Cordless drills

[RTO]

I have three Makita cordless drills, 7.2, 9.6 and 12 volts. Two of them have flashlights that work on the same batteries. I have chargers for each. I bought them brand new and have two battery packs for each and all of them are shot, won't hold a charge. Seems like they all went bad within a year.

I about had a heart attack when I priced the battery packs. The 12 volt packs are $70 and the 7.2 volt are $40! OR I could buy a new drill with two battery packs, charger and some even had the flashlights for around $150.

Well I didn't want to send these drills to the landfill so I decided to give rebuilding one of the 12 volt packs a shot. I found some sub C batteries on ebay and ordered them. The original batteries were 1.3ah, the new ones are 2.2ah. Today I rebuilt the pack and it works great and has got it's ass back! The 10 batteries cost under $27! Now I need to order batteries for another 12 volt and two 7.2 packs. The 9.6 volt will not be rebuilt as it was never a good drill.

That made my day.

[10 Bears]

I bought another 9.6 volt with two battery packs.
Just so I could have a charger for my other unit.
But, it is different, can't charge the old battery packs.

[aviator]

I have a Craftman cordless drill that takes a 14.5v battery, the damn thing cost over $200 with two batteries a long time ago but it's been such a good tool that I decided to spend $150 on replacement batteries, maybe I should have gone your way when I did, I know I will in the future.

[Pogo]

I have a 18 Volt Porter Cable and a 14 Volt Porter Cable battery powered drill. I've went through literally dozens of battery drills. I've found Porter Cable and DeWalt to hold up about the best. Although Makita does hold up pretty good, but they just don't seem to have the power of a Porter Cable or a DeWalt, even when fully charged.

I even bought a couple of Grizzly brand 18 Volt drills. Those things were junk.

There are several places on the internet that will repair your battery packs or sell you the stuff to repair your own.

[RTO]

Originally Posted by Pogo

I have a 18 Volt Porter Cable and a 14 Volt Porter Cable battery powered drill. I've went through literally dozens of battery drills. I've found Porter Cable and DeWalt to hold up about the best. Although Makita does hold up pretty good, but they just don't seem to have the power of a Porter Cable or a DeWalt, even when fully charged.

I even bought a couple of Grizzly brand 18 Volt drills. Those things were junk.

There are several places on the internet that will repair your battery packs or sell you the stuff to repair your own.

The next drill that I buy will be a higher voltage. On drills with a higher voltage than 12 volt the battery packs were too large to comfortably use on and around the dashes of an automobile.

I checked out some of the refurbished packs available on-line and they weren't much less expensive than the new ones. I am going to look for a better deal on bulk batteries for these other packs. I need 22 more batteries.

[Pogo]

I had one of those small Makita 7 or 9 volt, whatever it was. It was a nice little drill for tight areas when you didn't need to drill through real thick steel.

But like everyone else, the battery finally wouldn't hold a charge. I kept it for a long time. But I think I finally threw it away.

[buzgun]

I have a couple Dewalt cordless drills.....They are OK..nothing special

I also have 2 Senco duraspin belt fed cordless drywall screw guns that are awesome

[10 Bears]

Originally Posted by Pogo

I had one of those small Makita 7 or 9 volt, whatever it was. It was a nice little drill for tight areas when you didn't need to drill through real thick steel.

But like everyone else, the battery finally wouldn't hold a charge. I kept it for a long time. But I think I finally threw it away.

I have four of five of those little Makita drills.
And a crap load of batteries.
I think the batteries really died when I let 'em sit, for so many years.
I got into the Dewalt batt/op drills and kept getting larger voltage ones.
My 14.4 volt is currently the better one.
I have an 18 volt assembly, including 6" saw, saber saw, drill and a couple other things.
And four battery packs.
But the "boy" kept the danged charger!

I'll find another charger, one of these days.

[Czubek]

Originally Posted by RTO

I have three Makita cordless drills, 7.2, 9.6 and 12 volts. Two of them have flashlights that work on the same batteries. I have chargers for each. I bought them brand new and have two battery packs for each and all of them are shot, won't hold a charge. Seems like they all went bad within a year.

