Lith Ion battery conversion

[JohnEd]

I have some Makita cordless tool that I treasure.  They have done so much work for me that they feel like trusted friends.  The drill is that monster long handled 9 Volt item.  I bought it in 91...can you believe?

Problem is that my umteenth set of bats is getting mighty wimpy and we all know that Makita(9V) is "all the power you will ever need".  Bats are pushing $50 each to replace.  They are still the exemplary tool they always have been but tech. has passed them by.  NiMH is far superior but has itself been blown off the table by Lith Ion with its ability to hold a charge indeffinately if my Dremmel is any example.  And they charge to full capacity with me looking at them.

I have good chargers fo any volyage in NiCad or NiMH or Lith.  Covered that base a while back. 

What would be the source of Lith cells that I could configure/gang to replace my NiCad s?  My NiCads are 9.6 at full charge.  I understand that the three types have different cell voltages so ganging might involve arithmetic.  Does anybody have any experience with this type project?  Sources or info would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

John

Yo!  Lurkers!  Your in this one.

[kyle4501]

I don't know anything about battery types, but . . . .

If you haven't used a 18v dewalt, don't wait until after you have spent more $$ on the 9v makita to use one.

I used to have lots of the makita 9v stuff & I didn't think there was anything better. However, after using a Dewalt at a friends house, I never used the makita stuff again. The extra power & run time was amazing.

The only negative thing is the extra weight, but being able to drill 1/2 inch holes with out a power cord is nice.  

[Iceni John]

I'm with Kyle on this.   My trusty 14-volt DeWalt drill's batteries died last year, and Home Despot wanted about $80 for one replacement battery!   No way.   I bought a 18-volt DeWalt before Christmas for $89.95 (after $10 rebate), i.e a brand-new drill and two batteries and charger and case, all for little more than one 14-volt battery.   It seems to run as long as the old one, it's smaller so I can get into tighter spaces more easily with it, its keyless chuck holds better, its lighter (important when drilling 1/2" holes through tough steel above my head), in other words I think its simply better.

I may at some time convert my old 14-volt drill to be a 12-volt corded drill to run straight off the house batteries.   This will save me firing up the generator every time I need to use a corded drill.   If I can find enough NiCad cells cheap enough to rebuild the old drill's batteries I may try that, but more for fun than practical necessity.

John

[belfert]

There is more to Lithium Ion that just ganging together a bunch of Lithium Ion cells.  Li-Ion generally can't be discharged below about 20% or the cells are wrecked.  In Li-Ion power tools I believe the battery has something in it that cuts off the battery at 20%.

I have Makita 18 volt Li-Ion tools and the drill will out torque my Dewalt 3/8" corded drill.  I did have one Makita Li-Ion battery that seems to have died somewhat prematurely.  I had to buy a new one for about $70.  I couldn't have done my bus without my Makita power tools.

The Makita tools are so good I rarely used a corded tool if I have the cordless version.  The Sawzall sucks on battery life, but all cordless Sawzalls have the same issue.  I use a corded Sawzall unless I have a very small job,  I can't recall the last time I used my corded Dewalt drill.

[JimG]

I have Makita 7.2V, 9V, 12V and now my all time favorite is my Makita 18V LI-Ion drill/driver with the 1/4" hex. Jim G.

[babell2]

After a contractor friend rebuilt our back porch as I watched and helped.  I was sold on the 18V Rigid 1/2 inch Li On drills.  You have to watch your wrist if drilling a large hole. I believe it could snap it with the torque. The small drill battery packs go to full charge in ~45 minutes.  Working on the bus I have run the genny for air compresser and charge a battery pack to get things done.

Brice

[JohnEd]

18 volts in Lith Ion seems to get the full nod on this issue.  So having money to spare or just common sense and "starting out"  There is no way I would go any other way.  Still, always looking for a bagain.  The 18 V NiCad at harbor freight is the answer cause it has only one speed...Hi... and it has little torque because of it.  Their drill driver in 18V is much better and takes stronger bats and a beefer bat.  Neither is a LithIon but for $20 I had to give it a go.  Don't!

I was tyrying to convert my Makita 9V NiCad to 9V lith.  My reasoning was that I had always been well pleased with the "old" 9V and if the bats were still good I would have no motivation to change.  Well the bats are not ay good due to age and they cost a kidney and if I am going to drop that much cash I wanted the quality product to go with it.  LithIon was more moey that I thouight and there was the charger issue but I have the charger but the interfece to the bat is an issue.  I was still kicking this can down te road when I decided that if I had been satisfied with nicad before I might want to see if I could replace the cells in my bats as the sells were $2 each and I needed 8 and that was an easy price...$68 for LithIon wasn't.   So I was poised for the nicad route.

Then along came DALLAS and screwed up MY plan with information and reports of first hand experience with NiMH.  I now have $80 worth on order and that will rebuild all three of the bats I have and all three of my Makita 9V power tools are going to be on-line for years...  Thanks to DALLAS.  I love it when one of my plans comes together....duh

John