dg wrote:
I've noticed that more and more Li-ion tools are being made available,
but given the careful charging and handling requirements of the
batteries are these going to be dangerous for site or DIY use?

There are many examples of Li-ion batteries exploding and injuring
users. And it is recommended that these batteries are not left
unattended when charging.

As these batteries are more likely to be knocked and sustain unnoticed
damage, I wondered if they can be trusted?


There is nothing inherently more dangerous about Li-ion or Li-poly than
NiCd and NiMH.

Many of the problems that have hit the news have been due to
manufacturing faults. Because the cells in these batteries are different
from the standard cylindrical configuration, manufacturers have had to
re-tool in order to manufacture them. This is the first major re-tool in
a very long time, and it's just taken a bit of time to iron out some
difficulties.

The advantages of Li-ion are huge - much higher power density, no heavy
metal content, great charge-discharge characteristics, the list goes on.

For a glimpse of what can be done with Li-ion, take a look at this:

http://www.pmlflightlink.com/archive/news_mini.html


--
Grunff