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What’s up with battery drills? I have been thru more than a few and when you look for a new battery they don’t make yours anymore. If you do find one it is almost as much to buy two as the dill cost in the first place. Then… why do all of the batteries have to be different? Aren’t they all one technology or the other? And why does a brand change their batteries from model year to model year? Listen, if they are all so good, why do they have to change every few months? What have they changed except the need for you to buy a new drill?
I am sick of it, can you tell?
Ok, I was looking at drills today, and I am getting really sick of spending $200, (actually, the dream drill of the day was closer to $229, @#&$^%*^!!!) everytime I turn around. There has never been anything wrong with any drill that has gone bad, just the batteries. Why can’t they standardize the damn batteries for at least the brand you invest in!!!! WHY, WHY,WHY!!!!!!
I’m done…deep breaths, deep breaths
Replies
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Last thing I check Q, the 110 outlets in this country were standardized. (ducking for cover)
*I guess you haven't looked at Makita batteries tools!Makita has used the same charging system ever since they made cordless tools. Makita is the only manufacture, that if you buy todays drill, you can charge any battery from yesterdays drill.Todays 18 volt chargers will charge any battery that makita made in the last 22 years(except 24volt).EX. if you bought a 12volt drill 5 years ago, and needed batteries , you could buy a 12 NI-MH battery drill today, and use the batteries in your old drill and charge you old batteries with the new charger. Good luck with your new purchase.
*Argh!!!!, the worst piece of crap I ever had was a Makita. The first one when they left the old stick design. Money down the toilet. Two drills, 4 batts, and 2 chargers, (hmm, ten years ago?, $160-170 a piece?). Oh ya, only charger I ever had go bad was one of those. Do you think I care what I charge them on? Like I would even want to replace those batts, I just wanted the ones I PAID for to work right. And oh hell no, Makita won't stand behind the junk. Next? (interesting point about the chargers and batt compatibility though)And Steve, if you are implying that there is always an outlet around, yeps, I think you can tell I have had to go that route one too many times. Everything else I have has a cord on it, why do I even bother with the battery drills...CAUSE I NEED THEM!!! I paid for the "convenience"...again and again and again.Gawd, these are the most frustrating things I ever owned...Need to go to my happy place, where all my tools are sharp and work when I need them...
*I bought a Ryobi 18v cordless drill and circular saw combo for around $150 at HD. I know many would laugh at Ryobi but it seems to work quite well. I use the saw alot and the drill for everything. It has paid for itself many times over. At that price its hard to beat. I bet it wouldn't equal Makita or Dewalt in performance but I think it comes close and I can buy two for the same price as one of those others. One for each hand.
*Q your beef is based on the fact that essentially batteries have not changed in the past 100 years. what do you expect? ;-) Joe
*Yep, Ryobis cost half of what others do, and the batts last less and take all day to charge.Joe, what makes you think I need a reason to rant? Actually, my biggest beef, besides the fact that the newer more expensive batteries don't last as long as the older ones, is that the batterry packs change all the time. They don't have to, and you should be able to buy into a brand and interchange your batteries between tools, not to mention be able to replace the packs for a reasonable charge.They are hosing us, big time, on battery bucks.
*Nope... an hour like the rest of them for a full charge. I do agree we are and will continue to get "Hosed" on batteries....I feel your pain.
*Q- It's called consumerism, I'm with you and I think it sucks..........I'm waiting to see if ANYONE has the guts to come out with TRULY high quality tools. I think that would be the next logical step. I think some of us would be willing to pay, say, $600 for a cordless drill system if it were truly superior in the ways we're talking about here. Another example would be miter saws. I beleive that a lot of people would be willing to pay $1800 for the finest SCMS. Think not? Maybe I'm just dreamin'. -Ken
*Q, I think Porter Cable has pretty much stayed with thier 19.6v drill for eight or nine years now.I haven't owned one, but used a few at work, and they seem to be equal or better than all the others out there.Someone just did an article on batteries. If not FHB, maybe Tools of The Trade. I'll see if I can find it after this "senior moment" passes.
