The 12V and under tools are so nice when the job doesn't require the bigger tool. Keep the drill and either send them to
http://www.voltmanbatteries.com/servlet/StoreFront to get rebuilt or buy the cells and do it yourself. The packs require sub c cells. The 12V pack has 10 of them.
As far as lithium having more power than nicad or nimh that's bs. 12V is 12V no matter what battery chemistry you use. Lithium has horrible cold performance and the batteries lose 5-10% a year from the day they are produced. I still prefer them over nicads but I would never get rid of a tool because it was not lithium.
12v is not 12v.
power is not delivered just by the voltage.
battery capacity is everything.
this is where the mah com in to play.
mah - milliamp hour, or amp hour. literally meaning so many amps per hour.
the lower the mah, the lower the capacity, which means lower run time, and less power.
nicd and nimh have massive voltage drop, as long as your drilling, the voltage is dropping.
with lithium, the voltage does not drop until the capacity starts to dwindle.
so the battery with the highest mah-capacity, will last the longest, and will work the hardest of all your batteries.
higher voltage will allow for a higher powered electric motor which will deliver more torque.
i know, because i run R/C cars. so im all about the batteries.
for example: (my voltages may be off a littleas im not sitting here with my fluke and battery packs)lithium 18v pack, will probably have a full charge of around 20v.
it will stay at 20v for about 80% of the charge, then down to 18v, then to about 13v, in which your battery circutry will cut off the power to the drill so the lithium cells dont go below a certain voltage, if they do, the are permantly dead.
nimh and nicd cells, are charged up to about 19 or 20v on an 18v battery.
as soon as you start drilling, the voltage immediatly goes down---a few hundredths of a volt every few seconds.
and the tool user will usually run it down until the damn thing is dead and will go and recharge. these cells do not require a cut off feature.
so i have proven to myself time after time that the lithium cells are in deed the best battery chemistry on the market today.
im sure there will be a new technology soon, but as of now, lithium power is the way to go.
i chucked my 12v nicd dewalt and once i drilled with my m18 milwaukee, i forgot all about the dewalt until i read this thread. i chucked it a year ago.
so a 12v nicd or nimh will die sooner than a lithium 12v
you will have way more time and power with the lithium because lithium cells can carry a much higher capactiy.
) I found replacements on Amazon for 1/3 of what they were at the hardware or tool store. As I recall, Batteries Plus price wasn't too far off, either.
