agree with most of your conclusions too. All tool battery chargers I've used monitor temperature. Admittedly, I've never owned a multi-voltage setup but a high battery temp always pauses charging... Even on cell phones but I absolutely agree that it's the tool that dictates whether the cell packs are in series or parallel and as you discovered it's definitely hardwired. I've used a 12v Milwaukee drill with an 18v battery and yes it's a performance increase but the tool was not designed for the increase so longevity is in question. It's not the voltage that's usually the problem but the current difference. It's like using a 20 amp tool on a 15 amp circuit, you'll either blow the breaker or get much less performance from the tool.
Yes, I'm going back to Aldi to get the charger very soon. I think it'll be essentially 2 chargers in one box - and I agree that it'll want access to both the T pin and the ID pin :)
@@JulianIlett It's this Ferrex line of products, they have it here too and the point is that you can only buy a few batteries and use them in all the different tools.
Julian Ilett I’ve had tools from Lidl come with batteries, some without, some with chargers, some without... I guess it’s a price point thing. Essentially now I have some batteries and a couple of chargers any additional tools won’t need either of them.
well yes, being used as 20 V or charged for that matter 20V, it parallels the batteries. used in a 40V drill it puts in series, all done by simply connecting it the right way. no mystery there!
ALDI UK are selling the Ferrex cordless tools again (Nov 2019). Does anyone know if the old WORX, Guild, Titan, JCB, Erbauer or Workzone 18V/20V batteries will fit/work on the new 20V Ferrex tools? I have my eye on a cordless Ferrex 20V Reciprocating Saw for just £25. UPDATE: the 20V WORX batteries are NOT compatible. While the battery mount/rail fits well enough, the actual metal pins that connect with the battery are in the wrong locations. Also there are 5 metal pins on the FERREX tool and only 4 slots on the WORX/Erbauer batteries.
You sir are a legend. Been scratching my head over this and often find myself almost buying the bare units as I have many worx / erbauer tools with batteries. Thank you!
I think what you have is 2 floating / electrically isolated battery PSUs that's hard wired by the appropriate equipment to give additional voltage or additional A/Ah. Very simple and clever electrical engineering.
Did we actually test if B1+ and B2+ were bridged, and the same with the minuses? It makes no sense doubling up the circuitry beside the + terminals if they're bridged, seems like extra cost nobody would go to, and yet every component seems to be doubled up?!
Isn't the IC for PWM for speed control? They already have MOSFET for battery protection in the tool, might as well use the same ones for speed control as well.
Seems with Makita they rely on the tool to protect the pack and I've found some that don't! They just rely on people deciding the tools are too useless and to put the pack on charge. Anyway, an angle grinder is going to use more current than a drill so they have separate LVD setpoints/LVDs on the tool side due to the different pulldown voltages of different power intensity tools when in use. Also, the charger would also just shove the two packs in one package in parallel like the 20V tools do. As it's a cheap product it's simple, easy and cost effective. Obviously it will take longer to charge due to only one charger, so single charge reate. But hey, you get what you pay for.
_Could have been blue_ LEDs? Na, enough with everything having stupid blue LEDs! It was understandable when they first came out with blue LEDs but now it is just silly. - 3:20 And that thin plastic over the LEDs and button *REALLY* makes them look cheap.
Sometimes I break center pin in security screw heads by bending them to side. Or, how to create deep reach bits - make slot at the end of them... for screwdriver.
Hello Julien A microsecond I read brushless and started dreaming.... As for the battery normally I think it should be rated as 18v/36v battery (5s and 2x5s) As for the charger, the simplest would be as in the drill, booth cell packs in parallel, well it's my guess .
Is the arrangement in the drill so the charger can sense temperature when charging and turn off? Can it then turm back on if it discharges if left for long periods (domestic drill so likely to be used infrequently?) I'd love to know if the battery can just be left on charge for long periods with no issues.I wonder if the drill released March 2021 is any different?
I think the battery should definitly manage it's output volage by itself. Imagine this, someone buys two 20V tools. From banging around in the toolbag, one of the tool's battery contacts (lets say B1+) breaks off. Now the tool is only using B2, but it works fine. The tool gets used until the battery is almost empty. Now the guy puts the same battery in his other tool, where the packs are paralleled up, so now B2 (21V) is going to dump as many amps as it can into bat 1 (16,~V), could end up in a desaster...
If its 2 combined units where 1 unit gives 36 Watt hours @ 2.o Amp hours, how come 2 units gives 90 Wat hours @ 2,5 Amp hours (x2). They must be different units in the 20/40 to the 20 ? I suggest that the ID is to do with keeping both units charged separately so that each unit is treated as individual and therfore receiving dedicated nominal charges so they both get charged to the same or similar level instead of the one with the higher charge cutting the automatic charger off before the other with a lower charge off is finished charging. Tunnel diodes would be used to drive the various led indicators.
Ferrex: I bought 3 tools, three batteries and a charger. Impact driver appeared to work, angle grinder had an intermittent fault, didn't try the drill/driver. 40V batteries both had fault indications on the charger and were both exchanged, 20V battery appeared to work and charge OK. Returned all items and took a refund.
I saw them in Aldi and initially thought they were selling different battery packs of different voltage, then saw they were dual voltage. I thought that was interesting, then wandered off to get some of their Snackrite tortilla chips, which are delicious at 35¢, unlike Tesco's.
