type of battery for cordless tools

[Donald]

I called Dewalt and asked if my older recharger would handle a Li-Ion battery (no). The guy also said that the big difference between a NiCad and a LiIon is that a Li-Ion can handle many more charge cycles than a NiCad. He also said both will last close to the same time in years. Also the average home owner will never see the benefit of a Li-Ion.

The Dewalt chargers "condition" the NiCad battery, I assume that to mean, they fully discharge it then charge it.

 

[George7941]

Two months ago I bought a Makita 18v LXT Li-Ion tool kit.

One benefit of Li-ion is lower weight and size. Depending on how often you use the tool, it may or may not be a big factor.

Even Nicad and NimH chargers are not interchangeable. NiMh batteries exhibit a slight drop in voltage at full charge and the chargers utilise this phenomenon to detect full charge. Nicads do not exhibit this characteristic.

 

[Silber Igel]

Originally Posted By: Donald
I called Dewalt and asked if my older recharger would handle a Li-Ion battery (no). The guy also said that the big difference between a NiCad and a LiIon is that a Li-Ion can handle many more charge cycles than a NiCad. He also said both will last close to the same time in years. Also the average home owner will never see the benefit of a Li-Ion.

The Dewalt chargers "condition" the NiCad battery, I assume that to mean, they fully discharge it then charge it.


Donald,

I'd highly recommend the LiPo (Lithium polymer, or Lithium Ion LiOn) batteries. They have a higher power output level and will carry you though most jobs on one charge with little loss in power output. They are more expensive to buy/replace but well worth the cost. They will also hold a charge, when in storage, seemingly forever and don't need to be quick charged before you can use them in a big job.

I have them for my Ryobi tools and also use them in my electric R/C airplanes. Much, much better than NiCd.

 

[JHZR2]

Li-ion is better than ni-cd in every way. They are far more environmentally friendly too.

 

[another Todd]

I have ni-cad at home (Milwaukee). The batteries are almost dead every time I try to use them. From a full charge, the self discharge in a matter of weeks without using them, they started doing this when they were about 6 months old. I use Li-ion tools (Bosch) at work, they hold their charge and last probably 4 times longer between charges. More power also. I will never buy another tool that is not Li-ion, there is that much difference.

 

[Donald]

I was not suggesting either, merely repeating what the guy at Dewalt said. One would think he would push the Li-Ion battery if it was better as its more expensive.

I have a Li-Ion battery in my laptop. I order a new one (for free) when it will not power the laptop for at least 2 hours. OK, its my company's laptop really.

 

[cbear]

I work for a mobile computer company, and deal with this all the time. We've made battery powered handheld devices since the early 1980s. Over that time we've evolved from Ni-Cad to NiMH to Li-ion, which is our latest.

Hands down, Ni-Cad can take more total charge cycles (Around 1000). The problem is they also develop a memory charge that will diminish the capacity. They are also the heaviest, and have the lowest current per size.

NiMH have increased current delivery, don't develop a memory as easily, but are down to about 700 total cycles before diminish performance.

Li-ion are the lightest of the three, has the highest current capacity per size, but are only good for about 300 total cycles before diminished performance. They also have a shelf life of about 3 years before their capacity starts to diminish.

We haven't used lithium polymer yet.