Cordless drill battery

[lingpau]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this but I'm sure if its not, someone helpful will tell me where to go! (HA HA!) I need to buy a new cordless drill and I am not very knowledgeable about the lithium battery drills. Since its impossible to talk about lights without batteries, I know there are many experts that will be able to make suggestions about a cordless drill and battery choices. My 6 year old Craftsman 12 volt drill is giving me problems with recharging the Ni-cad batteries - they now only last about 10 minutes and they need to be recharged! Of course, my particular battery in no longer made or available anywhere.(Thanks Sears!) Several places will rebuild my two batteries for more $$ than I paid for my drill, batteries and recharger with case. Several stores like Lowes, Sears and others have brand new Lithium powered or NiCad drills for less than it would cost for a shop to rebuild the old batteries. Any suggestions or ideas? Thanks! Ken

 

[lingpau]

I guess I need to ask my question differently. Does anyone know anything about lithium batteries? Are they a better choice for a high drain device?(like a cordless drill) Hopefully someone out there in CPF land has a cordless drill with lithium batteries and can share their knowledge. I don't know if I should go with the Ni-cad or lithium battery drill. (My old Ni-cad drill is worn out and I need to replace it.) Ken

 

[Radiophile]

Lithium ion batteries are fine for a high drain device. I don't know that I'd say they're better than NiCd though. They each have their positives and negatives.

NiCds are cheap and durable when a little care is taken. Their capacity is limited by their chemistry, and they are heavy.

Lithium ions are more expensive, have a lower self discharge rate, they're lighter, and have a greater voltage per cell so you need fewer to get the high voltage that cordless tools seem to be trending toward. They also need a more sophisticated charger or they are easily damaged, which also adds to cost.

Personally I prefer to re-cell battery packs myself. I can usually get a better deal on cells by buying a battery pack that is made for some other device, but uses the correct type of cells. A little work and I have a battery with great capacity.

 

[65535]

I can replace the cells in your pack for shipping and parts cost. PM me if you are interested.

 

[Theatre Booth Guy]

I guess I need to ask my question differently. Does anyone know anything about lithium batteries? Are they a better choice for a high drain device?(like a cordless drill) Hopefully someone out there in CPF land has a cordless drill with lithium batteries and can share their knowledge. I don't know if I should go with the Ni-cad or lithium battery drill. (My old Ni-cad drill is worn out and I need to replace it.) Ken

I have 18 volt Milwaukee cordless tools and have been using their lithium ion V18 batteries for a couple years now. I much prefer the lower self discharge along with the greater energy capacity over NiCd batteries.
Read reviews and be sure to pick tools that are sturdy enough for your needs. Cheap tools tend to be a false value if they break easily or can't get the job done.

 

[gunga]

I can replace the cells in your pack for shipping and parts cost. PM me if you are interested.

My Makita 12V is just crap now with the constantly dieing NiCD battery packs. Do you fix those? Is NiMH better for this application?

 

[Glasstream15]

The Ryobi One+ system at Home Depot has given me great service. They now come in NiCd or LiIon, with the lithiums much more expensive. The batteries and tools are interchangeable so you can use either battery type in any of the tools. I have most of the tools and both types of batteries and I can easily recommend the 18 volt system.

They also have a 12 volt Lithium system, but I feel they are too small for anything except light duty.

And the prices are very good.

 

[Weaselripper]

I have a Makita 18v hammer drill that I got at Home Depot for $300, model BHP454, came with two 3.0 Ah lithium ion batteries and the most intelligent tool battery charger I've ever seen. IMO lithium batteries absolutely destroy NiCd batteries in every way in all practical applications. This thing has a top RPM of 1,700 and max torque of 560 in/lbs, so it's not exactly underpowered.

