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

[David Scheidt]

On Wed, May 14, 2008 at 1:19 PM, Randall <tr3driver at ca.rr.com> wrote:
>> Any thoughts anyone would like to share would be appreciated.
>
> Went through this same question myself just a few days ago.  What I found
> were new 'clone' battery packs to fit my old Ryobi drill, even though the
> Ryobi no longer offers them.  A pair of higher capacity (than original)
> batteries was only about $50 with shipping.  Since a new drill with the same
> features and Lion batteries cost 2-3 times that much, I opted to try the
> clone batteries; with the thought that by the time they die, the market will
> likely have decided on the best battery technology for cordless tools and
> costs will come down.  Or not.
>
> Li-ion seems to have come a long way; at least I've been very happy with the
> rechargeable AA cells I bought last year for my digital camera.  They last
> several times longer on a charge than alkalines, and are still going strong
> after about a year.  Whether they would do that well in a cordless tool is a
> different question ...
>
> Worth noting perhaps, that some Dell models are known for poor battery
> lifetime ... apparently a problem with the charging circuit rather than a
> problem with the battery packs themselves.  No way is a 3 week lifetime
> normal; perhaps the charger is really to blame.
>

Are you sure you've got Li-ion AA batteries?  I've never seen, nor
even heard of such a thing.  There are Li-ion cells roughly the shape
of an AA battery, but they're 3.6 V a cell.

NiMh batteries, on the other hand, are very common, and do indeed last
longer  on a charge than Alkaline batteries do in high draw devices.
And NiMh battery life has about doubled in the last five years.

I'm pretty sure i've posted my rant about Li-Ion batteries here
before, so I won't repeat it (I don't have time, either), but they're
ill suited for most uses.  Their only redeeming feature is that
they've got the best energy/weight ratio of current tech, which for
things like laptops, phones and ipods outweighs their disadvantages.
(Which are cost, short lifetime (both in number of charge cycles and
purely calendar time), and tendency to burst into flame, among
others.)

I wouldn't buy a Li-Ion powered tool.  Maybe in a few years, but not now.

NiMh battery packs are pretty easy to rebuild, or as randall says, see
if you can find a generic replacement.


-- 
David Scheidt
dmscheidt at gmail.com