Dan wrote:

Patriarch wrote:
I bought 12v tools, because they work well for me, and were much
less expensive for the same levels of build quality. Very seldom
do the batteries need recharging before I do. And I do these
things for the fun of it...

I'm still not sure price point for price point the drills of today
offer that much functional superiority over those of a decade ago,
not that I've done an A B comparison (if such a test exists, I'm
sure someone here will point it out) but the nickel metal hydride
cells at least remove a source of toxic cadmium from landfills.

Apparently lithium-ion batteries are okay too.

NiMH cells do have greater capacity size for size, I just think
most makers use such crappy cells to start with to save $$$ (and
reap $$$ selling replacement cells),

Apparently that's the rule for lots of manufactured cordless
devices. The only common retail NiMHs are 1.2 V AA batteries, the
larger namebrand C and D NiMH cells are just padded AAs.

Nickel metal hydrides aren't hazardous, they hold lots more
electricity, and they don't have memory effects like NiCads. The AA
NiMHs you can buy locally are still rapidly improving. Duracell just
started selling 2650 milliamp hour AA rechargeable NiMHs, that's
about double the capacity of when they first came on the market.

Apparently lithium-ion batteries can be recharged twice as many
times as NiCad or NiMH, and do not fade near the end of their
charge.

Also they don't tend to use the best charging technology. The
charger for my old Skil, as with most nicad units, relied on the
temperature of the pack to determine a full charge, a crude method
that's hard on the cells.

Hmm. I thought current and/or voltage monitoring was common.

I haven't taken the cover off my Makita charger, but I'd be
surprised if it was all that much more sophisticated.

The lithium-ion chargers are more sophisticated, maybe because they
can blow up if not handled with care.

Have fun.







Dan