Massimo O'Kissed That's because Tesco sneaks horse meat into its own-brand products: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/22/horsemeat-scandal-guardian-investigation-public-secrecy
Okurka That may be (although I would dispute that any meat is good for your health, the environment, or the poor animal itself), but the significant issue here is a supermarket including an undisclosed ingredient in its products. If you were to buy a food product, even a horse-meat burger, you would surely expect it to contain only the ingredients listed on the label.
Any other brand I can use this battery with (the small one)? I'm stuck with a battery and a charger, because my drill died (my fault) and there's no new drill in store to be found.
Why making it that comlicated ? 20V is using the batteries in parallel and 40V is using them in series. T is for Temperature measurement. Nothing Special.
hmm great, tks, so, due to the lack of 40v batts, i might end up buying two 20v and modding them to provide the b1+b2 to the 40v torque drill i bought in discount. A 3dprinting wizard could come up with an adapter for two batts... :)
Aldi Australia xfinity plus are set up very similar their 4amp double battery has a ID contact and the the 4 connectors - but no suggestion of 40v for this range and the 2amp battery does not
In the Dewalt Flex they use a mechanical switch in the battery. And there is also a electrical bridge in the tool for security, so a 20V (or 18V in america i think) tool don't get destroyed if the switch in the battery is stucked.
Is there just the 1 type of charger for both the 20v and 40v batteries? If so then the ID might be to switch the batteries into parallel mode for charging. Then go back to series when in the 40v tool?
Hi I own it just like it but it stopped working and the battery was full. There is an electronic card under the drill that provides power from the battery, but it does not work to supply the drill with it. What is the reason in your opinion ?
I have an angle grinder 20 volts and I bought a 20/40 volt battery. When I try to charge the battery it does not seem to charge, the red light stays on on charger and I get only 2 yellow lights. Should I have different charger ?.
Interesting diagnosis but the question remains apart from the build quality is the battery going to be reliable and do what it says on the tin thank you
So is it possible to make the 20v battery work with say the circular saw which claims it will only work with the 20/40v battery? OR will it not work because it cant bridge the two batteries to create 40v?
I've got all there tools apart from the lawnmower and numerous batteries can't wait for the circular saw and jigsaw and recip saw good tools. The 40v battery just uses an extra pin on its port that's all it is. I'm surprised how long the 40v battery will last especially in the hedge trimmer and Strimmer. The grinder and mower need the 40v battery to run the tools are made in Germany by the same company who make erbauer and the erbauer batteries fit these tools but won't run the 40v stuff
Grinder doesn't need 40v only the chainsaw and the mower do. I see they are teasing more on the 2nd of June in ireland and I don't know what but I'm excited anyway. I'm building my new shed/workshop with this stuff. All very good so far. Only thing I didn't buy is the chain saw as I've no need.
ir would be reasonable to suspect that the logic takes care of a balanced unloading of the two cell packs. so if you put the battery in an other device it can confugure it as a parralel device ..
I've also just watched your latest vid on the Parkside 12v battery packs, what a difference in the amount of charge circuitry! There's hardly anything in the Aldi battery! Lidl's Power tools seem to be better made than the Aldi equivalent! Aldi sell a much better range of ready meals though! 😊
from beginnig of the video i thought, holy shit why does he not measure from outside the conntects to the drill both - and both + if they are connected and just parallel the both string, and finaly you open and saw the connection on pcb, thank you....
have the same drill but at mine the jaw chuck seems to be a bit wiggly when it comes to final closing it, there is a slight resistance and sometimes it doesnt really fit nicely to the shaft of the tool. Do you experience the same - just wonderung if its a general problem or just with mine?
How does one buy theses tools? I ordered and paid for 2 tools but Aldi emailed me that I would not be having them and they were being returned to the warehouse. they refunded me the cost but no explanation why.
Hi, bit of an odd question here..... Do you know what other makes/brands of drills share the same 20v batteries? I'm asking as I already have a Ferrex reciprocating saw with charger and a couple of batteries, but Aldi dont stock the drills anymore. Any help appreciated!
In Australia the Aldi tool brand is Work Zone. The batteries are Activ Energy. I like the batteries but I have not had a happy time with tools. So much so that I don't even look at them now. Having said that however their cheap multimeters are ok for cheap meters, especially if you wait a month until they drop the prices so they can get rid of the unsold stock.
UK Aldi used to sell WorkZone - I think they still do. This is their new range with swappable batteries similar to Lidl have been doing the last few years
Yeah, Aldi tools are usually Workzone in the UK too. Not seen this branding before. The tools are not great, but they're cheap, so that's what you would expect. I've bought a few bits in the past on the basis that they are better than nothing, and I don't feel they are bad value for money.
For me it looks a little bit different from the DeWalt system. DeWalt has a more complicated system, they switch the voltage in the battery, but this here has 5 pins, where 4 are marked as battery connectors. So I would guess they have 2 physical divided batteries with each 2 AH in one case, with 2 sets of connectors, and I think they connect these 2 batteries in the device's socket, parallel for 18 V (20 V) devices and in series for 36 V (40 V) devices. This would be effectively the same like the Makita 18V x 2 system, but they use 2 separate batteries to do this. DeWalt has mechanical switches in the battery, this here don't look like they have such stuff.
