Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few seconds,
then rapid rundown. I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the charger
ever so often, but has not used them. My 9.6v are fine, she uses them.

Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine. Nope.

I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

Anyone have batteries rebuilt? BIL says not worth it. A new drill and 2
batt. at Amazon is $152. Batt. rebuild is $40 ea. Drill is in good shape,
that is until I rebuild the batteries...HA!

Going back to TX for Christmas, and she wants the outdoor grill installed.
Been in the garage for a year ++. It needs a outdoor counter (kitchen) to
set on. Only gonna be 9 ft long, so SHOULD be able to do it. Everything is
there, save the PT and backer board.....and batteries.

Rick Samuel wrote:
Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few seconds,
then rapid rundown. I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the charger
ever so often, but has not used them. My 9.6v are fine, she uses them.

Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine. Nope.

I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

Anyone have batteries rebuilt? BIL says not worth it. A new drill and 2
batt. at Amazon is $152. Batt. rebuild is $40 ea. Drill is in good shape,
that is until I rebuild the batteries...HA!

Going back to TX for Christmas, and she wants the outdoor grill installed.
Been in the garage for a year ++. It needs a outdoor counter (kitchen) to
set on. Only gonna be 9 ft long, so SHOULD be able to do it. Everything is
there, save the PT and backer board.....and batteries.


I had a battery rebuilt at Battery Box, or some such place. Next day I
saw a good buy on EBay for the same battery (cheap as the rebuild).
Both were for my 12v DeWalt drill. This was about a year ago and the
rebuilt one has long gone. The cheap one (a real DW battery) is still
going strong. When it dies it will be a good excuse to get a lithium
powered drill.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

A Lot of people mistake their
imagination for their memory.

"Rick Samuel" wrote in
:

Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few
seconds,
then rapid rundown. I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the
charger ever so often, but has not used them. My 9.6v are fine, she
uses them.

Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine. Nope.

I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

Anyone have batteries rebuilt? BIL says not worth it. A new drill
and 2
batt. at Amazon is $152. Batt. rebuild is $40 ea. Drill is in good
shape, that is until I rebuild the batteries...HA!

Going back to TX for Christmas, and she wants the outdoor grill
installed.
Been in the garage for a year ++. It needs a outdoor counter
(kitchen) to set on. Only gonna be 9 ft long, so SHOULD be able to do
it. Everything is there, save the PT and backer board.....and
batteries.



New DeWalt 18v's go for about $89 retail, so rebuilding 2 @ $40 sounds like
a good deal to me - unless the shipping is outrageous.

"Rick Samuel" wrote

Anyone have batteries rebuilt? BIL says not worth it. A new drill and 2
batt. at Amazon is $152. Batt. rebuild is $40 ea. Drill is in good
shape, that is until I rebuild the batteries...HA!

Have BIL give me a call about some swamp land I have for sale.

In my world, $96 (at today's prices) for two, re-built 18v batteries, that
come back stronger and longer lasting than new ones, does NOT equal $152,
even with a drill thrown in, which I/you already own.

I've used my 18v DeWalt drill _hard_ and _long_ for almost ten years ...
have four 18v batteries (2 new style, 2 old style), and have had excellent
service with these guys:

www.primecell.com
www.voltmanbatteries.com

Prices have gone up since, but voltman redid my two oldest 18v's earlier
this year for $70. These have been rebuilt twice now for a savings of at
least $140 that your BIL would have missed out on.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Elrond Hubbard wrote:
"Rick Samuel" wrote in
:

Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few
seconds,
then rapid rundown. I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the
charger ever so often, but has not used them. My 9.6v are fine,
she
uses them.

Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine.
Nope.

I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

Anyone have batteries rebuilt? BIL says not worth it. A new
drill
and 2
batt. at Amazon is $152. Batt. rebuild is $40 ea. Drill is in
good
shape, that is until I rebuild the batteries...HA!

Going back to TX for Christmas, and she wants the outdoor grill
installed.
Been in the garage for a year ++. It needs a outdoor counter
(kitchen) to set on. Only gonna be 9 ft long, so SHOULD be able to
do it. Everything is there, save the PT and backer board.....and
batteries.



New DeWalt 18v's go for about $89 retail, so rebuilding 2 @ $40
sounds like a good deal to me - unless the shipping is outrageous.

80 bucks vs 152 bucks? Sounds like a no-brainer to me unless the new
drill has something you want that the old one doesn't.

By the way, a two-pack of 18v deWalt batteries goes for 119, that's
$59.50 a pop.

