On 11/09/2019 21:23, alan_m wrote:
On 11/09/2019 20:52, newshound wrote:

Correct. My Makitas are now quite old but since they seem to be
indestructible it makes more sense just to replace batteries until
they finally die.

Unfortunately Makita have replaced the battery technology (different
physical connection and battery protection circuits) since I purchased
my Makita cordless drill some years ago. Original replacement batteries
or cloned compatibles seem to be very much more expensive than the
latest batteries for their newer cordless tools. However as I already
have two of the older style of batteries, with charger, I recently
purchased a new cordless Makita impact driver (bare) for not much money.
The driver was "old stock" being sold at a discount.

You can also get adaptors to make modern LiIon batteries connect to the
older style NiCd/NiMh tools. E.g:

https://ebay.us/5t1XBI

I recently borrowed the current models of a Makita cordless SDS drill
and angle grinder with 4Ahr batteries. I was impressed with the
performance of both and they compared favourably with my older corded
models.

I originally got a decent Makita 18V combi in about 2003, and added an
ID shortly after. I got the combi with three batts. They lasted many
years, until I replaced them with another three OEM batts (I did try one
"compatible" one - and although the performance at first was ok, the
overall total cycle life was very poor). When the second set of batts
started to die a couple of years back, I decided it was time to upgrade
tools to the Li versions - not so much because of the batteries, but
mostly because the range of choice in the old style was dwindling. I
also decided to get shot of other brands of cordless and concentrate on
Makita 18V for most, and 10.8V for small tools.

The modern 18V batts and chargers also have the big advantage of active
cooling - i.e. the charger has a fan that pushes cooling air through the
battery. So now you can charge a hot battery without risk (in fact they
suggest putting a hot battery on the charger asap is a good thing to do
since it will cool it quickly before it starts actually charging).

Getting one of the above adaptors, means the old tools are still useful.
Performance of the old tools on the new batts seems as good as on their
orginal ones.



--
Cheers,

John.

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