On 07 Apr 2009 08:21:20 GMT, pete wrote:

On Tue, 7 Apr 2009 08:45:23 +0100, dennis@home wrote:


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

There's a world of difference between a cheapo drill and a decent one in
performance - and mainly down to the better batteries. Good make batteries
give much more low end torque and make the tool more useful for
screwdriving, etc. I re-celled a PPro 18v with decent cells and it
improved it enormously. But it doesn't feel as nice to use as my Makita.

I find this hard to understand.
Even cheap cells will supply more than enough current for the motor to run
at its maximum.
I do know that cheap cells may not last as long but I seriously doubt if you
could make a PPro run better by just swapping the cells unless the original
cells were already faulty.

One thing you need to remember is that the professionals on this NG have a
different set of values from "us" amateurs - who maybe do a little woodworking
or suchlike from time to time.

And ironically often means 'we' (amateurs) have a more difficult job,
like learning to play an instrument on a 'learners' version?

Re the quality of cells etc. I used to race RC electric cars and I
know how much difference a make of a particular spec cell can make
(generally directly related to the price). However, I guess it's
possible (in not actually probable) that a manufacturer of a big
branded cordless product could use at least reasonable spec cells? I
was thinking that they would still have to balance their reputation
with cost / profit etc.

A good mate has just given me 3 of his Dewalt 12V drills as I have one
and he has moved over (up?) to later spec stuff. They also came with
flat batteries and 2 of the 3 seem to have recovered sufficiently for
me to do a small job with each (and they were still going when I'd
finished). I was also given a Hi-Cap battery (2Ah) that still seems to
be pretty dead but luckily being 12V and NiMH I still have some RC
chargers that might be able to cycle the pack and maybe get them going
again.

Thinking on this irregular use thing I was wondering if I could keep
the cells on some tiny solar panels, just enough to compensate for the
self discharge?

Cheers, T i m