Cordless drill batteries

[steelrfan85]

I have a Dewalt 18v drill. I have replaced both batteries. What happens is I can put it on the charger for 15 min and have full charge but 10 min later the battery is dead so now pretty much when I need my drill I have to charge 15 min. I have left on for 2 hours and only get 12V but can get 23 in 15 min. Any thoughts? I charged them both up. Next day I went to use the drill and both batteries were completely dead

 

 

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[ChrisK]

Are they nicad batteries? If so...memory on the batteries you will have to replace them.

[steelrfan85]

Yes but I just bought them a few months ago. I wouldn’t think I’d need to replace them again. These batteries aren’t cheap.


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[ChrisK]

Are they nicad or LI?

[BMack37]

If the NiCad batteries were sitting on the shelf for a while they'll have a much shorter life than if they were new. No one noticed back when they were in use because they always sold quick. Now you have year old batteries that are discharging immediately when they're put on the shelf, after several years sitting they're nearly fully drained. Then you charge them up and start using them...its like letting a car sit for a few years without moving, old gas still in the tank. You're not going to get very far. Those cells are shot man. I'd contact Dewalt with your receipt in-hand. 

[steelrfan85]

I’m looking at just getting a compact drill/impact driver combo with lithium batteries. I don’t do much screwing though. Just like small screws to hang up pictures or mount something. Do I really need a impact driver?


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[ChrisK]

Impact guns are nice. With newer technology they have a ton of options out there. I run an Dewalt 887 and a Milwaukee Surge. Both have a screw assist mode that will not allow you to not over drive screws. They make drill bits now that work with impact guns too.

 

At the end of the day though, I use a 12v drill for almost all of my household work. I use those two impacts for assembling furniture projects because of the assist mode but I installed two wall mount TVs in the last two weeks and never broke out an impact gun, just my drill for pilot holes and screwing into studs. Having the option is nice. Also lithium is what you want. I would check out Ryobi, they make awesome home owner tools and have a lot of options that are all cost conscious.

 

Welcome to the forums by the way!

[steelrfan85]

Ok thank you for the input. I was looking at Rigid which is Home Depot’s brand amiably because it comes with a lifetime warranty on everything.


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[fm2176]

41 minutes ago, steelrfan85 said:

Ok thank you for the input. I was looking at Rigid which is Home Depot’s brand amiably because it comes with a lifetime warranty on everything.


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Ridgid has some nice tools, but nowhere near the number that Ryobi offers.  The Lifetime Service Agreement is outstanding, though, but be forewarned that it only applies to batteries purchased with kits.  For example, two of my 4Ah batteries are covered, as they came with a kit, as are all three of my 2Ah batteries, which were part of starter packs (battery and charger kit).  My other four 4Ah batteries are not covered, however, since they were purchased in 2-packs.

 

You'll hear some horror stories of the LSA registration process, but either Ridgid has refined this, or the naysayers weren't doing something right.  I've registered at least 15 Ridgid products with only two getting kicked back.  Each time I simply scanned or took a photo of the receipt and submitted it online. 

[ToolBane]

If you know for certain you’re almost exclusively going to be doing small things, I’d honestly just get correspondingly small tools, meaning 12V stuff from Milwaukee or Makita. Besides being smaller, both the tools and batteries cost less. Milwaukee has by far the broadest range of 12V products but Makita’s 12V stuff is (usually) even smaller in form-factor.

 

Here’s a decent Milwaukee combo:

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M12-12-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Drill-Driver-Impact-Driver-Combo-Kit-2-Tool-w-2-1-5Ah-Batteries-Charger-Tool-Bag-2494-22/203111686

 

And one from Makita:

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-12-Volt-MAX-CXT-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-3-8-in-Drill-and-Impact-Driver-Combo-Kit-with-2-1-5Ah-Batteries-Charger-Case-CT226/206106306

 

If you weren’t in a rush to buy I’ve noticed that combo kit not too infrequently goes on sales around $100 (around holidays, etc).

 

Ryobi stuff as previously suggested works perfectly fine for intermittent home use and at very friendly prices. They are a bit clunkier though if the brunt of what you’re doing is very small screws on small or delicate projects.

[ToolBane]

I guess I also notice they *happen* to have this sale on a solid drill/impact combo on Makita’s 18V line if you catch it in time:

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-18-Volt-LXT-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Driver-Drill-and-Impact-Driver-Combo-Kit-2-Tool-w-2-2Ah-Batteries-Charger-Bag-CT225R/205995895

[steelrfan85]

I went ahead and bought the Rigid brushless 18v lithium battery drill. Heard great things about them and can’t beat lifetime warranty.


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[khariV]

Just now, steelrfan85 said:

I went ahead and bought the Rigid brushless 18v lithium battery drill. Heard great things about them and can’t beat lifetime warranty.


