Drill battery charger?

[aka rotten]

Help old guy out,have 19.2 craftsman ni,cad drill charger that batteries need replacing.Want to replace with lithium,see several on e-bay that say 19.2 and have #,s after them. Are they all the same or do i look for certian #s on my charger or something.They look same as mine hookup wise.Thanks,Paul

 

[kythri]

Your issue will be the charger. You need to verify that your charger is capable of charging Lithium-Ion batteries.

If you've got an old enough charger, it's Ni-Cad/NiMH only.

The batteries, they'll function in your drill if they have the same interface.

 

[bonneyman]

I looked into converting NiCd and MHyd to LiPo batteries. The LiPos can be finicky. Drain too fast or charge too fast and they like to catch fire. I didn't like the sound of that.
Not saying it can't be done, but, you gotta make certain everything is right.

 

[aka rotten]

Your issue will be the charger. You need to verify that your charger is capable of charging Lithium-Ion batteries.

If you've got an old enough charger, it's Ni-Cad/NiMH only.

The batteries, they'll function in your drill if they have the same interface.

I,m sorry should have said what i,m looking to buy are lithium charger ,battery combo.Paul

 

[454ragtop]

I,m sorry should have said what i,m looking to buy are lithium charger ,battery combo.Paul

Hate to say it, but a complete new kit with a drill is probably cheaper than buying 2 bats. and a charger.
Jim

 

[CNGsaves]

Take it in to Sears and see if it will work with 19.2 Li On battery. The charger you want is "Multi Chemistry" charger that handles from like 12v to 20v and both NiCad or LiOn.

I got plain 19.v LiOn Craftsman driver at garage sale with no charger so I had to track down the charger. There ARE some on CL and Ebay now and then but you'll have to do lot of hunting.

BEFORE all that, make sure EXACT model # of battery and charger that will work (ie from Sears in person or searching Sears model # with Google). Otherwise you're just wasting your time.

If too frustrated, just head to Lowes and buy DeWalt 18v bare driver/impact for $27 and track down battery/charger for the DeWalt.

 

[dogdog]

for those craftman 19.2v ones.....

The black ones are most likely NICad / NiMH chargers

The red ones are NICad/NIMH/Lithium Ion

 

[kythri]

I,m sorry should have said what i,m looking to buy are lithium charger ,battery combo.Paul

If the combo you're buying is the charger and Lithium-Ion/Lithium-Polymer batteries, then you're good to go.

Just don't charge your new batteries in your old charger. Old batteries in new charger, no problem.

 

[slyonedoofy]

The tool doesn't care if it's lithium or ni-cad.

The charger does matter.

The ones that charge lithium are multi-chemistry chargers. They sense the battery and know how to charge it.

A ni-cad charger will not charge a lithium battery. I doubt it will even fit in the charger. They place bump-outs on the sides of the batteries to keep this from happening.

19.2 at this point is universal in battery fit for the tools.

There was a very early release which could have been different?

 

[dogdog]

Unless something new have been release by craftsman.... their 19.2 red batteries are Lithnium Ion 186500 Not LiPO or LiPo4 type. and their battery are 5 cell *3.7v = 18.5V batteries.

 

[kythri]

A ni-cad charger will not charge a lithium battery. I doubt it will even fit in the charger. They place bump-outs on the sides of the batteries to keep this from happening.

Are you sure? If they modified the battery to prevent it from fitting in the charger, then it wouldn't fit in the tool, either.

I know that, in the case of the Ryobi stuff (manufactured by TTI, who also manufactures the Craftsman stuff), the new batteries most definitely fit in the old chargers. Pretty sure the C3/19.2V stuff is the same.

 

[slyonedoofy]

Are you sure? If they modified the battery to prevent it from fitting in the charger, then it wouldn't fit in the tool, either.

I know that, in the case of the Ryobi stuff (manufactured by TTI, who also manufactures the Craftsman stuff), the new batteries most definitely fit in the old chargers. Pretty sure the C3/19.2V stuff is the same.

The tool doesn't have the tracks that the bump-outs ride in, thus it doesn't matter.

If you look at the batteries you will see on the sides of the part of the battery that goes into the charger thin strips running up and down. These can keep a battery (lithium vs ni-cad) from being placed in a charger not made for the battery.

The tool, unlike the charger, is not set up to stop a different battery from being installed.

This is how craftsman 19.2 works.

 

[SweetD]

Hate to say it, but a complete new kit with a drill is probably cheaper than buying 2 bats. and a charger.
Jim

I was in the same boat and ended up buying a new Ryobi combo drill and impact driver kit with two batteries and a charger included for $99 from HD. Been great so far.

 

[kythri]

The tool doesn't have the tracks that the bump-outs ride in, thus it doesn't matter.

If you look at the batteries you will see on the sides of the part of the battery that goes into the charger thin strips running up and down. These can keep a battery (lithium vs ni-cad) from being placed in a charger not made for the battery.

You mean, these vertical keys on the battery:

??

 

[LB-1911]

Battery & Charger Compatibility
http://www.c3answers.com/pdf/C3-Chart-HIGHRES_v1.pdf

C3 Answers
http://www.c3answers.com/index.html

 

[kythri]

Yes, I understand that. None of that addresses what we were discussing.

What I'm getting at is, I'm pretty sure there is no mechanism on the chargers or the batteries that physically prevents one from putting a new Lithium-Ion/XCP/whatever they call it into an older non-multi-chemistry charger.

The keys I show on the attached picture are also present on the Ni-Cad batteries.

The XCP batteries do not have a female key-way. Any keying system that would prevent you from installing a Lithium-Ion battery in an incompatible charger would have to be present on the incompatible charger, not the battery, otherwise, the battery wouldn't be able to be used in a tool without a key-way.

Ultimately, getting back to my original point in the thread:

Be careful you don't put your new battery in the old charger, because there's nothing physically preventing you from doing so.