If you want a fun project you can build a tab-welder out of a car
audio "stiffening capacitor"
http://ledhacks.com/power/battery_tab_welder.htm and be the envy of,
well, of some geek or other.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"Rick Samuel" wrote in message
...
Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few seconds,
then rapid rundown. I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the charger
ever so often, but has not used them. My 9.6v are fine, she uses them.


I wish my batteries would not discharge. what's the problem? ;~)



Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine. Nope.

I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

Anyone have batteries rebuilt? BIL says not worth it. A new drill and 2
batt. at Amazon is $152. Batt. rebuild is $40 ea. Drill is in good
shape, that is until I rebuild the batteries...HA!

Typically on rebate programs you get an extra free drill or driver or
sumpin. Nailshooter was indicating last week that Ridgid was including an
extra drill at no additional charge. Batteries at $40 each is much cheaper
than a whole new set. If you buy a whole new set, you are getting the free
drill and 2, $76 batteries. Get the batteries rebuilt or buy new OEM
replacements. They will be better than the ones that come in a new kit.

"Rick Samuel" wrote:

Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few seconds,
then rapid rundown. I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the charger
ever so often, but has not used them. My 9.6v are fine, she uses them.

Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine. Nope.

I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

Anyone have batteries rebuilt?

I looked into it through Batteries Plus and it was more than buying a
new battery. Hell, I had a B&D cordless drill battery go bad and it
was cheaper to buy a new drill, which included a new battery, than to
replace the old battery.

How about going for a "semi-cordless drill"? This would more easily
apply to a 12 Volt drill---
After thinking about it for years (I used to drill the tap holes for
maple syrup with a cordless drill) I finally decided to dismantle the
next failed battery and to use its connector to hook up to a garden
tractor battery. Yah, it still has a cord, but you can easily carry the
garden tractor battery to the site and, with a 10 foot cord, have power
miles away from an ac power source. Lasts a lot longer than the 52 tap
holes I'd get from a fresh drill battery and the garden tractor battery
only costs $20.

Note: I have freed up the connector, but I just got a new drill battery
for my birthday, so I have 1 1/2 drill batteries that work okay for now.
Just waiting for the next opportunity.

Pete Stanaitis

On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:34:28 -0500, Richard Evans
wrote:

"Rick Samuel" wrote:

Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few seconds,
then rapid rundown. I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the charger
ever so often, but has not used them. My 9.6v are fine, she uses them.

Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine. Nope.

I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

Anyone have batteries rebuilt?

I looked into it through Batteries Plus and it was more than buying a
new battery. Hell, I had a B&D cordless drill battery go bad and it
was cheaper to buy a new drill, which included a new battery, than to
replace the old battery.

ANd when you are done, you still have a crappy drill with useless
batteries ---- It IS a Black and Decker, right?

If the drill you have is a good drill from a few years back, t is
likely better than the one you would buy today. Just get GOOD cells
(not the cheap chinese crap) and you are good for another 5 years.
The cheap OEM B&D will be shot in much less than 2 years, generally
speaking.

On Nov 24, 1:27*am, "Rick Samuel"
wrote:
*Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few seconds,
then rapid rundown. *I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the charger
ever so often, but has not used them. *My 9.6v are fine, she uses them.

*Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine. *Nope.

*I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

*Anyone have batteries rebuilt? *BIL says not worth it. *A new drill and 2
batt. at Amazon is $152. *Batt. rebuild is $40 ea. *Drill is in good shape,
that is until I rebuild the batteries...HA!

*Going back to TX for Christmas, and she wants the outdoor grill installed.
Been in the garage for a year ++. *It needs a outdoor counter (kitchen) to
set on. *Only gonna be 9 ft long, so SHOULD be able to do it. *Everything is
there, save the PT and backer board.....and batteries.

Call Jason at http://www.mtobattery.com/store/ He will give you all
the help you need whether you buy or not. He's just a nice guy.

I recently replaced the batteries in my DeWalt 18V. It was a piece of
cake and as I recall the cost was about $78 for the two batteries of
better quality.

Jim

In article ,
says...
Seems my 18V batteries won't discharge, only run good for a few seconds,
then rapid rundown. I'm overseas, and my wife has put them on the charger
ever so often, but has not used them. My 9.6v are fine, she uses them.

Dewalt said to recharge every 4 mo, and they should be fine. Nope.

I guess (?) lack of use on the 18V has set up a memory.