Had to go back to the start of the video to double check - but it's right there on the box - definitely a variable speed drill. And these days, that generally means a micro controller switching MOSFETs for PWM. A bit too obvious for Julian? Or was he just too focused on the battery "mystery" of how parallel and serial work?
Chuck a flat blade down there. It will turn or the security knob will fall off. The big battery was out of stock ,the little battery weighs nothing . I suspect the batteries are close to compatible with another brand. There's potential for balancing problems with multi voltage batterys. The tools that used the big battery looked pretty nasty. Ferrux more like borrux Top tip you can ram 18v Ryobi battery's into performance power 12v tools.
Why oh why are power tool batteries not universal? You can put money on the fact that when this battery comes to the end of its effective life, they will have changed the fitting. This also applies to the major brands, not just supermarket cheapies. One of the reasons I stick to 240 volt.
ferrex is a power devil rebrand & power devil was a german brand & your trying to work out what id does its a charge clock when it gets to full charge it drops to trickle charge then turns off to stop overcharge, & the middle pin on the drill doesn't connect to the terminal on the battery as its only required during charge
bought 4 grinders 4ah at lidl netherlands for 30€ each. battery 20v 4ah alone cost on webshop 29.99 came in a nice case metal locks. when they reopen the shop, they have a lot of bargains. just bought a battery powered water/dry vacuum cleaner on the lidl.nl for 59.99 with 4ah battery, strange that lidl.de have this for 79.99, saw that one time ago for 65, like Jodi tips and tricks, says a welder can't have enough (battery)grinders and a shop vac
Two battery units: multi-redundant connector fits two batteries in parallel at 20v or two battery units in series at 40v. The wiring can coexist as long as the connector to the appliance has redundancy as shown around 6 mins. The US & UK won the war so have been dumbing down education whilst the Germans have been doing the opposite; can it be any simpler? I survived public school physics, because the fat teacher kicked me out of every single lesson so my brother taught me & I got A grades at O & A level. Kids: survive school! This video confuses things by failing to pre-charge both batteries
@@johncoops6897 Typically in all of my BMS boards the thermal sensor disconnects the the power from the device, but in rare cases why couldn't they be used to activate a different function. Plus I made a comment early in the video.
@@johncoops6897 Right and I agree, but you can get these sensors in different values and beside a temp sensor it could have been a sensor that trips the mosfets when under a certain load. It was a oddity anyway and rarely implemented if it even did.
That seems to be a new trend not to label the batteries with a multiple of the nominal voltage per cell, which is 3.7V, but to use 4V instead. I recently purchased a Bosch cordless drill which does exactly that and it says 12V. They even say the batteries are interchangeable with the "older" 10.8V batteries and drills.
@@e1woqf , I think it's because it's labeled for consumers (ie compatible), and most consumers need a compatibility label because they aren't EEs. But, yeah misleading just like GB base ten vs base 2, for sd cards.
@@TheRainHarvester Or maybe another glorious idea from the marketing department? Most consumers might think the 12V drill from company A must be more powerful than the 10.8V or 11.1V drill from company B.
On one of AvE's video's he gained access to a Chinese tool manufacturers website and the drills were literally like lego - just pick the parts you want (body, controller, clutch, motor, batteries,etc) and they'll fit them together, brand it, and put it all in a box for you, as long as you're buying by the container-load. Some of the bodies looked identical to well known brands, leading to the suspicion they're making fakes/clones, or they're making them for the brands themselves.
The deeply-set screws are not a problem if you have a proper driver handle to use with them. The one I use is made by Snap-On Tools. :-) You didn't open up the charger...
Here in Aus ALDI ferrex is there garden line and activ energy is for there standard battery's AAA,aa,C,d type. They sell power tools as workzone titanium, battery's are the same brand also
@@mozismobile electrically that's almost identical, only difference being that instead of using a physical switch, the battery contacts on the tool do the switching here
@@iRrrmanion1 in theory you could switch the mosfets during equalisation to reduce the current. Whether the Aldi tool does that I don't know, but it is the obvious reason the design things that way
"Perhaps the battery has a BMS in it." says Julian after looking at a very obvious 5S BMS card inside the battery for 3 minutes. (Dead give away: B+, B2, B3, B4, B- connections)
The 40V battery lends itself to both a series or parallel connection of its Li-ion
cells. In a series connection (40V battery on 40V tool), each cell adds its voltage potential to obtain the
double voltage of 40V. By connecting the Li-ion cells in parallel (40V battery on 20V tool), the result is
an output with a double capacity: it will boost the capacity from 2600mAh to 5200mAh.
o come on! it seems obvious... that the tool which uses 20 volts has its (B1- B2-) , and (B1+ B2+) bridged in tha way. And the tool which uses 40 V ONLY BRIDGE (B1+ B2-) . THAT WILL COVER ALL THE POSSIBILITIES. AND PREVENTING ONE TO WORK IN THE OTHER.
Yes! Always assume the simplest solution. It's not crude, as Julian suggested. It's better on the cells since they will each provide less power than if it switched between the too and it's more reliable.
He does like dragging things out, now I remember why I stopped watching. I don't really care that he doesn't like yellow either, like the value of the product is based on the colour of the leds it uses.
Correct !
@@templebrown7179 It's very crude since it will lead to catastrophic failure if a battery has become imbalanced while using it on a 40V machine.
