[Shop-talk] Did we ever come to a conclusion about lithium-ion tools?

[Arvid Jedlicka]

My 12v Hitachi NiCad and my 15v Panasonic NiMH drills have both died of old battery age. The standard list of alternatives are:

(a) Rebuild the battery packs. Interesting thought but (i) work and (ii) not necessarily cost effective.

(b) Buy a new drill.

Assuming I go for plan (b), what was the general consensus for the new purchase.

My experience with both of the existing drills was that I had adequate power from both of them - enough that I would not consider 
the extra weight, bulk and expense of an 18v NiCad or NiMH to be a worthwhile tradeoff for the extra power it would offer. And as 
only an occasional user - once or twice a week - they sat on the charger for most of their lives.

But the weight and bulk of the 18v Li-ion does have me interested in them as a possible option. What is holding me back from the 
impulse purchase is my experience with Li-ion with my laptops. Great power and light weight - WHILE THEY LASTED. The total lifetime 
of the batteries did not seem to be very good. My Dell is on a desk top dock most of the time. When new the batteries were great but 
after only 24 months they are totally useless. My employer was able to get a replacement set of batteries and they worked great for 
about two weeks but after three weeks they were also totally useless. So I am hesitant to invest in technology that does not appear 
to fit my usage pattern.

Any thoughts anyone would like to share would be appreciated.

Arvid