Dragoon 45 Those of you with dead batteries for your cordless drills. Some of those battery packs can be rebuilt. We have a business called "Batteries Plus" here in Oklahoma that will rebuilt those power packs, normally for about 1/2 the cost of a new battery pack. They also can fix broken chargers in some cases. They rebuilt two battery packs for me a while back for an old Craftsman drill, that no one carried replacement battery packs for, and the cost was about 1/2 of what a new battery would have been if available. I believe "Batteries Plus" is a regional business, but I would be willing to bet there are other companies doing the same thing in just about every state in the union.
Those of you with dead batteries for your cordless drills. Some of those battery packs can be rebuilt. We have a business called "Batteries Plus" here in Oklahoma that will rebuilt those power packs, normally for about 1/2 the cost of a new battery pack. They also can fix broken chargers in some cases. They rebuilt two battery packs for me a while back for an old Craftsman drill, that no one carried replacement battery packs for, and the cost was about 1/2 of what a new battery would have been if available. I believe "Batteries Plus" is a regional business, but I would be willing to bet there are other companies doing the same thing in just about every state in the union.
Interstate Batteries will rebuildx them for youy too.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Before I discovered I could jump-start my old drill batteries, I put the battery number into google and found there were a number of places I could buy a replacement battery for actually pretty reasonable, maybe same or cheaper than Batteries Plus. I doubt they are of the same quality but as it turns out I was able to get my 18-19 year old batteries to keep working, for now.
I have to say cordless items seem as common as dirt in charity shops here in northern Virginia - almost everyone I see is sitting there with no batteries so totally useless and why they are up for sale is mind boggling because 99% of people who walk in there will never be able to figure out how to get them working again with batteries - cordless hand saws, cordless shrub trimmers, cordless drills, cordless you name it.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Have a number of Battries Plus outlets here in Florida, believe they are a national chain.
BroadwayLionLike I said, LIONS *Like* Cords.
I like Cords, too, but only those on 4 wheels!
Incidentally, my cordless screwdriver/drill just gave up its ghost after more than 20 years. As usually, it´s the battery which cannot hold the charge any longer. The mechanics are still perfectly fine, but buying a new battery is just not feasible. A cheap new one has more power, is only half the size and weighs a lot less, yet about 15% cheaper than just the replacement battery for my old one, which will end up at the local electronics recycling place.
My wife got me a nice Porter Cable battery operated drill. Really liked the thing. But the charger no longer functions and you can't get a new one. And of course the Porter Cable repair center doesn't know how to repair the one I have. Most frustrating.
I'm actually still using the 20 year old battery the Sears Craftsman came with. One of them stopped taking a charge so I set it aside and eventually the other stopped taking a charge. Then I discovered there was a way I could get the batteries to initiate charging and it worked. I got another year so so out of one of the batteries and that one totally died, then I did the same for the other and so far it's still working.
My cordless Dewalt drill is around 20 years old and still working.
The thing is we're building a layout and may only work 2-3 hours a week on it. Why bother buying new power tools when the cordless is getting the job done?
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
RioGrande, similar experience. Bought a DeWalt 14 volt NiCad battery drill in 1999. Used it for 10 years of heavy contracting use and still use it for bench work building. A replacement battery is about $79 and a new lithium battery drill would be in the $149 range. As long as the old DeWalt keeps working I will stick with it as battteries seem to last at least 10 years. When NiCad batteries are no longer available I will break down and buy a new lithium ion battery drill.
Jim
JKGRXR I read Niel's editorial in the new MR, and I have a related story. I moved from Omaha to Denver, and was trying to put up benchwork. I had a Black & Decker cordless drill, but had not unearthed my battery charger yet. I went to Lowes to price a new charger and a set with a new drill, 2 batteries AND the charger was about $10 more than just the charger. (On Sale), So, I now have 2 drills, 2 chargers and 3 batteries. MUCH more convenient. Since the new batteries are only about 4 years old, I am probably good for 6+ years. I hope.
I read Niel's editorial in the new MR, and I have a related story. I moved from Omaha to Denver, and was trying to put up benchwork. I had a Black & Decker cordless drill, but had not unearthed my battery charger yet. I went to Lowes to price a new charger and a set with a new drill, 2 batteries AND the charger was about $10 more than just the charger. (On Sale), So, I now have 2 drills, 2 chargers and 3 batteries. MUCH more convenient. Since the new batteries are only about 4 years old, I am probably good for 6+ years. I hope.
I've got an old 14.4V cordless Sears Craftsman drill I bought around 1996. It came with 2 batteries and a charger. I'm still using that drill and one of the 2 batteries is still working well enough to keep using it after 20 years! I built my present 10x18' layout using only that 20 year old cordless drill and a Sears Craftsman sabre saw - only those two power tools.
Sure, I would have liked to buy nice power tools like a Mitre saw and better drill etc. but I was on a pretty tight budget and big expenses with my daughter in college etc. I made to and it worked out quite well. Maybe if I get to build another bigger layout, I'll be in a position by then to afford nicer power tools.
LION has new (cheap) power drill. The olde fashioned kind with a cord. LIONS *like* cords, and him has put outlets all around the layout, Nice outlets in Handy Boxes, with 1/2" EMT Conduit between them. LION can use the conduit as a railing to help him get up if him bent down for some reason.
LIONS do not have good luck with rechargable batteries (And him as newtork administrator must fuss with these things all over the place, not only for computers, but also for all of the network switches and stuff).
If LION plugs in a rechargable battery it will be dead by morning, and if he leaves them on the shelf for too long, they will not work anyway. Maybe Him will try a cordless again, but then again maybe not.
Like I said, LIONS *Like* Cords.
Yeah Cords!
ps. The drill is easier to FIND if it is plugged in somewhere. Just look at all of the outlets and you will find it. A battery powerd drill may end up at the bottom of Hogwarts Castle, never to be seen again.
pps. LION has received the new issue, but it is still in the mail box of him, unlooked at as of yet.
My first cordless screwdriver, a Black & Decker, gave great service for about a decade, and then stopped taking a charge. Its replacement, a rather pricey Makita, gave less than three years of service and now no longer takes a charge even though I would let it drain down before recharging. I have priced the batteries and Neil is correct - I can get a new tool for the price of the battery. After a while I am going to have a crate full of old cordless tools it seems.
His editorial did give me the incentive however to no longer put up with the situation but to go out and get a new cordless driver, perhaps a drill/driver combo. He made it clear that this is just the way it is.
Dave Nelson