I did think it was obvious, mere seconds into the video.
I bought this drill from Aldi 4 years ago when it was branded as "Workzone" its done really well and still going strong. Back then they were selling this with 2 18V 2.AH batteries but this drill is my go to battery power drill driver. I would definitely buy another if it broke down on me.
I wouldn't buy this again, at least not right now. My battery died and I can't get a replacement. Not in the shop nor online. Now I have a number of new tools that I can't use. At least not without modification to take a different battery.
My suggestion for the question at 1:49 :To make such a battery, I would arrange the two 20V banks in parallel and I would implement the "serial bridge" if 40V are needed in the different tools. With this arrangement, the total capacity of the two banks can be used with both systems, with the same amount of wattage.
This is like a really polite and well mannered AvE BOLTR tool review.
It was!
4 security torx wouldn't have stopped bigclive. Fail I'm afraid
Oh spudge !
DeWalt has a similar system, called FlexVolt, with 18 and 54 Volt.
ua-cam.com/video/VAmghq7XadQ/v-deo.html
DeWalt is doing this by having the battery divided into 3 parts, with each 5 cells. For 18 V they use the 3 battery parts parallel, for 54 they use it in series. There's a special mechanical switch on the battery which is only activated by 54 Volt tools.
In this case there are probably only 2 parts with each 5 cells, and they name it 20 V and 40, but it's the same battery like a 18 and 36 volt battery. If you look to the connectors, it looks like they have a output of 18 V out of each 2 connectors, so they could switch them parallel in a 18 V machine's cabling, or in series in 40 V devices. This would be the most simple way, like Makita, but they do it with 2 separate batteries.
"4 security torx wouldn't have stopped bigclive." - Julian probably wants to use the battery!
12:50 you got the pins wrong. the tool uses the temperature sense (not the ID, it doesn't care about ID). So it can shut down the tool if the battery is overheating.
The ID is probably to indicate to the charger that it is LiIon or NiMh (or NiCad depending on how old the battery spec is), and not if it's a 1 battery or 2 battery unit. So it can adjust charging style.
A microprocessor based charger probably doesn't even need ID and can sense the type of battery. where an ID may be useful for a more low tech simple charger.
The charger also probably just bridges the 2 batteries negatives and positives (paralel) and charges it to 20V.
We shall see :) I just bought the charger
I thought you had it wrong for the middle pin, glad to see you figured it out, orientation screws with perspective.
EDIT: The charger probably uses the ID to work out the charge level, the drill won't care about that and you will just see a reduction in speed/power.
Charger looks at ID to regocnize that the battery is 40v to determine charge power. The drill is 20v only so it does not need ID pin only temperature.
I don't think the ID pin says if it is 20 or 40v, it'll probably just be used as way to gauge the power level of each set of batteries. A shared pin plus the + or - of each set of batteries. The charger probably takes the temperature as well, the battery pack looks quite dumb. I suspect all the brains are in the charger but even then it won't be very smart given the price point.
It can see the voltages from the battery contacts. The 40v tools need to identify the battery as a 40v one to run it at 40v. Something has to connect the 2 batteries to series to run at 40v and it obviously isnot a mechanical switch that does so.
From the look of this it's the tool that does all the work for 20/40v but doesn't check it just works. If you plug the 20v battery into a 40v device it won't make a connection and won't work. Where as with a 20v device it works either way, just longer with a 40v battery.
This is just the most simple commercial solution (and pretty obvious right from the start). No matter how it is used, both sets of batteries in the dual voltage pack will be at the same residual charge level, so no problem just parallelling them up to use. Charger just charges the whole lot back up again.
You could probably have dug a slit in the back of your torx tip and attached it with a piece of thermo sleeve at the end of a flat screwdriver.
many times the pin in the middle can be broken off, found this out accidentally using a flat head screwdriver to remove security torx
Great tip! I'm definitely going to use that.
Yes, it's another solution :)
@@brendanrandle First time I came across them was on an Olivetti monitor around 1990. Just snapped off the pin as you say.
Yeah I cut a slot and taped the bit on a screwdriver to get into Sky TV boxes. The whopping 320 GB HDDs live on in my PC and Sunon Maglev fans fixed my LOUD AF Creality 3D printer.
Thanks. This didn't solve a mystery for me but it was very interesting and got me thinking with muscles that I hadn't exercised in a while. I agree with most of your conclusions too. All tool battery chargers I've used monitor temperature. Admittedly, I've never owned a multi-voltage setup but a high battery temp always pauses charging... Even on cell phones but I absolutely agree that it's the tool that dictates whether the cell packs are in series or parallel and as you discovered it's definitely hardwired. I've used a 12v Milwaukee drill with an 18v battery and yes it's a performance increase but the tool was not designed for the increase so longevity is in question. It's not the voltage that's usually the problem but the current difference. It's like using a 20 amp tool on a 15 amp circuit, you'll either blow the breaker or get much less performance from the tool.
Aldi. Where you go to buy bread and a jar of marmalade and come home with a drill, two batteries, a chainsaw and a two-man tent 😀
Close to the joke. Not far off. Now where did we hear it? I don't recall.
I do the opposite, I go there to buy some tools which I've seen on offer, find they haven't got them, and end up buying some bread and marmalade.
You must've never been to Action..
When the French revolution kicks off I know where I'm going for war supplies!
