Today I picked up a DeWalt cordless drill that included two 20V 1.5ah Lithium Ion Batteries and a charger for $99 at Lowes. Before buying a tool I always check to see how much replacement batteries will cost. What surprised me was that on the same display they had a two pack of DeWalt 20V 1.5ah batteries for $119. It would be less expensive to buy a new drill with the charger and two batteries than to replace the two batteries!
I've heard of such things happening with printer ink, that when some printers go on sale (which include ink cartridges), it is cheaper to buy a new printer than to replace the cartridges.
> I've heard of such things happening with printer ink, that when some printers go on sale (which include ink cartridges), it is cheaper to buy a new printer than to replace the cartridges.
Be careful with that. The cartridges that come with new printers are often much lower capacity than the standard issue.
I recently bought a Craftsman C3 19.2v 4.0 ah battery "ON SALE" for about $85. My wife thought it was such a good deal, she went and bought two more.
James
I have a series of Dewalt 18v power toys, drill, reciprocating saw, angle grinder and circular saw.
Drills usually come with all black batteries, they are the low grade that need to be recharged sooner, last the least amount of time and cost less.
The better batteries are black and yellow and will keep you on the job longer per battery and will take twice as long to charge.
The little black charger will not charge them.
Their batteries come in lithium ion, NIMH and ni-cad.
The ones that are XRP will last longer.
The black and yellow charger will charge any of them.
I don't remember the good, better and best of them and there is a significant difference in their cost.
Each one will perform just as strong as the other when fully charged, they simply discharge at different rates.
Google them and you will find a comparison chart online.
You can get some great deals thru the year on them and I got most of mine from the "bare tool" category. I got a better charger and one XRP for about $90 and then got two XRP batteries for about $90.
I will keep the angle grinder on my ATV at work. I've been locked in before and with one and a 4" cutting blade you can escape and be gone really fast.
B-)
I've got a DeWalt 36 Volt cordless setup.
I chose it because the circular saw is a little larger than any of the 18v units. And the hammer drill is great for setting survey control. I'd like to find the matching angle grinder...
But the batteries for that setup list for around $360 each - ouch
That's absolutely ridiculous. You can buy a 36v lipo battery for about $30-40 resale. They are putting it in an injection molded case that costs next to nothing and adding $300 to the price. I'd take it apart and figure out how to re-cell it myself.
3 years ago I bought the Troybilt line of 20v electric yard tools (weed-eater, hedge trimmer, blower, chain saw and pole chain saw) and gave away my gas powered versions of the same. They have been really nice and hassle-free tools ... but a year or so ago that line was sold to a company called "Green Works", and Green Works has since discontinued the 20V line and now has a 24v line. So, now, just a couple years later, the $120 20v batteries are discontinued and I worry they will be impossible to find in the near future. I'm sure this is a "planned obsolesce" scheme to get everyone to buy all new tools every 5 years. After 3 years, the batteries are still strong, and I'm hoping I can get them recelled at Batteries Plus when their time comes. Anyway, that's something to keep in mind.
