Higher ampage charger = faster drill charge?

[Pancake]

I have a 12v 500ma charger for my Argos value drill i use as a screwdriver, it takes an age to charge.

I have a 12v 4.1a charger from a screen spare, could it/would it make it charge any faster?

I am not an expert on how batteries charge

[blueball]

Charging batteries slowly makes them last longer and perform better; high speed chargers usually aren't good unless they have been specifically designed for a device.

[Pancake]

So it would work? i only use it sometimes and the drill cost nothing

[blueball]

I "think" it would work but the batteries may get very hot and you risk a fire

[Pancake]

Would that not be the case if the voltage was higher?

[blueball]

I have a 1hr AA charger and a 15min AA charger. They give the same voltage; the 15 min charger has a fan on it to cool the batteries and they are still roasting when the charge is complete.

I only use it occasionally.

I'm only saying be careful and don't leave it alone until you are sure it is safe.

[Butcher]

Probably very risky - lithium ion batteries don't react well to being mucked about with (in that they catch fire). Also you risk massively shortening the lifespan of your battery. I'd just stick with the slow charger.

[Pancake]

Hmm fair enough, as i would be increasing the amps by 8 times

[Stoo]

Go with slower unless you want to start a bonfire

[Bunjiweb]

I thought that devices like that would be regulated to only draw what is needed?...

[peterb]

Lithium ion, NiCad and similar cell chemistry batteries require constant current chargers, that is, the charging current has to be regulated.

Unless the battery and charger are designed gor fast charging, the optimum charge rate is generally one tenth if the capacity, so a 2000mAh cell should be charged at 200mA, for between 12 and 14 hours.

You can double the current and halve the charging time, and so on, but the risk of battery damage increases, and that damage can include the case bursting and fire.

Some battery chargers monitor the temperature and control the charge rate accordingly. Some battery packs have built in sensors are are designed to be used with a specific charger.

Bottom line us that if your aren't certain about the battery chemistry or charging system, don't mess with it.

(As an aside, batteries like car batteries, with lead acid chemistry, require constant voltage chargers, the battery takes the current it needs, which drops as the battery charge increases)

[Apex]

I have a 12v 500ma charger for my Argos value drill i use as a screwdriver, it takes an age to charge.

I have a 12v 4.1a charger from a screen spare, could it/would it make it charge any faster?

I am not an expert on how batteries charge

Without getting into a lot of detail; the short answer is yes but i would not myself use a currant so large.

You have the same voltage going in but a much larger currant/ampage 4100mAh compared to 500mAh so the time to charge would be reduced a lot.

peterb goes into a bit more detail and if you need to more giyf ( http://www.batteryuniversity.com/ might be usefull for a starting point); sufice to say for me when charging i have always with NiMh and NiCd's taken the capicity and half it for the max charging current (this is when dealing with racing rc packs ect ect not normal aa / aaa batterys ect.