battery cost, color me not happy

Frank Fusco

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12,782
Location
Mountain Home, Arkansas
I have a Black & Decker Versa Pack screwdriver and flashlight set I really like. Lightweight and handy. But, the batteries failed some time ago, as happens with most cordless tools. After handing on the wall unused for a couple years I decided to shop price for replacement batts. $43.00 for two small batteries. :eek: Wadda waste. I'll just throw the whole set in trash and buy a small rechargable screwdriver for about $15.00 and when that fails, toss and replace. Forget the "not happy". Color me angry. :mad:
 
I have a Black & Decker Versa Pack screwdriver and flashlight set I really like. Lightweight and handy. But, the batteries failed some time ago, as happens with most cordless tools. After handing on the wall unused for a couple years I decided to shop price for replacement batts. $43.00 for two small batteries. :eek: Wadda waste. I'll just throw the whole set in trash and buy a small rechargable screwdriver for about $15.00 and when that fails, toss and replace. Forget the "not happy". Color me angry. :mad:

Well, sad thing is that the batteries that you'd buy are probably just as old as the ones you threw out and wouldn't last very long. :rolleyes:
 
It's just a fact of life with battery tools using the current technologies. I know some folks were crowing about the Rigid lifetime warranty from HD, and the free replacement batteries they got. No HD near me, so I have no personal experience with it.
 
I've rebuilt my cordless battery packs before. Open up the case and see what type of cells you have inside. Most Ni-Cad cells are c+ size. I buy them on line or at Batteries Plus with the solder tabs attached. It doesn't take long to swap them out.
Just an option.
paulh
 
What Paul said. However some cases are not worth the effort to get in to. and really hard to put back together right. that said I will never trade my good cordless tools for a cheap cordless screwdriver, apples and oranges. Also I think that versa pack system is pretty old and battery technology is constantly changing.

I know you live in the country but my town of 60-80 thousand now has two places where they can replace almost any battery and weld tabs on while you wait. The last battery I needed was cheaper there welded while I waited than anyplace online.

Garry

Frank I just did some looking and I'd toss the old versa pack stuff. They made it real tough to repair the packs. Some are using lithium cells and a lot of jury rigging but that caan be dangerous even if you know what you are doing. They were cheap and are several years old. I actually found someone on Ebay trying to sell two batteries for 140.00... Crazy...
 
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What Paul said. However some cases are not worth the effort to get in to. and really hard to put back together right. that said I will never trade my good cordless tools for a cheap cordless screwdriver, apples and oranges. Also I think that versa pack system is pretty old and battery technology is constantly changing.

I know you live in the country but my town of 60-80 thousand now has two places where they can replace almost any battery and weld tabs on while you wait. The last battery I needed was cheaper there welded while I waited than anyplace online.

Garry

Frank I just did some looking and I'd toss the old versa pack stuff. They made it real tough to repair the packs. Some are using lithium cells and a lot of jury rigging but that caan be dangerous even if you know what you are doing. They were cheap and are several years old. I actually found someone on Ebay trying to sell two batteries for 140.00... Crazy...

Gary, my DeWalt is a good (expensive) model. I really hate just tossing it. I recently tossed some B&D tools and have some B&D Firestorm tools that are essentially unused. With battery prices, I guess all should go in the trash. I hate waste.
 
Frank

My first good tool was a battery powered B&D. Out lived the batteries and I actually found one at a B&D outlet several years later. Then the charger died and it had a thermal fuse that just went open. These have a habit of doing this and aren't meant to be replaced but can be. At the time I actually found a thermal fuse at radio Shack. Slightly different temperature rating but close enough I wasn't scared to use it. Got several more years out of it but now the battery is shot again, i haven't tossed it yet.
My cordless impact driver I got for CPO just a few years back has one dead battery and one that doesn't hold a charge very well.

Garry
 
My battery story was as yours-----finally I ditched all and invested in an 18 volt Makita drill-driver and impact driver set----I have used these tools "hard". This change happened in 08 and my batteries are still going strong. Since than my Makita line includes 6 1/2 circle saw, a reciprocating saw, and most recently a brushless 4 1/2" angle driver. I did acquire two additional 3 amh batteries. Battery performance has been way beyond my expectations.
 
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