No charger? I wanna see THAT teardown! Plus it'll likely be connected to the ID pin, or maybe even both pins :)
Yes, I'm going back to Aldi to get the charger very soon. I think it'll be essentially 2 chargers in one box - and I agree that it'll want access to both the T pin and the ID pin :)
It didn't come with a charger? That's so weird! Is that typical of Aldi? Never bought powertools from there before
No. Typically Aldi and Lidl have sold power tools with battery and charger included. Selling everything separately seems like a new thing.
@@JulianIlett It's this Ferrex line of products, they have it here too and the point is that you can only buy a few batteries and use them in all the different tools.
Julian Ilett I’ve had tools from Lidl come with batteries, some without, some with chargers, some without... I guess it’s a price point thing. Essentially now I have some batteries and a couple of chargers any additional tools won’t need either of them.
well yes, being used as 20 V or charged for that matter 20V, it parallels the batteries. used in a 40V drill it puts in series, all done by simply connecting it the right way. no mystery there!
I see aldi have brought out a ferrex 18v combi drill very naughty I think why they didn't make it compatible with the 20v stuff is beyond me
Yeah, and it looks like a different battery connector.
ALDI UK are selling the Ferrex cordless tools again (Nov 2019). Does anyone know if the old WORX, Guild, Titan, JCB, Erbauer or Workzone 18V/20V batteries will fit/work on the new 20V Ferrex tools? I have my eye on a cordless Ferrex 20V Reciprocating Saw for just £25.
UPDATE: the 20V WORX batteries are NOT compatible. While the battery mount/rail fits well enough, the actual metal pins that connect with the battery are in the wrong locations. Also there are 5 metal pins on the FERREX tool and only 4 slots on the WORX/Erbauer batteries.
You sir are a legend. Been scratching my head over this and often find myself almost buying the bare units as I have many worx / erbauer tools with batteries. Thank you!
I think what you have is 2 floating / electrically isolated battery PSUs that's hard wired by the appropriate equipment to give additional voltage or additional A/Ah. Very simple and clever electrical engineering.
For 40 V devices this is effectively the same like the Makita 18V x 2, but they use 2 separate batteries for it instead of one divided battery.
Did we actually test if B1+ and B2+ were bridged, and the same with the minuses? It makes no sense doubling up the circuitry beside the + terminals if they're bridged, seems like extra cost nobody would go to, and yet every component seems to be doubled up?!
They're bridged :)
Isn't the IC for PWM for speed control? They already have MOSFET for battery protection in the tool, might as well use the same ones for speed control as well.
Seems with Makita they rely on the tool to protect the pack and I've found some that don't! They just rely on people deciding the tools are too useless and to put the pack on charge. Anyway, an angle grinder is going to use more current than a drill so they have separate LVD setpoints/LVDs on the tool side due to the different pulldown voltages of different power intensity tools when in use.
Also, the charger would also just shove the two packs in one package in parallel like the 20V tools do. As it's a cheap product it's simple, easy and cost effective. Obviously it will take longer to charge due to only one charger, so single charge reate. But hey, you get what you pay for.
_Could have been blue_ LEDs? Na, enough with everything having stupid blue LEDs! It was understandable when they first came out with blue LEDs but now it is just silly. - 3:20
And that thin plastic over the LEDs and button *REALLY* makes them look cheap.
You can see blue better in sunlight though.. so worth it on a tool
Sometimes I break center pin in security screw heads by bending them to side.
Or, how to create deep reach bits - make slot at the end of them... for screwdriver.
What he said lol
You may find that this brand has a higher voltage tool such as a lawn mower or garden blower and the drill is only a straight 20v
Hello Julien
A microsecond I read brushless and started dreaming.... As for the battery normally I think it should be rated as 18v/36v battery (5s and 2x5s)
As for the charger, the simplest would be as in the drill, booth cell packs in parallel, well it's my guess .
Is the arrangement in the drill so the charger can sense temperature when charging and turn off? Can it then turm back on if it discharges if left for long periods (domestic drill so likely to be used infrequently?) I'd love to know if the battery can just be left on charge for long periods with no issues.I wonder if the drill released March 2021 is any different?
I think the battery should definitly manage it's output volage by itself. Imagine this, someone buys two 20V tools. From banging around in the toolbag, one of the tool's battery contacts (lets say B1+) breaks off. Now the tool is only using B2, but it works fine. The tool gets used until the battery is almost empty. Now the guy puts the same battery in his other tool, where the packs are paralleled up, so now B2 (21V) is going to dump as many amps as it can into bat 1 (16,~V), could end up in a desaster...
If its 2 combined units where 1 unit gives 36 Watt hours @ 2.o Amp hours, how come 2 units gives 90 Wat hours @ 2,5 Amp hours (x2). They must be different units in the 20/40 to the 20 ?
I suggest that the ID is to do with keeping both units charged separately so that each unit is treated as individual and therfore receiving dedicated nominal charges so they both get charged to the same or similar level instead of the one with the higher charge cutting the automatic charger off before the other with a lower charge off is finished charging.
Tunnel diodes would be used to drive the various led indicators.
Ferrex: I bought 3 tools, three batteries and a charger. Impact driver appeared to work, angle grinder had an intermittent fault, didn't try the drill/driver. 40V batteries both had fault indications on the charger and were both exchanged, 20V battery appeared to work and charge OK. Returned all items and took a refund.
