DRILL

[P Doug (WA)]

I have a DeWalt DW972 12V cordless drill that has served me well for many years.  The batteries are finally giving out and won't hold a charge very long.  Now the quandary, buy new batteries which will be about 2/3s the cost of a new drill with batteries or buy the whole new outfit.  If I buy the batteries the drill may give out.  I don't think I can buy a new 12V drill w/batteries that has batteries that will fit my current drill (they change then to make sure of that), so I would have two drills.  I haven't really searched but I haven't seen the batteries my drill uses in any local stores so maybe I don't have a choice.  

Oh well, just in case I have to do it, what cordless drills do you all like?  I have only had this DeWalt.  It has really done everything I have ever wanted of it.

[capt jake]

I have been pondering getting a new cordless drill for soem time.  I still have my old 9.6v Makita.  Batteries have come down in price, so I just keep using the 'old' drill.

I hate throwing things away, especially in this new 'disposable' society.

[Frank Hagan]

Jason Abel rebuilds them and sells reconditioned battery packs on eBay.  I've heard good things about his rebuilds, and that he conducts his business fairly.  His eBay store is at http://stores.ebay.com/Ba...2QQdirZQ2d1QQftidZ2QQtZkm

I shot him an email with a link to this thread in case he wants to pop in and answer any questions.  I don't know for a fact, but I think he disassembles the packs, installs new cells and then reassembles them.  I think its a much better alternative than sending them to the landfill!

[Frank Hagan]

I had a Sears cordless drill, and killed the batteries building my Weekender.  It killed me to toss a perfectly good drill because the batteries for it were more than the cost of a new Makita.  I like the Makita too, and when I picked it I looked at the cost and availability of replacement batteries.  By the time this one dies, who knows if the batteries will still be available?  

I'm not sure you can really go wrong with any one of the name brands out there.  I've seen quite a few Panasonic drills on construction sites around here, and one guy I talked to said it held a charge the longest.  I have no idea if that's true or not.  For my purposes, a drill with two batteries has always been sufficient.

[capt jake]

I forgot about re-building batteries, duh!  See if there is a 'Batteries Plus' in your area.  I buy a lot from them for work.  They do custom builds in house.  That is where I am buying ALL of my batteries lately.  Quality and the price is the best that I have found.  They are based in Olympia, but have several franchhises out there.

[Battery Builders]

Hello,

My name is Jason Abel. I just got signed in here. I rebuild power tool battery packs. I've been browsing through your posts and hope I can actively participate.

Unless batteries plus lowered their pricing in the past few months I believe you will find me to be a more economical choice. Please compare because I do not know exactly what they charge and maybe pricing varies from location to location.

If you would like more information from me just make a post or shoot me an email at batterybuilders@verizon.net

[Greg Luckett]

I have the same DeWalt and the same battery problems now.  I have replaced it with a Ryobi 18V unit, but the DeWalt will be easy to convert to work off of a car or boat battery since it is 12VDC.

[Tom Lathrop]

Greg,  I have converted an old battery as a plug with wire and clips to a car battery.  Now, the drill can work with either a good battery or in the car or boat for trips.

For Jason:

I have "rejuvinated" some batteries with current pulses with mixed success.  Some seem to be completely restored and some will not hold a charge very long.  Some have leaky or otherwise bad cells which have to be replaced with like cells from other to make one good battery that can be restored.  Some battery cases have to be cut apart and some are can be unscrewed.

Even though I can often be successful, I'd probably be interested in using your service.

[capt jake]

Too bad they don't make a pulse type charger for these batteries. I started using the pulse type chargers for our portable radio batteries a number of years ago.  The life expectancey of our batteries has increased dramatically!  I don't have hard numbers but I bet it has increased life by apporximately 2.5 times.  They are pretty proud of those chargers as well.

[P Doug (WA)]

Man oh man,  I think of fixing one problem and two others go bad.  Ever have that period in your life?  Want to replace the batteries/have rebuilt the batteries for my drill, so now my odometer in my Chevy pickup starts fading out, now mostly out.  A new instrument cluster around $500.  I can send it off and get it repaired for $150,  hummm can I trust 'em...  Oh oh the left front axle on my Sentra "run around car" is going bad, that's a $180 repair, but than the hot tub is leaking and so far nothing has fixed it, to take it apart and really find the leak around $1500!  The list is growing.   Time to start working on counting blessings so I don't get flusterated.  

I still would like to know why about 1/2 of the emoticons on this forum are now gray instead of yellow!  (at least on my computer)

[capt jake]

All of the emoticons here on my end are the proper color.  Must be the cold weather over there.

You might check around on the instrument cluster.  We have one shop in town that will repair them.  Even the Chevy dealership uses them.

[P Doug (WA)]

We have one shop in town that will repair them.  Even the Chevy dealership uses them.

Any chance you could get the name of that business.  I did a search on the internet and came up with a few.  The most promising one to me was out of Canada, but if I could get one as close as your area, I could drive ove and straighten things out if I had problems.  If you can get the name without much trouble I would appreciate it.

[capt jake]

LaMann Automotive.
 7292 Martin Way E
Olympia, WA 98516 - 5533
(360) 456-1776
I personally haven't used them for this type of problem (yet, I need to repair my instrument cluster) but my cousin is the one who stated that they repair a lot of the integrated instrument components.  I'll try to call him today to verify this as it was a couple of years ago that we discussed it.

[P Doug (WA)]

Thank you Capt Jake.  Don't go to a lot of extra trouble on this, it may be a while before I get to it.  I have to prioritize my repairs and spread them out over available money.  I don't drive this truck often in fact the reason I would like to get it fixed is so I can try to sell it.

[capt jake]

I can't seem to get ahold of  cous' anyway.  Try calling them and ask them.