Cordless Batteries - R.I.P (off)

slowburner

This is the history of me and cordless drills over the past few years.

Bosch 14.4V cordless + 1 NiMh battery - dead within a year.
DeWalt 14.4V cordless + 2 NiMh batteries - dead within 2 1/2 years.
Bosch 14.4V + 2 NiMh batteries - dead within 2 years.
Another Bosch - ditto.
Metabo 14.4V + 3 Li Ion batteries - only one battery left.

I give them a bit of stick, I confess, but when you fork out substantial sums on such essential tools; you'd expect their parts to last a bit longer. The cost of replacement batteries is a joke. They always seem to die...... just as the warranty expires.
What's your experience been?

Quiet you

I had a makita 18v li ion die on me after a couple of years but that's it. I've had the other two for over three years now and they seem to be going just as well as they day I got them.

Coriolanus

Really does depend on the usage they get I guess. I use cordless, but lightly. My father who'd do a fair bit more work around with one than I always swore by a corded because the batteries didn't last long enough for him.

jack of all

It's down to usage and minding the batteries- I still have and use the first cordless tool I ever owned, a Dewalt 12v combi drill/driver. I have this tool more than 13 years and both NiCd batteries are still pretty good and appear to take nearly a full charge. I never charge them when they have been rapidly discharged and are hot, if storing them for long periods I charge them fully.

dnme

I thought battery technology had moved on.....no?

slowburner

jack of all wrote: »

It's down to usage and minding the batteries- I still have and use the first cordless tool I ever owned, a Dewalt 12v combi drill/driver. I have this tool more than 13 years and both NiCd batteries are still pretty good and appear to take nearly a full charge. I never charge them when they have been rapidly discharged and are hot, if storing them for long periods I charge them fully.

That's gotta be a record!

jack of all

slowburner wrote: »

That's gotta be a record!

Yeah, it's pretty impressive alright, but then again this drill wasn't used every day and less so now, still did an awful lot of work for me though!:)

boatbuilder

The Makita 12 volt ones don't last long either.

slowburner

The oldest one I have is a DeWalt which still takes a tiny charge, nothing usable though. My old blue Bosch's are stone dead. All I have now is the Metabo (best drill ever) and one battery.
I had great fun taking one of the dead Bosch's apart :eek: - it felt like I was doing an autopsy! Pretty complex machines, cordless drills - when you see what's in them you can understand the cost. But why the heck are batteries so expensive?

Quiet you

dnme wrote: »

I thought battery technology had moved on.....no?

The older Ni Cad ones and stuff like that will lose their charge over time if you don't let them run down completely but you stick them back on regardless.

The new lithium ion ones are pretty decent as far as I can see. You do the usual one full charge and one full use but after that you can charge them at any point and they don't lose their ability to take a charge.

I've used my drill day in, day out for years now and only replaced one battery.

slowburner

dnme wrote: »

I thought battery technology had moved on.....no?

I would have thought so too.
But it seems that the latest generation of Li ion batteries don't have as long a life as was hyped. They are lighter and seem to hold a longer charge. Not having to fully discharge them is a great time saver.
A battery is a battery and I think the technology will always be limited.
I wonder if we will ever have Uranium powered batteries? :eek:

Carlow52

slowburner wrote: »

A battery is a battery and I think the technology will always be limited.

+1
just look at elec cars.

slowburner

True.

JoeB-

yeah, batteries don't last long.

I use Makita 14.4V and am trapped, I keep having to buy the same guns as I need new batteries.

Axminster are sellling the 14.4V with 3 x 1.3Nimh batteries, for £100. That's much cheaper than the batteries on their own.

More screw guns roobed from my van last week, so new ones needed.. down to three batteries for three screwguns.



Battery packs can be re-made.. but it might nto be cheap enough. My Polish worker says that he knows a guy in Poland who will open battery packs and re-insert new batteries. .. . but at a new screw gun for 100, wiuth three batteries it wouldn't be cheap enough.

I have at least six wasted batteries.


Casn a screw gun be wired into a transformer?, for workshop use? Has anyone sucessfully done that?

slowburner

JoeBallantine wrote: »

yeah, batteries don't last long.

I use Makita 14.4V and am trapped, I keep having to buy the same guns as I need new batteries.

Axminster are sellling the 14.4V with 3 x 1.3Nimh batteries, for £100. That's much cheaper than the batteries on their own.

More screw guns roobed from my van last week, so new ones needed.. down to three batteries for three screwguns.



Battery packs can be re-made.. but it might nto be cheap enough. My Polish worker says that he knows a guy in Poland who will open battery packs and re-insert new batteries. .. . but at a new screw gun for 100, wiuth three batteries it wouldn't be cheap enough.

