I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?

thanks
mike lane

Rebel Rouser wrote:
I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?

thanks

My son has a Sears cordless set,
circular saw, recip saw, drill and light
and
this doesn't seem to happen. Sears uses
different voltages that other don't
seem to use, like 19.2 ... I think
that's what his is. He likes his set
very much.
I like the 6 1/2" circular saw ... very
quiet and powerful. BTW, I have a DeWalt
18V circular saw, recip saw and
fluorescent light. I've had the
circular saw
for about 8 years now. I think I like
the Sears circular saw even a little bit
more,
especially because it uses standard 6
1/2" blades and it seems to run very
smooth. My original DeWalt battery,
when fully charged, will still
work, however, not quite as good as the
new batteries I bought when I
bought the recip saw and light, about 1
1/2 years ago. Also, the old battery
will not hold the charge for more that a
week or so of non-use. Maybe you
just have a bad battery. I recently
bought a small cordless screwdriver for\
taking things apart and its battery was
just plain junk although I haven't replaced
it yet.

Rebel Rouser wrote:
I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?

I'm not sure there is one, once the tool is six months or a year old.
'Rechargeable' and 'occasional use' are two things hard to build into
the same tool. It is a lot better than it used to be, but even with
modern batteries, not deep-cycling the tool on a regular basis tends to
lead to degraded performance and short battery life. Cordless tools are
great if you are doing production or making a living with them- the cost
of new batteries or a new tool every 'X' hundred charging cycles is
more than offset by the time savings in not dragging cords around. But
for a tool that gets used in spurts, and then not touched for a month,
not so much. I see lots and lots of 2-3 year old rechargeable stuff at
garage sales and auctions, still shiny, with crapped out batteries. New
packs are either unavailable, or cost almost as much as a new tool.

Other than maybe stuff on deep discount on the remainder table, I don't
plan to buy any more rechargeable tools. I drive a desk for a living
now, so the work I do is so occasional that stringing a cord is not a
major burden.

aem sends...

On Nov 3, 9:02 am, (Rebel Rouser) wrote:
I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?

thanks
mike lane

...a good battery pac for homeowner use

I guess it depends on your definition of "homeowner use".

I own a home, thus I'm a homeowner. I've used my cordless tools to
install my own windows, remodel my own bathrooms, build 2 decks, hang
a couple of hundred feet of fence, etc.

Other homeowners may drill one hole year to hang a picture. For that
type of homeowner use, a cordless tool with a short-life battery is
fine. For my type of homeowner use, that won't do.

Search this group as well as rec.woodworking for terms like cordless
drills and cordless tools. Your question has been raised numerous
times and the opinions vary widely.

Myself, I'm a big fan of DeWalt tools, both corded and cordless.

I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?


Won't happen. All cordless batter packs go bad after a few years.

My story: Got one of those Xmas cordless drill specials from Sears in the
mid-1990s. Bought a replacement battery pack around 2000 maybe '01. Now
dead again. Very cheap cordless battery drill packaged with two batteries
at W-M place cheaper than 2nd replacement battery in '06. $32.00 for new
drill and batteries, or $56.00 plus shipping for replacement.

Question: I opened up the original battery pack and inside were just off the
shelf Ni-Cad batteries connected together. So, why hasn't someone come up
with a battery pack with a way to just replace the internal batteries. For
example remove four screws, pop the batteries, insert new batteries, reseal
the battery case, and charge it. (and repeat every 4 to 5 years.)

What, H.F. wouldn't sell such a battery packs? China wouldn't make such a
thing?

I know, I know, cheaper to build and buy new than repair old.

Phil

on 11/3/2007 9:02 AM Rebel Rouser said the following:
I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?

thanks
mike lane

My 18v Ryobi batteries just died. I have had them for about 4 years and
used the cordless drill for almost everything. With the new lithium-ion
batteries coming out now, the older types are going on sale. I just
bought a twin pack of 18v Ryobi batteries at HD for $40 ($20 each).

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Since finding these folks I have gone with their rebuilds. Worth a look -
the pricing is about half the cost of new.


"Rebel Rouser" wrote in message
...
I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?

thanks
mike lane

"Phil-In-Mich." wrote in
:



I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What
brand of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?


Won't happen. All cordless batter packs go bad after a few years.

My story: Got one of those Xmas cordless drill specials from Sears in
the mid-1990s. Bought a replacement battery pack around 2000 maybe
'01. Now dead again. Very cheap cordless battery drill packaged with
two batteries at W-M place cheaper than 2nd replacement battery in
'06. $32.00 for new drill and batteries, or $56.00 plus shipping for
replacement.

Question: I opened up the original battery pack and inside were just
off the shelf Ni-Cad batteries connected together. So, why hasn't
someone come up with a battery pack with a way to just replace the
internal batteries. For example remove four screws, pop the
batteries, insert new batteries, reseal the battery case, and charge
it. (and repeat every 4 to 5 years.)

Because drills draw a higher current,and need a better connection between
cells,thus the welded straps.

For people who only use their cordless drill every couple of months,get a
Li-ion system;they retain a useful charge for about 6 months.
they COST,though.

With NiCds,it's basically "use it or lose it".

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

on 11/3/2007 12:46 PM C & E said the following:
Since finding these folks I have gone with their rebuilds. Worth a look -
the pricing is about half the cost of new.


What folks?

"Rebel Rouser" wrote in message
...

I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?

thanks
mike lane

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

On Nov 3, 12:10 pm, willshak wrote:
on 11/3/2007 12:46 PM C & E said the following:

Since finding these folks I have gone with their rebuilds. Worth a look -
the pricing is about half the cost of new.

What folks?

"Rebel Rouser" wrote in message
...

I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?

thanks
mike lane

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Ridgid at HD has a lifetime warranty on batteries if you send in the
reciept and barcode. Batteries should not be run dead or overcharged.
Makita, Dewalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee, Bosch all use quality
batteries.

"Phil-In-Mich." wrote in message

Question: I opened up the original battery pack and inside were just off
the shelf Ni-Cad batteries connected together. So, why hasn't someone
come up with a battery pack with a way to just replace the internal
batteries. For example remove four screws, pop the batteries, insert new
batteries, reseal the battery case, and charge it. (and repeat every 4 to
5 years.)

That makes a lot of sense but cut into profits for the toolmaker.

I sent a couple of battery packs to www.primecell.com and got them back
better than new with a higher AH rating. There are quite a few rebuilders
out there.

"willshak" wrote in message
...
on 11/3/2007 9:02 AM Rebel Rouser said the following:
I have no prob with sears cordless tools for homeowner use, if you use
them according to the way they were designed.
But the battery pacs just plain SUCK.
They want hold a charge long, just give up the ship to easy. What brand
of cordless tools has a good battery pac for homeowner use?
thanks
mike lane

When you say "don't hold a charge long" do you mean that when in use they
run out in the middle of the job or between jobs(days apart) the batts die.
If yer looking for a drill that last longer on the job, then look for batt
spec that state 2.2 or greater amp hr rating. The good guys come with at
least 2.5 amp/hr batts- some oat 3 amp/hr. The nicads and nimh cells both
discharge while not being used. At one time the preferred batt was nicad for
a heavy disharge (at one point the nimhs couldnt handle getting really hot)
I gather that's pretty much over and the majority of makers have goine to
nimh and are now going to lithium chemistry. Pricier yet than the nimh but
better energy density and lighter to boot. Also supposed to hold a charge
for longer periods . The battery chargers for the various battery
types(nicad,nimh and lithium) are not interchangeable unless they
specifically say so. Pat