Trust me dude, once you use a lithium powered tool, you'll hate using any tool that isn't powered by lithium. The two major advantages are that the batteries hold their charge for a ridiculous amount of time, so the tool is actually ready to go when you need it, and the tool will maintain it's performance throughout the charge of the battery and then instantly shut off when the battery becomes discharged. NiCd tools start out strong but get weaker and weaker and more useless until the battery is dead, and when you need the tool the batteries would have probably self-discharged completely from just sitting around. There is also none of that "memory effect" or "battery break-in" trash, just pop it in and go, charge it whenever you want.

Spending more money now on a lithium battery will pay for itself by being more reliable and less annoying.

The only cons I know of about lithium batteries is that they don't work too well in very cold weather, and that they have a "point of no return" discharge, meaning that if you repeatedly run your tool after it's initial 'low battery shutoff', there is a chance you'll discharge the battery to the point where it cannot be recharged and becomes useless. If you take proper care and maintenance of your tools that should never happen, and unless you're drilling ice fishing holes in northern Canada in December, I don't think the cold weather thing will have any effect on you.

Also, my friend got a Ryobi lithium drill (one of the green ones), and I absolutely hate it. It's cumbersome, it's trigger is incredibly stiff and nearly impossible to control the speed with any accuracy, and it has a cheap chuck. I personally recommend buying a high quality brand, can't go wrong with Bosch, DeWalt, or Makita, they aren't cheap, but you get what you pay for in ergonomics, ease of use, reliability and warranty service.

Hope my long post helps. :thumbsup:

 

[Glasstream15]

I only have one little gripe with the above post. It is dead on with the advantages of the lithium powered tools.

But I have almost all of the Ryobi "One +" tools and a lot of them in the lit6hium series. Including the Auto Speed Shift drill. I love it. I have had Makita and Dewalt, NiCds, and personally I love the Ryobis. NOW, one caveat. I do not use my tools to make a living. If these were tools that I used daily to make a living I would pick a brand, Dewalt, Bosch, Milwaukee, etc., and get a full set of tolls of one brand and buy it. But I am a homeowner who uses these tools for crafts, hobbies and general repairs.

And the Ryobi tools are fantastic for that purpose. BTW, the City of St. Augustine supplies Ryobi tools to those employees who need them. They are cheap, they last and last, batteries are cheap and if something happens, they are cheap to replace.

JMNSHO &, of course, YMMV

 

[was.lost.but.now.found]

The Ryobi One+ system at Home Depot has given me great service. They now come in NiCd or LiIon, with the lithiums much more expensive. The batteries and tools are interchangeable so you can use either battery type in any of the tools. I have most of the tools and both types of batteries and I can easily recommend the 18 volt system.

They also have a 12 volt Lithium system, but I feel they are too small for anything except light duty.

And the prices are very good.

+1 on Ryobi 1 18v system. They have made a pledge not to change the battery format, so you just keep buying cordless tools and they will all fit the same batteries. When your batteries die you buy more (at a really good price). Right now you can get a 2 pack of Ryobi 18v batteries for $50-60. Check out the price of one DeWalt battery and I think you'll find it's close to $80-90. Also as Glasstream15 said you can interchange ni-cad and li-ion in the same tools. It's really the best of both worlds.

I went through the same decision making process about 9 months ago when I replaced my old B&D (this is when I purchased the Ryobi). For MY USAGE (yours will of course vary) I decided I did not want li-ion for several reasons. First I am but a weekend warrior. My tools may only get used a couple times per month and I could not justify the cost difference (one battery is more like $90-100 and you also need a special charger). Second, as others have mentioned you can deep discharge li-ion past the point of no return, meaning your $100 battery is now worthless. Only some tools/mfgs have an over-discharge protection; do your research. Ni-cad is much more robust. Another reason I chose ni-cad is that while it does have a high self discharge rate, I have a one hour charger which makes it tolerable to re-charge quickly; there's usually enough charge left in at least one battery to keep me going until the other one is charged.

Good luck with your decision, and please let us know what you decide.