I have at least six wasted batteries.


Casn a screw gun be wired into a transformer?, for workshop use? Has anyone sucessfully done that?

Haven't got much of a clue about electrics/electronics but any transformers I've seen, only step down to 110v or 12v so I doubt that'd work for a 14.4v. You could ask on the Lifehacking thread - lots of inventive dudes there who'll tell ya!
I've started to use an ordinary electric drill as a screw gun - the drawbacks are that there is no brake or torque setting which makes it awkward enough to control depth etc.. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's not too bad.
Btw, if you're buying a new kit, I would recommend Li-Ion over NiMh - they're lighter, more powerful and you don't have to run them down before you recharge them. They're more expensive though, and they don't respond well to being dropped:(

slowburner

Just come across this site - anyone bought from them?
http://abatterysales.com/

quietsailor

JoeBallantine wrote: »

yeah, batteries don't last long.

I use Makita 14.4V and am trapped, I keep having to buy the same guns as I need new batteries.

Axminster are sellling the 14.4V with 3 x 1.3Nimh batteries, for £100. That's much cheaper than the batteries on their own.

More screw guns roobed from my van last week, so new ones needed.. down to three batteries for three screwguns.



Battery packs can be re-made.. but it might nto be cheap enough. My Polish worker says that he knows a guy in Poland who will open battery packs and re-insert new batteries. .. . but at a new screw gun for 100, wiuth three batteries it wouldn't be cheap enough.

I have at least six wasted batteries.


Casn a screw gun be wired into a transformer?, for workshop use? Has anyone sucessfully done that?

1. I don't think a screw gun can be wired to a transformer unless you spend a lot of money so it won't be cost effective
   
2. Search youtube for videos relating to "repairing cordless drill batteries" or words like that. I've opened those batteries before and all they are is 1.5volt cells connected in series to get up to the required voltage
   14.4v = 10*1.5V cells
   18.0v = 12*1.5v cells etc etc
   It may only be one cell is damaged and depending on where it is in series of cells it is reducing your power - you'd probably be better off replacing all the cells at once though.
3. New replacement batteries are often sold on ebay for a fraction of the cost in a bricks and mortar store

slowburner

Check this out - don't know if believe it - but I've got to try it :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0JbNX4K4fQ

slowburner

quietsailor wrote: »

1. I don't think a screw gun can be wired to a transformer unless you spend a lot of money so it won't be cost effective
   
2. Search youtube for videos relating to "repairing cordless drill batteries" or words like that. I've opened those batteries before and all they are is 1.5volt cells connected in series to get up to the required voltage
   14.4v = 10*1.5V cells
   18.0v = 12*1.5v cells etc etc
   It may only be one cell is damaged and depending on where it is in series of cells it is reducing your power - you'd probably be better off replacing all the cells at once though.
3. New replacement batteries are often sold on ebay for a fraction of the cost in a bricks and mortar store

Any idea why two of my (Li-Ion) batteries started to go on fire when I charged them?

oscarBravo

quietsailor wrote: »

I've opened those batteries before and all they are is 1.5volt cells connected in series to get up to the required voltage

14.4v = 10*1.5V cells
18.0v = 12*1.5v cells etc etc

Minor correction - rechargeable batteries are usually 1.2V, so you're probably looking at 12 cells for 14.4V or 15 for 18V. It's probably a good idea to replace the cells with others of the same chemistry (NiCad or NiMH or whatever) as the charger will be designed with an assumption about the battery chemistry in mind.

slowburner

slowburner wrote: »

Check this out - don't know if believe it - but I've got to try it :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0JbNX4K4fQ

Tried it - nothing happened.

Paul.C

I bought a panasonic 18v 3a cordless about 2 years ago. Paid €480 for it from mcquillans blanch. Best screw gun on the market(IMO) at the time.

Anyway 5 months and about 500 solid oak doors+frames later the battery died. I predrilled every frame and door too.

replacement battery cost €190 and I had to fork it out even though I was under warrantee. I had loads of work and no screwgun:mad: it took 2 weeks for the battery to be replaced under warrantee so now I have 3 batts and all is good again. Still €190 is way to much to be spending on a battery that may last less than a year.

CJhaughey

What happens is the sulphate crystals build up on the cells and cause the cells to short out.
Using the welder burns the crystals off and the battery pack can sometimes take a charge again.
I have 3 Dewalt batteries they must be at least 8 years old now and they are still usable.
One loses charge easier than the others, I might try the zap method and see if I can get it to work again.
I think the tech is there to build high quality packs but the price will be so high as to make them slow sellers.
Proper packs would have balanced cells and little charge controllers built in so they don't overheat during use or charging.