DeWalt Power Drill DW972

[charlese]

Hi Dusty! If you haven't already figured out the usefulness of that drill, Follow the lead of others and my advice. Junk the drill and batteries.

After babying my original 9 volt drill batteries and charger, I junked them and went with Rigid from home depot. Lithium batteries that are guaranteed by HD and Rigid.

Lithium batteries perform differently than the old NICads. They maintain full power until they die suddenly. If another battery is nearby, this is not a problem. Been using the Lithiums for almost three years now and they still perform as if new.

[dusty]

I would probably accept these warnings and go buy new battery operated tools with Lithium batteries except for the fact that I have three devices (drills and jig saws) that use 15v NiCD batteries and they all work fine. I do notice that the tool begins to slow down a bit more quickly but does take a charge and return to "current normal".

This discussion has caused me to dig out the instruction sheets that came with my batteries and or chargers. Very interesting reading. Especially the parts regarding "proper charging".

My batteries would likely last longer if I handled them correctly. What surprised me is DeWalt recommendation to leave the battery in the charger with the charger turned on (even after the battery is fully charged). I thought that was a no-no.

[dynabase]

Lithium batteries perform differently than the old NICads. The issue with NICad batteries is they have a "memory" that shortens the life of the battery every time you recharge them. With NICads it is better for battery life to run them down completely before recharging. Just put them in a tool and lockdown the trigger until the battery dies then recharge it. Leaving them on the charger until you need them is the correct recommendation for NICad batteries.

Lithium batteries do not have that "memory" issue. Given a choice always go Lithium.

Batteries Plus. I have found speciality batteries are cheaper on ebay. I often need to replace batteries in my UPS systems and other electronics. Of the several batteries I priced at Batteries Plus I got the same batteries on ebay for half their price including shipping.

[jsburger]

I would probably accept these warnings and go buy new battery operated tools with Lithium batteries except for the fact that I have three devices (drills and jig saws) that use 15v NiCD batteries and they all work fine. I do notice that the tool begins to slow down a bit more quickly but does take a charge and return to "current normal".

This discussion has caused me to dig out the instruction sheets that came with my batteries and or chargers. Very interesting reading. Especially the parts regarding "proper charging".

My batteries would likely last longer if I handled them correctly. What surprised me is DeWalt recommendation to leave the battery in the charger with the charger turned on (even after the battery is fully charged). I thought that was a no-no.

Dusty, NiCads are a dinosaur. I have the same drill. It worked great for a few years. The batteries died. I bought 2 after market 2000mA batteries. They work OK but discharge slowly over time just sitting on the shelf.

Use the tools you have that work fine until they die and then move on.

I finally bought the DeWalt 20V Max drill/drivers. Lithium batteries. They do not discharge just sitting on the shelf. These tools are brushless motors. Not like the old one. Lots of power and NO battery discharge due to sitting on the shelf.

I did not buy the package (both drivers, one charger and two batteries). I bought the two tools separately so I got four batteries and two chargers. It was way cheaper than buying the extra charger and two batteries separately.

[BuckeyeDennis]

I would probably accept these warnings and go buy new battery operated tools with Lithium batteries except for the fact that I have three devices (drills and jig saws) that use 15v NiCD batteries and they all work fine. I do notice that the tool begins to slow down a bit more quickly but does take a charge and return to "current normal".

This discussion has caused me to dig out the instruction sheets that came with my batteries and or chargers. Very interesting reading. Especially the parts regarding "proper charging".

My batteries would likely last longer if I handled them correctly. What surprised me is DeWalt recommendation to leave the battery in the charger with the charger turned on (even after the battery is fully charged). I thought that was a no-no.

It depends on the charger. A "smart charger" may have three or more different charging states that it progresses through, as the charge condition of the battery changes. The last one is the "float" state, which outputs the proper voltage to maintain the battery at full charge, but not overcharge it. That's the optimum storage condition for the battery.

[Hobbyman2]

If you do decide to replace it,,,, consider the worx system, I use the same charger and batteries now for all my battery tools,from weed eater , leaf blower to cordless drill and cordless impact.

[robinson46176]

Last year we were looking for a better battery string trimmer for Diana since we had already gone through a couple that were a waste of time and money. Those trimmers were weak and worthless. I forget what the first one was but the second was Black & Decker.
I use gas engine trimmers but she had trouble pull-starting them. Still she wanted to be able to do some trimming.
What we bought last year was a Snapper 60 volt battery trimmer. Wow! An actual serious working tool... I have seen a leaf blower and a hedge trimmer in the system at Wally World and have seen a lawn mower on-line. They claim that the mower will cut up to a half acre on a charge. They use a "brushless" motor.
The battery is fairly heavy but is balanced on the trimmer like a gas engine one but I don't know about the blower or hedge trimmer. The lawn mower looks pretty conventional.
I'm afraid that the battery would be a bit too heavy for a 3/8th inch drill... But I could see it on a heavy contractors drill. For a 7 1/4" power hand saw I don't guess it would weigh much more than some of my older conventional power hand saws if the saw part was ultra light.
I am now wondering what kind of woodworking applications might be useful for such a power unit. Maybe it would run a job-site Shopsmith...

I can't help it.


.

[Sazerac81]

Drop the NiCd and NiMH battery driven tools and go lithium. Far better wear characteristics and much, much higher charge/discharge cycles without the inherent slow drain of NiCd and NiMH batteries unless you are talking about very slow discharge NiMH chemistry batteries made by Sanyo/Panasonic Eneloop batteries. However, these slow discharge NiMH batteries were never widely in use in power equipment likely due to weight and expense.

I have had a hitachi 18V Lithium Ion power equipment tool setup Since 2008 and the two 3.0 Ah batteries are still going strong. A NiCd setup would be long gone on the battery front.

As for electric powered lawn equipment, there is a growing field of really, really good battery driven lawn tools. The EGO brand in my opinion stands head and shoulders above all others due to power, design and battery management technology. I have the 21" self-propelled model of their lawnmower and I would never go back to a gas driven push or self propelled lawnmower. No pull cords, no gas, no spark plug, very low maintenance, unfold the mower , pop in the battery and Go! Their string trimmer and backpack blower are also top notch!

Lithium battery driven equipment will just get better and better as the world becomes more dependent on the technology to drive mobile devices, power equipment and the emerging sector of motor vehicles.

Cheers,
John