Should I rebuild batteries or buy a new drill?

[mission16]

My beloved Dewalt 9.6v drill's batteries have finally given up. 12 years old.
My 12v Ridgid set now has 1 working battery. It is about 9 years old.
In both sets the tools them selves are fine, just the batteries have failed.
So should I be looking to have them rebuilt and keep going or trash them and buy a new set on Black Friday?

[Randy B.]

The batteries I have sent to MTO have come back better than stock. I would rebuild.

They will run a sale on Woodnet every now and then.

[Jack01]

Buy a new drill
It will have all the new features,
Battery about 18 volt, which will be more powerful than you have. More torque.
The new drills are reasonable, if you buy on Black Friday it will the almost same cost as rebuilding batteries.
Also consider that putting money in old drill will not increase the value if you ever resale, you will be selling at a big loss. Your old drills are worth around $ 20, rebuilt will be around $ 40 each battery plus shipping.
I just saw new Dewalt drill with 18 volt ( 2 batteries) for $ 95 at local store.

[BillN]

I'd say it partially depends on how well you like the drill.

I've bought aftermarket batteries for my Makita 9.6 drills, I'm pretty happy with them - I like the drills - well balanced and not too heavy. Great for work around the shop.

[fredhargis]

New drill, hands down (IMHO). I've rebuilt old ones (Note: NiCads), Bought aftermeaket batteries (easily available for Dewalt, and really good), but the newer cordless tools make it time to change up. I just tossed my last NiCad tool this past week because the batteries went bad, purchased in Sept., 2005.

[kscott]

Didn't your Ridgid set come with the LSA option? All the Ridgid tools I have are covered and battery replacement is free.
HTH
Ken

[Admiral]

I've resigned myself to the fact that cordless drills are throwaways once the battery dies. On any given day at the flea markets you can buy a dozen bare drills for $5 each, so the consuming public has voted on this issue in my experience. I've gone the battery rebuild route and then had the drill fail. Also, size, weight, design, battery technology and features continue to improve. That being said, I still have and regularly use tailed drills, a 30 year old Craftsman, and a 15 year old Makita, both still going strong and for some jobs they are the best choice. I think the cordless ones spoil us due to the obvious convenience in use.

[Bill_de]

I ran into this recently with my 10 year old Bosch tools. I wound up buying aftermarket batteries from Amazon for a reasonable price. While updating to a lithium set for the shelf life of the charge would have been nice, but costly, I can't thing of any new features I would be gaining.

[richtes]

Considering the date, Black Friday is coming. I got the 12v Milwaukee drill/driver/extra battery combo last year for $99.

Rich

[thewizzard]

By todays "standards", old 9 - 12 volt NiCd drills are kinda like a toys. Yes they still make round holes wherever you point them but thats about it. If you can wait a few weeks for the sales to start you will find gold.

To me, putting new batteries in a 9 volt drill is like putting new tires on a Chevette no matter how great something once was, it should eventually be burried