I almost bought a Triton Respirator at a woodshow - $200 Canadian rather
than the usual price of about $350.

I thought it would be good for lathe work - sanding mostly.

I took a closer look at it and was surprised to see NiCad batteries. These
develop a memory in no time. I don't know why they wouldn't go Ni-MH or
perhaps even Lithium-Ion.

Even at $200, it wasn't worth it given that the battery will be toast in no
time.

Brian

B Man wrote:
I almost bought a Triton Respirator at a woodshow - $200 Canadian rather
than the usual price of about $350.

I thought it would be good for lathe work - sanding mostly.

I took a closer look at it and was surprised to see NiCad batteries. These
develop a memory in no time. I don't know why they wouldn't go Ni-MH or
perhaps even Lithium-Ion.

Even at $200, it wasn't worth it given that the battery will be toast in no
time.

http://lazytoad.com/teamtoad/nicad-memory.html

er
--
email not valid

On 19-Apr-2006, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

Perhaps it will take NiMH
batteries anyway, as many do these day.

IIRC, it uses D size batteries (maybe C) and they are soldered in. Not a trivial
change, but not too difficult either. How well the NiCd perform has more to do
with the quality of the recharger than anything else. When I looked at the Triton,
the recharger didn't strike me as a smart one. It should be fine for a pro that
wears it 8 hr/day and recharges it every night, but it would be mediocre for a
hobbiest that uses it infrequently. Lithium Ion would be ideal for the latter.

It would probably trash any warrantee they offer if you changed the batteries.
I wouldn't pass up the repirator on that basis though.

Mike

Memory is a near myth. Lousy chargers are real.

"B Man" wrote in message
.. .
I almost bought a Triton Respirator at a woodshow - $200 Canadian rather
than the usual price of about $350.

I thought it would be good for lathe work - sanding mostly.

I took a closer look at it and was surprised to see NiCad batteries.
These
develop a memory in no time. I don't know why they wouldn't go Ni-MH or
perhaps even Lithium-Ion.

Even at $200, it wasn't worth it given that the battery will be toast in
no
time.

Brian

On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:27:02 -0400, "B Man" wrote:

just to add 2 more cents to this:

An addition to the myth about nicads was that you should completely
discharge the battery before recharging it. If you do this you will
destroy the battery. The batteries on drills that stores have on
display with are usually in this state because customers "try" them
beyond complete discharge.

Norbert

I almost bought a Triton Respirator at a woodshow - $200 Canadian rather
than the usual price of about $350.

I thought it would be good for lathe work - sanding mostly.

I took a closer look at it and was surprised to see NiCad batteries. These
develop a memory in no time. I don't know why they wouldn't go Ni-MH or
perhaps even Lithium-Ion.

Even at $200, it wasn't worth it given that the battery will be toast in no
time.

Brian

"Norbert" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:27:02 -0400, "B Man" wrote:

just to add 2 more cents to this:

An addition to the myth about nicads was that you should completely
discharge the battery before recharging it. If you do this you will
destroy the battery. The batteries on drills that stores have on
display with are usually in this state because customers "try" them
beyond complete discharge.

Norbert

I wonder if they are destroyed or the sales people are just too lazy to
recharge them. ;~) I can say that I used to clamp the triggers on the old
NiCad's on my drill to run down the battery and they still lasted about 4
years on average. I think leaving them discharged could be a problem.

On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:35:29 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:


"Norbert" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:27:02 -0400, "B Man" wrote:

just to add 2 more cents to this:

An addition to the myth about nicads was that you should completely
discharge the battery before recharging it. If you do this you will
destroy the battery. The batteries on drills that stores have on
display with are usually in this state because customers "try" them
beyond complete discharge.

Norbert

I wonder if they are destroyed or the sales people are just too lazy to
recharge them. ;~) I can say that I used to clamp the triggers on the old
NiCad's on my drill to run down the battery and they still lasted about 4
years on average. I think leaving them discharged could be a problem.


Hmmm- don't think it's laziness so much as unaware.
or don't care.

I'll have to think more about this based on your experience with
clamping the trigger. My understanding is that this is not necessary
and may be detrimental.

"Norbert" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:35:29 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:

Hmmm- don't think it's laziness so much as unaware.
or don't care.

I'll have to think more about this based on your experience with
clamping the trigger. My understanding is that this is not necessary
and may be detrimental.


I have always gone with what the manufacturer suggested. It may all depend
on what kind of charger you have also. Some chargers actually will
discharge the battery before recharging. IIRC many do not recommend letting
a discharged battery set uncharged for long periods of time.

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:42:34 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:


"Norbert" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:35:29 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:

Hmmm- don't think it's laziness so much as unaware.
or don't care.

I'll have to think more about this based on your experience with
clamping the trigger. My understanding is that this is not necessary
and may be detrimental.


I have always gone with what the manufacturer suggested. It may all depend
on what kind of charger you have also. Some chargers actually will
discharge the battery before recharging. IIRC many do not recommend letting
a discharged battery set uncharged for long periods of time.


To make a short story long, my experience has been.

I went to CTC to buy a battery drill for a job. They had a Milwaukee
that they were discontinuing - on sale. I had admired the drill many
times but thought it expensive ( which I believe is why they were
discontinuing it - not many sales) It is - by the way an excellent
drill, and worth the money, even at full price, but I couldn't pass on
the sale price.

The one I took home was the last they had and had been on display.
The battery would not take a charge. The charger would not even
recognize it. I did some research on the net and concluded that the
total discharge had finished it. I went back to CTC to see what they
could do and they found the same drill at a nearby store which they
brought in. Turned out one of it's batteries was fried as well, but
they gave me the one that would take a charge. Happy ending for me and
an experience to learn from. I wish I could give you the source I
found on the web that talked about nicads, but it was long ago. The
instructions that came with the tool said recharge it when it started
to slow down. The recharger seems to know what to do.