I saw them in Aldi and initially thought they were selling different battery packs of different voltage, then saw they were dual voltage.
I thought that was interesting, then wandered off to get some of their Snackrite tortilla chips, which are delicious at 35¢, unlike Tesco's.
I hope you bought a jar of salsa too :)
Massimo O'Kissed That's because Tesco sneaks horse meat into its own-brand products: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/22/horsemeat-scandal-guardian-investigation-public-secrecy
@@josslevy4240 Tesco products should taste better then...
Horse meat is the best meat.
Okurka That may be (although I would dispute that any meat is good for your health, the environment, or the poor animal itself), but the significant issue here is a supermarket including an undisclosed ingredient in its products. If you were to buy a food product, even a horse-meat burger, you would surely expect it to contain only the ingredients listed on the label.
Any other brand I can use this battery with (the small one)?
I'm stuck with a battery and a charger, because my drill died (my fault) and there's no new drill in store to be found.
They're back this week.
I'd buy the battery and charger.
Why making it that comlicated ?
20V is using the batteries in parallel and 40V is using them in series. T is for Temperature measurement. Nothing Special.
@Ewald - So what's ID?
You expect far too much of this stuff. It'll be the cheapest thing they can sell
Dewalt batteries rebrand
hmm great, tks, so, due to the lack of 40v batts, i might end up buying two 20v and modding them to provide the b1+b2 to the 40v torque drill i bought in discount. A 3dprinting wizard could come up with an adapter for two batts... :)
Open the impact driver and look for the parallel connection on the plate.
I don"t think impact drivers need 40v.
hi how do i wire up a normal 2 wire terminal battery to those drill pins instead of using five pin battery
So to cut cost it looks like the BMS is in the tool not the battery but then unsure how balance changing is done?
Aldi Australia xfinity plus are set up very similar their 4amp double battery has a ID contact and the the 4 connectors - but no suggestion of 40v for this range and the 2amp battery does not
My mate is currently building an e-bike using those 20V/40V batteries, 10 LG cells plus whatever circuitry plus the case for £30 ain't bad really
10cells per pack mmmmmm
Go on eBay just 1 pack no good ya need 10 packs for decent range/time if ya got 300 quid to throw at Lidl buy me some 😂😂😂
In the Dewalt Flex they use a mechanical switch in the battery.
And there is also a electrical bridge in the tool for security, so a 20V (or 18V in america i think) tool don't get destroyed if the switch in the battery is stucked.
It's the other way round - American market is responsible for 20v marketing. Bigger is always better apparently.....
Is there just the 1 type of charger for both the 20v and 40v batteries? If so then the ID might be to switch the batteries into parallel mode for charging. Then go back to series when in the 40v tool?
Hi
I own it just like it but it stopped working and the battery was full.
There is an electronic card under the drill that provides power from the battery, but it does not work to supply the drill with it.
What is the reason in your opinion ?
Do them active batteries fit the 18v ferrex nail gun? Or just the 18v ferrex battery
I have an angle grinder 20 volts and I bought a 20/40 volt battery. When I try to charge the battery it does not seem to charge, the red light stays on on charger and I get only 2 yellow lights. Should I have different charger ?.
If you want to know what is inside big battery just take apart big battery, not small battery and drill and than assume what is inside big battery.
A ferreteria is a hardware shop in Spanish...
"Ironmonger" is an old-fashioned word for "hardware store" in British English. I expect that they have a similar etymology.
I thought a ferreteria was a pet shop in Yorkshire.
Interesting diagnosis but the question remains apart from the build quality is the battery going to be reliable and do what it says on the tin thank you
So is it possible to make the 20v battery work with say the circular saw which claims it will only work with the 20/40v battery? OR will it not work because it cant bridge the two batteries to create 40v?
will I be able to buy a compatible battery in US for Aldi ferrex cordless drill? or I have to use active energy?
I've got all there tools apart from the lawnmower and numerous batteries can't wait for the circular saw and jigsaw and recip saw good tools. The 40v battery just uses an extra pin on its port that's all it is. I'm surprised how long the 40v battery will last especially in the hedge trimmer and Strimmer. The grinder and mower need the 40v battery to run the tools are made in Germany by the same company who make erbauer and the erbauer batteries fit these tools but won't run the 40v stuff
Grinder doesn't need 40v only the chainsaw and the mower do. I see they are teasing more on the 2nd of June in ireland and I don't know what but I'm excited anyway. I'm building my new shed/workshop with this stuff. All very good so far. Only thing I didn't buy is the chain saw as I've no need.
@@Iamtonyfarrell the grinder is 40v mate it will not run on the 20v batteries. I'm hoping they do a recip saw and circular
@@Iamtonyfarrell Their newer brushless angle grinders use their newer line of 20v batteries, which are not compatible with Active energy.
ir would be reasonable to suspect that the logic takes care of a balanced unloading of the two cell packs. so if you put the battery in an other device it can confugure it as a parralel device ..
It cant be it's hard wired to be in parallel. The logic and mosfets are probably for over temperature cut off.
They should have done what you said. it would be safer.
I've also just watched your latest vid on the Parkside 12v battery packs, what a difference in the amount of charge circuitry! There's hardly anything in the Aldi battery! Lidl's Power tools seem to be better made than the Aldi equivalent!
