Replies

1. 
   DanT | Nov 21, 2003 02:53am | #1

   We have an 18v set on each truck (2) with 3 batteries per set.  We lose about a battery a year a truck.  Try http://www.toolking.com.  Batteries are $54 if you buy them without the package.  I have always heard the higher the voltage the more frequent the battery failure.  Not sure why but my 12v Makita drill also rarely pukes a battery.  Actually the last drill died before the batteries did.  DanT

2. 
   BarryE | Nov 21, 2003 02:54am | #2

   My vote is poorly made.

   I have 2 18v's and I have pretty much the same experience with the batteries...and recently the keyless chuck doesn't seem to hold very well either

   Ready to look for replacements 

   ---

    View Image

   "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.

   It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

   Every morning a lion wakes up.

   It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

   It doesn't matter whether you are lion or a gazelle:

   When the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

3. 
   WorkshopJon | Nov 21, 2003 04:32am | #3

   "Are these things just poorly made, or am I doing something wrong here. I have the 18v Driver/Drill with a charger and 3-4 batteries, and I lose 2 batteries a year on this rig. They just take a dump on me, and at $89 a battery, this is starting to p i s s me off."

   Boris,

   Whatever you do, don't throw out the old ones. Typically only 1/2 af the cells are bad. Test out and combine a couple of bad battries/packs and you should be good to go for about 10 minutes of time.

   Jon

4. 
   CarpenterPJE | Nov 21, 2003 06:06am | #4

   I bought a 18volt Dewalt combo,  Drill/Circle saw & for some reason I put a date sticker on the batteries  6/1998.

   Both batteries are holding up great!

   I use these tools daily.

   PJE

1. 
   caseyr | Nov 21, 2003 07:26am | #5

   Someone commented some time back that you can often buy a new drill with two barrery packs for less than buying just the two battery packs. 

   However, nicad battery packs are made up of a number of smaller, 1.2volt cells.  You can take the battery pack case apart and replace the bad cells with new ones.  The cells come in a variety of sizes such as SC, N, sub C, as well as the standard AAA, C, D cells (they haven't made a B sized battery in many years...)  Some of the battery pack cases can be tricky to take a apart, but it can be done even if they have to be held together with duct tape afterwards.  The batteries are typically just soldered together with some short wire leads.  There are a number of places on the Internet to buy the replacement nicad cells and some of them will tell you how to go about replacing the bad cells.  I think there have been a couple of threads on this in the distant past on Breaktime.

5. 
   fdampier5 | Nov 21, 2003 02:27pm | #6

   that reflects my experiance with Dewalt..

          except I know it's closer to two batteries a year.. what I do now is buy the drill kit with two batteries It's only 8 bucks more than the two batteries and you have a spare drill..  don't know what I'll do when the drill collection overwhelms the space to store them..

6. 
   BossHog | Nov 21, 2003 05:01pm | #7

   Just on tool batteries in general -

   I've heard that heat can really degrade the batteries. Like leaving the batteries locked up in a pickup in the hot sun for a couple of hours.

   Don't know if this also applies to extreme cold or not.

   A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's because she changes it more often.

7. 
   kostello | Nov 24, 2003 12:49am | #8

   i think its time you got a panasonic.

1. 
   IMERC | Nov 24, 2003 12:51am | #9

   Or a Bosch or a Milwaukee or a ............ 

   Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....