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True - just remember to register your tools to activate the warranty.

[BMack37]

11 hours ago, steelrfan85 said:

I went ahead and bought the Rigid brushless 18v lithium battery drill. Heard great things about them and can’t beat lifetime warranty.


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I highly recommend an impact driver if driving longer screws, they're quick and powerful. The only real problem is they're loud. Am impact driver is at least twice as fast as a drill and the hex is pretty nice.

 

I keep both M12 brushed on the shelf above my bench. Drill with the drill and drive screws in with the impact...it's a lot faster to not have to drill and change bits to drive.

 

At Lowe's during this markdown spree they have at one of my stores the four piece Bosch kit. One drill/driver, on impact driver, one one-handed recip saw, a light and I think two batteries for $150. That deal is pretty darn good IMO.

[jaf]

Lithium batteries should be stored (over 30 days) at around 30% charge.  Most all the manufacturer's manuals will state that and they ship batteries at a low charge level.  The problem is, it's not that easy to do this if you aren't using your batteries quite often.

 

It would be really nice if chargers had a "storage" button that would charge or discharge to an optional storage amount.  I use my job lights to discharge batteries to store.

[Mycrossover]

He said he just replaced them. NiCds are not lithium but thay are not that bad, either. I have gotten a lot of service from them. I refer you to Battery University on the subject if NiCd memory. It was a problem that was solved very early in NiCd production but people keep repeating it. What causes NiCds to have less and less capacity is over charging, leaving them on the charger for weeks. Recharging a partially discharged NiCd does it no harm. Leving them didcharged is not good but if a Lithium gets low enough it is fatal.

Are they nicad batteries? If so...memory on the batteries you will have to replace them.

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[Daulton Ruff]

I'm 75 and retired but still fiddle farting with projects. I have a 20 year old Nicad Dewalt drill that I still depend on. I've replaced the batteries because I can use them to run the little cordless saw and another tool with them. It's time to replace those batteries too as I only have one left, and 4 dead ones sitting on my shelf. It's a stand by drill but heavy to use.

The lithium drill I have is a Milwaukee 18 volt and I now have to replace the batteries again, as I only have one left. I did have a Dewalt I liked but I wore it out and  thought I would try the Milwaukee. I think both are the same. So I have a whole lot of dead batteries.

 

My issue is when I review people's experiences with both the lithium batteries that are OEM and the ones from China there is a really poor percentage of people who have good experiences. There is almost always between 10 and 20 percent of people, (on Amazon and on the Milwaukee website) who are saying the batteries fail after a short time or do not work at all. The unhappy people on Amazon say "spend more from Milwaukee and get a better battery", but the people on that website have a lower percentage of satisfied customers.

 

These batteries are expensive even if I decide to pay $65ish for two. A gamble and the percentages say it's not a good gamble.  Makes me wonder, again, if I should just go back to a power drill even if I have to drag around a cord.

 

[Biggie]

I think everyone has been tempted by knock off Chinese batteries.  There were times I thought well just to have a few more batteries around even of they aren't as good or give as long or run time.  But when I got looking into them what scared me away was the increased risk of burning up a tool or my house.  

[Daulton Ruff]

On 9/7/2018 at 12:12 PM, steelrfan85 said:

I went ahead and bought the Rigid brushless 18v lithium battery drill. Heard great things about them and can’t beat lifetime warranty.


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On 7/26/2022 at 12:15 PM, Daulton Ruff said:

I'm 75 and retired but still fiddle farting with projects. I have a 20 year old Nicad Dewalt drill that I still depend on. I've replaced the batteries because I can use them to run the little cordless saw and another tool with them. It's time to replace those batteries too as I only have one left, and 4 dead ones sitting on my shelf. It's a stand by drill but heavy to use.

The lithium drill I have is a Milwaukee 18 volt and I now have to replace the batteries again, as I only have one left. I did have a Dewalt I liked but I wore it out and  thought I would try the Milwaukee. I think both are the same. So I have a whole lot of dead batteries.

 

My issue is when I review people's experiences with both the lithium batteries that are OEM and the ones from China there is a really poor percentage of people who have good experiences. There is almost always between 10 and 20 percent of people, (on Amazon and on the Milwaukee website) who are saying the batteries fail after a short time or do not work at all. The unhappy people on Amazon say "spend more from Milwaukee and get a better battery", but the people on that website have a lower percentage of satisfied customers.

 

These batteries are expensive even if I decide to pay $65ish for two. A gamble and the percentages say it's not a good gamble.  Makes me wonder, again, if I should just go back to a power drill even if I have to drag around a cord.

 

Well, thank you for your replies. I did learn something from, apparently the professionals, and that is to store the batteries off of the charger, and store them at a not fully charged state. But another said, and I know this, that a completely discharged battery is death. I guess I just try to keep my batteries not completely charged or  completely discharged.