Aldi sell a much better range of ready meals though! 😊
well that's food for thought, lol !
Does the 40 volt last a lot longer than the 20 volt battery
on big battery it says 40V 2,5AH AND 20V 5AH
So, 2 physical divided batteries inside with each 5 cells in series, and 2.5 AH capacity with 5 cells.
All the information you are looking for was available in the manual. READ THE MANUAL.
The manual is useless - full of health and safety crap :)
Sorry I nodded off there for a bit
You too...?
@aircrash tupolov get me some Pro plus
hello Julian I have a problem with the Ferrex angle grinder after about 20 seconds it stops, do you have an idea what could be the cause? greetings JD
from beginnig of the video i thought, holy shit why does he not measure from outside the conntects to the drill both - and both + if they are connected and just parallel the both string, and finaly you open and saw the connection on pcb, thank you....
Ferrex is Workzone rebranded. I suspect the LGT8P22A IC controlling the motor is an ASIC / custom chip.
have the same drill but at mine the jaw chuck seems to be a bit wiggly when it comes to final closing it, there is a slight resistance and sometimes it doesnt really fit nicely to the shaft of the tool. Do you experience the same - just wonderung if its a general problem or just with mine?
The chuck feels very rough when turning it - I also felt the chuck was a weak point on this drill.
Is there any possibility to connect the drill directly to power to get rid off battery and charger?
How does one buy theses tools? I ordered and paid for 2 tools but Aldi emailed me that I would not be having them and they were being returned to the warehouse. they refunded me the cost but no explanation why.
Hi, bit of an odd question here.....
Do you know what other makes/brands of drills share the same 20v batteries?
I'm asking as I already have a Ferrex reciprocating saw with charger and a couple of batteries, but Aldi dont stock the drills anymore.
Any help appreciated!
In Australia the Aldi tool brand is Work Zone. The batteries are Activ Energy. I like the batteries but I have not had a happy time with tools. So much so that I don't even look at them now. Having said that however their cheap multimeters are ok for cheap meters, especially if you wait a month until they drop the prices so they can get rid of the unsold stock.
UK Aldi used to sell WorkZone - I think they still do. This is their new range with swappable batteries similar to Lidl have been doing the last few years
Yeah, Aldi tools are usually Workzone in the UK too. Not seen this branding before. The tools are not great, but they're cheap, so that's what you would expect. I've bought a few bits in the past on the basis that they are better than nothing, and I don't feel they are bad value for money.
Works the same way as Dewalt Flexvolt. The tool somehow configures the output, depending on if the tool has been designed to need it.
For me it looks a little bit different from the DeWalt system. DeWalt has a more complicated system, they switch the voltage in the battery, but this here has 5 pins, where 4 are marked as battery connectors. So I would guess they have 2 physical divided batteries with each 2 AH in one case, with 2 sets of connectors, and I think they connect these 2 batteries in the device's socket, parallel for 18 V (20 V) devices and in series for 36 V (40 V) devices.
This would be effectively the same like the Makita 18V x 2 system, but they use 2 separate batteries to do this.
DeWalt has mechanical switches in the battery, this here don't look like they have such stuff.
Had to go back to the start of the video to double check - but it's right there on the box - definitely a variable speed drill. And these days, that generally means a micro controller switching MOSFETs for PWM. A bit too obvious for Julian? Or was he just too focused on the battery "mystery" of how parallel and serial work?
That's me - focussed :)
I have not been able to find any place in which to purchase a battery can anyone help please ???
Sounds more like 'Ferris', and let's be honest, the coolest 80's film character ever.
Lets not forget Ferris from the Sex Lives of the Potato Men.
the silver flat connectors from ea ch cell, the first one goes thin and that is the point that melts and stops it working
Chuck a flat blade down there. It will turn or the security knob will fall off.
The big battery was out of stock ,the little battery weighs nothing . I suspect the batteries are close to compatible with another brand.
There's potential for balancing problems with multi voltage batterys.
The tools that used the big battery looked pretty nasty.
Ferrux more like borrux
Top tip you can ram 18v Ryobi battery's into performance power 12v tools.
Why oh why are power tool batteries not universal? You can put money on the fact that when this battery comes to the end of its effective life, they will have changed the fitting. This also applies to the major brands, not just supermarket cheapies. One of the reasons I stick to 240 volt.
The video would've been quite a bit more interesting if you'd delayed it a bit and gotten ahold of the security torx screwdriver.
I think he just couldn't wait....like a kid with a new toy :D
I fell asleep . What happened ?
I typically like your videos, but you blew it on this one. Stick with what you know and don't ramble. This is not the first duel voltage system.
" *duel* voltage system."? Have your seconds contact his seconds 😜
This was new to me also and I found this a very interesting video.
ferrex is a power devil rebrand & power devil was a german brand & your trying to work out what id does its a charge clock when it gets to full charge it drops to trickle charge then turns off to stop overcharge, & the middle pin on the drill doesn't connect to the terminal on the battery as its only required during charge
bought 4 grinders 4ah at lidl netherlands for 30€ each. battery 20v 4ah alone cost on webshop 29.99 came in a nice case metal locks. when they reopen the shop, they have a lot of bargains. just bought a battery powered water/dry vacuum cleaner on the lidl.nl for 59.99 with 4ah battery, strange that lidl.de have this for 79.99, saw that one time ago for 65, like Jodi tips and tricks, says a welder can't have enough (battery)grinders and a shop vac
So their active energy angle grinder is also a 20v tool?