I about had a heart attack when I priced the battery packs. The 12 volt packs are $70 and the 7.2 volt are $40! OR I could buy a new drill with two battery packs, charger and some even had the flashlights for around $150.

Well I didn't want to send these drills to the landfill so I decided to give rebuilding one of the 12 volt packs a shot. I found some sub C batteries on ebay and ordered them. The original batteries were 1.3ah, the new ones are 2.2ah. Today I rebuilt the pack and it works great and has got it's ass back! The 10 batteries cost under $27! Now I need to order batteries for another 12 volt and two 7.2 packs. The 9.6 volt will not be rebuilt as it was never a good drill.

That made my day.

Did you solder or weld the batteries together?

Brian

[Czubek]

Originally Posted by RTO

I have three Makita cordless drills, 7.2, 9.6 and 12 volts. Two of them have flashlights that work on the same batteries. I have chargers for each. I bought them brand new and have two battery packs for each and all of them are shot, won't hold a charge. Seems like they all went bad within a year.

I about had a heart attack when I priced the battery packs. The 12 volt packs are $70 and the 7.2 volt are $40! OR I could buy a new drill with two battery packs, charger and some even had the flashlights for around $150.

Well I didn't want to send these drills to the landfill so I decided to give rebuilding one of the 12 volt packs a shot. I found some sub C batteries on ebay and ordered them. The original batteries were 1.3ah, the new ones are 2.2ah. Today I rebuilt the pack and it works great and has got it's ass back! The 10 batteries cost under $27! Now I need to order batteries for another 12 volt and two 7.2 packs. The 9.6 volt will not be rebuilt as it was never a good drill.

That made my day.

Did you solder or weld the batteries together?

I have a little Makita 6v (I think) with the built in batteries and you plug the charger into the drill handle. It's taken and put back together many a dash and I really hate to toss it just because the batteries went kaput.

Oh and who was it that has the batteries??

Brian

[RTO]

Originally Posted by Czubek

Did you solder or weld the batteries together?

I have a little Makita 6v (I think) with the built in batteries and you plug the charger into the drill handle. It's taken and put back together many a dash and I really hate to toss it just because the batteries went kaput.

Oh and who was it that has the batteries??

Brian

I used these Makitas for working on dashes at my business before I retired. The 7.2 volt was the first that I bought and worked great, the original battery lasted almost 10 years, honest. I bought it in '82 I believe.

The batteries have solder tabs on both ends so it is easy to assemble them into a new pack. I used the original thermistor and another (?) part, polarity diode maybe?

I found the supplier on ebay, ironically they are a local battery company that I have dealt with before. Sunn Battery Company is the name, they also go by EBC in Jacksonville Flarda. I had them ship the batteries to me because shipping was less expensive than the gas to drive the 60 miles round trip to town in the old 318 p/u.

[Czubek]

Originally Posted by RTO

I used these Makitas for working on dashes at my business before I retired. The 7.2 volt was the first that I bought and worked great, the original battery lasted almost 10 years, honest. I bought it in '82 I believe.

The batteries have solder tabs on both ends so it is easy to assemble them into a new pack. I used the original thermistor and another (?) part, polarity diode maybe?

I found the supplier on ebay, ironically they are a local battery company that I have dealt with before. Sunn Battery Company is the name, they also go by EBC in Jacksonville Flarda. I had them ship the batteries to me because shipping was less expensive than the gas to drive the 60 miles round trip to town in the old 318 p/u.

That answered my next question, also. Thanks!

Brian

[Czubek]

I have a 14v Porter Cable that's over ten years old and still going strong. Have a Makita 9v and a Makita 12v that are both old, 10 years+, but work well.

Man, just got to thinking... Most of the power tools I have are well over ten years old... But they all still work well.

Brian

[gunnysmith]

Dewalt 1/2" 18V Cordless XRP Li-lon Drill/Driver
9 years 7 years for the batteries before replacement

[ErikD]

I have a 12V Makita with 3.0ah batteries, and it's been holding up fine since I bought it 4 years ago despite being worked pretty hard. I do think I'll go up a step or two on the voltage next time I need to buy a cordless drill though.