*I'm supprised with all the rants about batteries, that someone hasn't started a company that just sells "generic" batteries for any given drill at a reasonable price. If they made something decent for even 25%less than what the drill manufactures are charging, they would be selling some serious numbers.Gotta think the better mouse trap can be built.
*If I remember correctly, there used to be a company that replaced the actual cells in the battery packs. Most are regular C size. All the tool companies need to do is design the battery case to open easily. Yeah, right!
*Q so what you are saying is that all the companies get together and use the same technology? Generisize the batteries? C'mon, I have a PC 12 V drill that has used the same batteries for at least 10 years. I had to replace the batteries for the first time about a year ago. Do I feel like I got hosed. No, I believe that I got many hundreds of hours out an antiquated battery. I have a brother who drove a Toyota pickup for over 15 years and had 350,000 miles on it before the transmission died. He felt his investment was good and I agree. But then he did the little things to keep his truck in good shape and I believe that you l can do the same thing with cordless tools. I am sorry that you feel that every battery driven tool is a POS but then I also know people who trade vehicles regularly trying to "find a good one" Good luck in your quest. Joe
*Some battery specialty stores will make replacement batteries for cordless tools. I've never had it done myself, but the local store says they can do some, depending on the brand I guess.
*I am convinced that the reason/s that most of these rechargable batteries fail is:1) People expect too much. A battery driven drill will never be as muscular as a 120v model. If the drill is nearly stalling you are probably asking too much of it. Break out your cord and do the job right.2) People, including myself, don't follow the rules for charging batteries. The battery packs should cool down from usage before charging and again before use after charging.3) Buy quality. $200+ for a cordless and 2 batteries sounds like a lot but many of these sales units are loss leaders with inefficient motors, weak batteries and cheap chargers that damage the batteries. Real professional sets cost more.All this said there is something you can do if you are handy with solder. Search for "Sub-C" in your favorite search engine. There are many similar sites to choose from. Just one. http://shop.store.yahoo.com/sundancesolar/nicsub1800ma.htmlBuy cells and build your own fillers for your battery packs. You can usually get better quality cells at a fraction of the cost of a new pack.To the more initiated. Unsolder the old cells and after checking each cell replace only the defective ones. Resolder the assebly being careful to match internal resistances and capacities. In little time you can have a low cost and more powerful battery pack. If you can scrounge old battery cases you can have 4 or 5 packs for each drill and keep each in top shape.
*4Lorn, have you actually tried to do this? If so, which tool brand and model was it? Just curious.
*I have bought clearance battery packs at the Big Box for $3-$5 and disassembled them to reuse the batteries in another pack. It is probably not really worth the trouble, it can be difficult to get the battery case apart, and the batteries are spot welded together, not soldered. Its difficult to solder to the tabs which seem to be stainless steel. But they worked OK. I wouild not waste my time again unless there was a real good reason to do so.
*Ken, Fest tools makes a cordless drill that looks damn awesome in its design.http://www.festool-usa.com
*I did it for a 12v Mill, mine, and a 12v Skill, a friends. While this was several years ago for a while I had new batteries at a good price. In both cases the "new" batteries outlasted the drill. Presently I use a Porter cable 12v model only occasionally. It has given me good service but I don't use it on my present job. In both cases I used the existing battery cases and bought the sub-C cells from a local electronics supply house. I used new sheet copper for the links and found that a propane torch with a small tip provided enough heat to solder effectively without overheating the batteries. Tinning the links and batteries and using a good flux was the trick.This was relatively easy. Helped greatly by buying drills with battery packs that are screwed, as opposed to glued, together. In my experience, battery drills and radio controled models all of the proprietary battery packs are asseblies of standard cells that are available. A little research will also show that the switches and motors are also available if the model can be identified.