Anyone have batteries rebuilt? BIL says not worth it. A new drill and 2
batt. at Amazon is $152. Batt. rebuild is $40 ea. Drill is in good shape,
that is until I rebuild the batteries...HA!

Going back to TX for Christmas, and she wants the outdoor grill installed.
Been in the garage for a year ++. It needs a outdoor counter (kitchen) to
set on. Only gonna be 9 ft long, so SHOULD be able to do it. Everything is
there, save the PT and backer board.....and batteries.

I have found in the past that if I don't use nicads hard, they die, even
if I keep them topped up. And NiMH need to be stored full ... and topped
up from time to time. They last longer that way.

After losing several NiCd batteries due to under-use I had my panasonic
drill's packs rebuilt with NiMH and that works better for me, even if I
pay more. They're more forgiving when being laid up for long periods.
My smart charger can recognize them and adjust charging patterns
accordingly.

In other words, don't get a NiCd powered drill if it's going to sit
around not working for half a year at a time, and don't get those
batteries rebuilt i.m.o. if that's going to be the case, 'cause it's
money out the window. On the other hand, if you're going to use them a
lot, rebuilding is a good idea, or else, change the chemistry to NiMH if
your charger can handle it.

It's odd though, on one occasion I've spoken to several tradesmen (2
builders and 2 plumbers) about cordless power packs, and where one raves
about a brand and how good a service life the batteries have, another
says they're crap and gave out in months ... (this was about Metabo
brand we were talking at the time). Go figure.

I'm not sure about Li-Ion tech yet. I have some walkie talkies where the
Li-Ion batteries died within 3 years. Got replacements, so that's ok,
but again, they spent most of their life in the charger. We use them
maybe 10-20 times a year ... I'd say they never ever got fully
discharged.
... now I also have a little Bosch 10.8 V driver with Li-Ion batteries,
but it's less than 18 months old and I can't say anything about
durability of those batteries yet, other than that they're holding up so
far. No noticable loss of capacity yet. Virtually no self discharge
either.

-P.

Peter Huebner wrote in
t:

*snip*
I'm not sure about Li-Ion tech yet. I have some walkie talkies where
the Li-Ion batteries died within 3 years. Got replacements, so that's
ok, but again, they spent most of their life in the charger. We use
them maybe 10-20 times a year ... I'd say they never ever got fully
discharged.
... now I also have a little Bosch 10.8 V driver with Li-Ion
batteries,
but it's less than 18 months old and I can't say anything about
durability of those batteries yet, other than that they're holding up
so far. No noticable loss of capacity yet. Virtually no self discharge
either.

-P.


Li-Ion batteries have limited shelf life, and are fairly fussy about the
temperatures they're kept at and state of charge. You never want to
*fully* discharge a Li-Ion cell, as once it's dead it's dead. They
usually have charge monitoring circuits and such in the battery because
of serious heat issues.

Most of this is not based on experience, it's from research I did a
couple months ago.

Puckdropper
--
On Usenet, no one can hear you laugh. That's a good thing, though, as
some writers are incorrigible.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

Martin H. Eastburn wrote:

I have two Li-Ion tools. - SKILL - my beloved bought me for Christmas last
year. The one in the shop - a ratchet that I used to drive a hex wrench
that was in the charging unit - but didn't last half a summer. It is
dead.
And I used it a number of times, then stopped using it and it got hot.
Hot. The one in the house - a small hand hex tool unit - works just fine.

I think the 100+ killed the battery in the shop.

Martin


Well, that's not an option for where I live then. I'm not going to baby my
tools by taking them inside just because it gets hot outside.

--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

I always wondered about it, too, the replacement batteries are
ridiculous, but from HF they are reasonable, but the plug-in end and
latch is always model-specific. The case of a DeWalt battery comes apart
with a bit of effort, and the cells themselves are D-size ganged up
different ways to produce the various voltages. If we were to buy the HF
battery . . . or: Radio Shack and other sources sell the cells
separately (and cheaper). What stopped me was the soldering required to
re-wire and assemble the new pack because I had heard that heat may
cause them to 'splode. Later, I ran across a low-temp solder kit at HF,
but never tried it yet.

On Nov 28, 12:44 pm, (RM MS) wrote:
I
latch is always model-specific. The case of a DeWalt battery comes apart
with a bit of effort, and the cells themselves are D-size ganged up
different ways to produce the various voltages.
The dewalt's that I've taken apart were sub c's- as were the makitas,
the milwaukees, the harbor freight.... Pat

Yes, you are right, they are C cells, typo, sorry, but you get the idea