Rebuild or buy new battery packs

[Dave Lehnert]

I have a Ryobi 14.4 volt drill I like very much so I want to get new battery's.

Home Depot sells the replacement packs for $30. Battery's Plus want $30 to rebuild. Are the rebuilds better or should I just buy new?

[Tom Veatch]

Home Depot sells the replacement packs for $30. Battery's Plus want $30 to rebuild. Are the rebuilds better or should I just buy new?

I can only speak for myself and there could be contradictory experiences, but mine have been that the batteries I've had rebuilt outperform new, stock batteries. Even if the cost is the same, I'd go with rebuilds from here (http://mtobattery.com/store/page2.html). No affiliation other than as a satisfied customer. Still have several 18v original batteries that are showing signs of impending failure and will be going out for rebuild shortly.

[Adam Strong]

I agree. The quality of the cells in a rebuild is much higher than the stock pack.

[Jerome Hanby]

If you can handle a little soldering (and the cells in the ryobi pack are standard) you can buy the cells yourself and rebuild the packs. You could even buy NiMH cells and really have a high performance pack (but maybe fewer cycles than NiCads).

[Paul Ryan]

I have had 2 batteries rebuilt as well and am very happy. The rebuilt batteriess last a lot longer. It did cost more than new batteries but worth it.

[Matt Meiser]

I know from experience that Battery Builders/MTO Battery will use much better cells than Ryobi. The only drawback is that they will take longer to charge.

[Dave Lehnert]

Anyone have experience with Battery's Plus?

[Bill Arnold]

If you can handle a little soldering (and the cells in the ryobi pack are standard) you can buy the cells yourself and rebuild the packs. You could even buy NiMH cells and really have a high performance pack (but maybe fewer cycles than NiCads).
Can you use the same charger for NiCad and NiMH battery packs?

[Tom Veatch]

Can you use the same charger for NiCad and NiMH battery packs?

I've tried to research that exact same question and have gotten conflicting, contradictory, non-definitive results. For what it's worth, this is a quote from the MTOBattery.com listing for their 18v NiMH rebuild offering (emphasis added):



Rebuild Service for a 18V battery taking Sub-C cells. This is the best service we offer with roughly twice the run time as standard NiCad batteries. 100% compatible with ALL NiCad and NiMH chargers.


Personally, due to the conflicting information available, and the fact that the only chargers I have are for NiCad's, I've not had the guts to have my NiCads rebuilt as NiMH.

[glenn bradley]

My MTO rebuilds are better than stock but, I opted for the better cells. There were 3 levels available for my DeWalt and Makita rebuilds. I went with one step up from stock and wish I would have gone two steps up. The rebuilds are noticably better than my remaining stock batts.