 

[Weaselripper]

The Ryobi 18v lithium AutoShift is the drill that my friend got, and I really wouldn't mind it at all if not for the gimmicky and extremely impractical auto shift feature, which always makes the drill run at full speed (2nd gear on a 2 speed drill) unless it encounters a lot of resistance, combine that with a stiff trigger, it makes it very difficult to control the speed of the drill. After using it for some time he doesn't like it either and would rather have a standard 2 speed shift switch. Also one of lithium batteries that came with his drill deep discharged on like the first day he got it, so he took it to Home Depot and they just replaced it with a new one.

Ryobi is nice because they have a massive lineup of tools that all run off the same battery. And you always have the option of getting a lithium battery pack for them later. They're a lot lighter, so an 18v lithium battery is nowhere near the weight of a NiCd, useful when you're going to be working for awhile. I think most battery chargers out now are multi chemistry ones and can charge both NiCd and lithium.

I don't use my drill to make a living, I just decided that if I'm going to get a new drill, I might as well get the best one I can and never have to worry about it, knowing it'll do any job that needs doing. You really can't go wrong with a Ryobi/Craftsman drill (made by the same company), they'll get the job done, they just don't really have the same ease of use or power as the more expensive ones. Getting a Bosch lithium hammer-drill for weekend tasks could be seen as getting a Ford F-350 diesel to haul bicycles and and plywood, but I'm just the kind of person who buys the highest quality tool available.

And yea, the DeWalt batteries are ludicrously expensive, their drills are great but the battery prices are totally ridiculous even for their NiCd batteries, which is why I'm not really a fan of the company. Their 18v lithium batteries are also not that powerful, like 2.3 Ah or something like that, which is why I got the Makita instead, I got much more power for the cash since they're full size 3.0 Ah batteries, and it was still cheaper than the equivalent DeWalt drill.

If there's one drill you should really avoid, it's the Ridgid drills. I got one for about $270, and it was just horrible. The chuck jaws had an insane amount of runout, and it made strange whirring and clicking noises. I read reviews of people having similar problems with chuck runout on Ridgid drills. Also the case of one of the batteries wasn't closed properly. I returned it and got the Makita I have now.

 

[luckybucket]

The only drill I will buy from now on is a dewalt 36v because it uses lifepo4 batteries. I despise li-on because they only last a few years then wont hold a charge. On the other hand, ni-cad and ni-nmh will last much longer. Yes they self-discharge but that was never an issue for my drill when I used it at work only a few times a month. And if you use it for a living then your draining and charging all the time anyway. I just finished making new packs for my b&d from '98. I used 3800 series sub c's which cost me about 60 total to build two packs. I haven't used it yet, but I can tell it is much more powerful.

 

[MarNav1]

http://www.primecell.com/index.html

 

[JML]

You really need to try the drills before you buy. I don't mean drilling holes, I mean HOLDING the drill, with battery attached. The balance of the drills, the weight, and the feel in your hand will vary greatly among all the brands. And don't buy solely based on the battery type. The balance, in-hand feel, chuck quality, speeds, and other features are critical design items to consider. If you don't need the highest voltage and capacities for your intended use, and aren't a contractor, there's no need to lock yourself into carrying the weight of the highest-voltage models. Consider getting an AC-powered drill for heavy-duty use, and a battery-powered drill for other things, esp. driving screws. The battery type isn't as important as you might think, because if you hate using the drill you won't use it enough for the battery to matter! And the chucks on many drills are not what they ought to be; Jacobs has many of their chucks made in China, and the quality doesn't seem to be there anymore. I really like the LFA chucks (made in France) and the high-quality Japanese chucks on the Panasonics.

I have a Panasonic, with NiMH batteries. Great drill, excellent batteries, and superb chuck. They make LiIon battery drills, too. Consider the Bosch models (but not the ones that require ball-detent drill bits). Stay away from Sears. If you have money to burn, look at Festool!

Look carefully at the warranty and read consumer reviews all over the web's tool sites! Many will tell you how long the drill battery lasts in actual use (i.e., # of screws inserted or # of holes drilled). And I believe many have reported very significant variations in battery life in actual use, depending on ambient temperature.

But it is true -- buying replacement batteries is often more expensive than buying an entirely new drill, charger, and pair of batteries!