Does the big battery mean the Ferrex tyre inflator will run longer?
Their inflators use 12v or xfinity 20v batteries. Both different from these multivolt.
Ya that seems like a lower tech solution but effective but I dont know if yall have dealt and or their 60v system
Those mosfets don’t look very well soldered @20:40
Good day.. I have cordless ferrex drill 16v... It is posible change battery with 20v?
I bought an Aldi ferrex 18v drill which battery can I buy for a spare
The drill middle contact goes to the top contact which is temp..
Where can I buy this battery
Better than counting sheep in my opinion!!
Two battery units: multi-redundant connector fits two batteries in parallel at 20v or two battery units in series at 40v. The wiring can coexist as long as the connector to the appliance has redundancy as shown around 6 mins. The US & UK won the war so have been dumbing down education whilst the Germans have been doing the opposite; can it be any simpler? I survived public school physics, because the fat teacher kicked me out of every single lesson so my brother taught me & I got A grades at O & A level. Kids: survive school! This video confuses things by failing to pre-charge both batteries
Maybe when the temp rises with labor it switches a mosfet or some kind of switch to achieve a higher voltage.
@@johncoops6897 Typically in all of my BMS boards the thermal sensor disconnects the the power from the device, but in rare cases why couldn't they be used to activate a different function. Plus I made a comment early in the video.
@@johncoops6897 Right and I agree, but you can get these sensors in different values and beside a temp sensor it could have been a sensor that trips the mosfets when under a certain load. It was a oddity anyway and rarely implemented if it even did.
I'm used to battery vendors lying about the capacity of their cells. And then these guys come along, branding their 18V battery pack as 20V. Sigh.
Interestingly, the Watt hour figures are calculated using 18V. Small battery is 2Ah 36Wh - big battery is 5Ah 90Wh
That seems to be a new trend not to label the batteries with a multiple of the nominal voltage per cell, which is 3.7V, but to use 4V instead. I recently purchased a Bosch cordless drill which does exactly that and it says 12V. They even say the batteries are interchangeable with the "older" 10.8V batteries and drills.
@@e1woqf , I think it's because it's labeled for consumers (ie compatible), and most consumers need a compatibility label because they aren't EEs. But, yeah misleading just like GB base ten vs base 2, for sd cards.
@@TheRainHarvester Or maybe another glorious idea from the marketing department? Most consumers might think the 12V drill from company A must be more powerful than the 10.8V or 11.1V drill from company B.
DeFault: 20 MAX... They only have the 20 volts fresh from the charger. Gotta love marketing wank!
hmmm, there must be one big oem drill plant that makes all the "cheapish" drills and just labbel em differently?
On one of AvE's video's he gained access to a Chinese tool manufacturers website and the drills were literally like lego - just pick the parts you want (body, controller, clutch, motor, batteries,etc) and they'll fit them together, brand it, and put it all in a box for you, as long as you're buying by the container-load. Some of the bodies looked identical to well known brands, leading to the suspicion they're making fakes/clones, or they're making them for the brands themselves.
The deeply-set screws are not a problem if you have a proper driver handle to use with them. The one I use is made by Snap-On Tools. :-) You didn't open up the charger...
Just tear it down man. what are you doing???
Big Clive would have used the small battery and the drill to open the bigger battery?? Or a Dremel.
Joking, love the channel!!
Or the Vice of Knowledge
Or the hammer of truth
@@andywalwyn "One moment please" .....
What about the charger?
Teardown coming soon :)
Here in Aus ALDI ferrex is there garden line and activ energy is for there standard battery's AAA,aa,C,d type. They sell power tools as workzone titanium, battery's are the same brand also
When you get abattery power tool. The fist thing you do is charge it to full capacity. They don't come fully charged.
They only tell you to do that to avoid complaints about run time :)
Only Julian could buy a drill and turn it into a puzzle. Looks like Julian's next Ebay order is an X-Ray machine. Haahaa.
Isn't this just a cheap version of the dewalt flex volt system?
Nah, AvE opened up the dewalt and it used mechanical switching to put cells in paralell, giving you a huge rush of current as the cells equalised.
@@mozismobile electrically that's almost identical, only difference being that instead of using a physical switch, the battery contacts on the tool do the switching here
@@iRrrmanion1 in theory you could switch the mosfets during equalisation to reduce the current. Whether the Aldi tool does that I don't know, but it is the obvious reason the design things that way
Warning, don't drink beer and watch this video, you'll remember nothing, nothing at all
hi love the video, whats the thermistors ohmage on room temp? tnx
hey Julian its been a while since your last "Whats in my handbag" video, surely im not the only one curious to see what's in your 2019 handbag.
That thermistor is barely even bloody soldered to the board!
Amatuer hour what were they thinking
Omg.!!!! You'd have thought they'd give you than 1 year warranty to cover for something like that, erm......
A small flathead will usually fit fine in a security torx.
why dont you just open the batterys
Because he doesn't have the correct tool.
Looks like my Black and Decker but blue instead of orange.
"Perhaps the battery has a BMS in it." says Julian after looking at a very obvious 5S BMS card inside the battery for 3 minutes. (Dead give away: B+, B2, B3, B4, B- connections)