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ray hampton
08-17-2014, 7:34 PM
I own 2 drill with the battery packs and the bigger one will discharge every time that I use it, it was charge maybe a month ago and I remove 3 or 4 screws today before it refuse to turn

IS THIS NORMAL ?

Stephen Musial
08-17-2014, 7:41 PM
How old is it? After a while the batteries lose the will to charge (batteries are sentient creatures and will watch and decide to stop working when they know that the other battery isn't charged and there are only 3 screws left to finish a project. The older they get, the smarter they become)

Jason Roehl
08-17-2014, 7:42 PM
All rechargeable batteries self-discharge over time, some more than others. In cordless tools, NiCd self-discharge most quickly, followed by NiMH, and then the Li-ion do the best at holding their charge. A month would be a very long time for NiCd or NiMH, a Li-ion would do okay.

ray hampton
08-18-2014, 11:22 AM
do this mean that the cordless drill will need to be use every day and recharge between use

Pat Barry
08-18-2014, 11:43 AM
do this mean that the cordless drill will need to be use every day and recharge between use
Ray, what brand of cordless drill and battery type are you having trouble with. My old makita with NiMH batteries reached a point where I needed to charge it right before use and even then I could only get 15 to 20 minutes use out of it. A new battery would work for days given the type of use I had. My new Makita with Li Ion battery pack charges in 20 minutes and holds a charge a very long time.

Brian Elfert
08-18-2014, 11:47 AM
I will strongly suggest Lithium-Ion batteries for cordless tools. Ryobi 18 volt tools you can get just the Lithium-Ion batteries for existing tools, but most other brands you need to buy a new tool with batteries. With Ryobi I found the cheapest way to get Lithium-Ion batteries was to buy a new drill with two batteries and charger for about $100.

ray hampton
08-18-2014, 12:55 PM
Ray, what brand of cordless drill and battery type are you having trouble with. My old makita with NiMH batteries reached a point where I needed to charge it right before use and even then I could only get 15 to 20 minutes use out of it. A new battery would work for days given the type of use I had. My new Makita with Li Ion battery pack charges in 20 minutes and holds a charge a very long time.

it is a black-decker, 12 volt, not sure about the type of battery,

ray hampton
08-18-2014, 3:03 PM
both of my cordless drills are black decker , the small one battery pack is a Lithium 12 volt

Glenn Bird
08-18-2014, 9:34 PM
You may have a bad cell or all the cells are just getting old. NiCAd and NMH will only survive a limited number of recharge cycles. If the battery pack has suddenly started acting this way it may be due to a single cell going bad. That is what happened on my 18v drill. Had to replace the whole battery pack.

Joe Tilson
08-19-2014, 8:22 AM
We are fortunate here(if we have Ryobi), because One World Technology has their outlet warehouse right here in town. I have gotten Li-ion batteries for $56.00 each, they may be higher by now. We never know when the sale is, we just see the signs around town and go. When going to these sales we have to check out what we buy very closely. I got two batteries and the housing was cracked. We could not tell until we opened them up. they have all their brands there and even some they have contracts to build like Sears, Black and Decker, and so forth.

Tom Leftley
08-19-2014, 8:26 AM
I have several Black and Decker cordless drills, some 12 volt and the rest 18 volt.
There is usually a date code stamped on the underside of the battery where it plugs into the drill.
The clerk at the local B & D outlet told me that the battery will have a maximum life span of about 4 years.
After that, they usually won't hold a charge.
I too found it cheaper to buy a new drill with two batteries than to just buy a new battery.
Lately, I found Black and Decker have been selling their 12 volt drill and battery packs for $45 - $50.
Checking the date on these batteries, all of them are date stamped for sometime during 2103.

Brian Elfert
08-19-2014, 9:43 AM
We are fortunate here(if we have Ryobi), because One World Technology has their outlet warehouse right here in town. I have gotten Li-ion batteries for $56.00 each, they may be higher by now. We never know when the sale is, we just see the signs around town and go. When going to these sales we have to check out what we buy very closely. I got two batteries and the housing was cracked. We could not tell until we opened them up. they have all their brands there and even some they have contracts to build like Sears, Black and Decker, and so forth.

$56 is a reasonable deal for the full size Ryobi Li-Ion batteries. It seems a bit steep for the compact batteries as Home Depot often sells a Ryobi drill, two compact Li-Ion batteries, and a charger for $99. Gotta be careful as sometimes the charger is an 8 hour charger.

Kev Williams
08-19-2014, 11:11 AM
Do you pull the batteries out of the drill before storing them? Sometimes the unit will cause a slow drain.

Couple of years ago I spent $180 on a high-tech L-iron battery for my '84 Goldwing, because I got tired of the 1-year lifespan of the regular $65 batteries. I took the new battery out for the winter, showing 13.8 volts, brought it in the house. 5 months later it was below 10 volts, which was a warrantee violation, and it refused to take a charge. So I paid for 3 regular batteries and got less than 1 year's use out of it.

Yeah, I could've put a trickle charger on it, but I (wrongly) assumed that a $180 battery should at the very least hold a charge for 5 months.

Conversely, I just replaced a starting battery in our houseboat with a 7/00 date on it last spring. It still held a 12.2 volt charge over the previous winter; last summer I finally replaced the original battery in my 2002 Ford pickup, and our 2004 Stratus is still on the original battery.

Batteries are fickle creatures. Some never seem to work, some don't last, some don't ever want to die.

So in answer to the original question "IS THIS NORMAL?"
Yup, it is.
;)

Brian Elfert
08-19-2014, 12:00 PM
I don't think it is normal for Lithium-Ion power tool batteries to go dead in a month. I sometimes don't charge my Li-Ion batteries for way more than a month and they still work fine when I need them. Mine are the Makita LXT batteries for my main cordless tools although I also have a set of the Ryobi Li-Ion batteries for a cordless miter saw.

ray hampton
08-19-2014, 1:59 PM
I have several Black and Decker cordless drills, some 12 volt and the rest 18 volt.
There is usually a date code stamped on the underside of the battery where it plugs into the drill.
The clerk at the local B & D outlet told me that the battery will have a maximum life span of about 4 years.
After that, they usually won't hold a charge.
I too found it cheaper to buy a new drill with two batteries than to just buy a new battery.
Lately, I found Black and Decker have been selling their 12 volt drill and battery packs for $45 - $50.
Checking the date on these batteries, all of them are date stamped for sometime during 2103.

the battery that are weak got a 2009 date , the good battery pack got a 2011 date , unless they was old when I bought them then I must bought them some time ago, is anybody interest in buying two drills that was use by a old lady who only drove them on the last Sunday on the month

Curt Harms
08-20-2014, 8:11 AM
If the drill with the weak battery is NiMH or NiCad, are you interested in have it rebuilt? I had a couple Porter-Cable 14.4 volt batteries rebuilt by MTO battery. They were superior to the originals. In fact I loaned that drill and batteries to a relative probably 5 years ago. I recently got it back. They didn't touch it the whole time they had it and there was still a tiny bit of charge left in one battery. I put them on the charger and both take a charge. I haven't used that drill, have a better Bosch but in that case the rebuild was worthwhile, even if the cost were equivalent to a new OEM battery.

ray hampton
08-20-2014, 12:02 PM
If the drill with the weak battery is NiMH or NiCad, are you interested in have it rebuilt? I had a couple Porter-Cable 14.4 volt batteries rebuilt by MTO battery. They were superior to the originals. In fact I loaned that drill and batteries to a relative probably 5 years ago. I recently got it back. They didn't touch it the whole time they had it and there was still a tiny bit of charge left in one battery. I put them on the charger and both take a charge. I haven't used that drill, have a better Bosch but in that case the rebuild was worthwhile, even if the cost were equivalent to a new OEM battery.

yes for one good reason, this drill will smash your hand if you try to use it in a corner, very powerful drill