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thewizzard said:
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 
+1
Once you've used a lion tool for a while, you'll wonder why you waited so long to upgrade.
Stepping up to a brushless version is a step above and beyond also.
Ed
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Randy B. said:
The batteries I have sent to MTO have come back better than stock. I would rebuild.
+1 to this. I had my Dewalt batteries rebuilt by them a few years ago and was really happy with it.
This drill is probably 15 years old, I've certainly looked at newer drills but other than weight can't see a reason to throw perfectly usable plastic and motor into the landfill.
If I had it on my hip all day long it might be a different story, but for shop and home repairs the Dewalt and my 10 year old Crafstman set work great even though it is 20th century technology.
Mike
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I had a 9.6v dw drill that I liked allot. Was a good drill and much better built than the current stuff. Bought it around the late 90s or so. Batteries lasted the usual 2 years and barely usable after that. Held onto the drill for years and finally sold it at a swapmeet with lots of car parts.
It's rarely worth rebuilding batteries unless it's a specialty tool. Best bet is to wait till bf and pick up the milwaukee 12v kit with the drill and impact driver for $100. It has way more power and better batteries as well as smaller.
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Randy B. said:
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.
Went this route myself. The batteries will come back with a higher Mah, which means longer charge.
WoodTinker
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Admiral said:
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.
Spot on. It drives me nuts that I have to throw away perfectly good machinery because of planned obsolescence.
I've often wondered why there's not a 3rd party manufacturer that could step in and offer nothing but batteries for 5 years and older cordless tools.
Or alternatively, have a manufacturer decide that one battery isn't worth 50-60 bucks.
Chaps my hide.
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I've done both. I started with a 9.6v Makita, then a 14.4 Makita and now I have an 18v Milwaukee. All 3 still work. Usually I'm using the Milwaukee, but I had a bunch of 9.6 batteries redone by MTO. I have a 9.6 angle driver that I really like so I wanted to keep it going. There have been a lot of improvements in cordless tools over the past years so you'll end up with a lot more tool with a new one than the one you bought 12 years ago. My 18v doesn't weigh much more than my old 9.6 straight driver/drill, but has way more power and a better, more versatile clutch. If your old drill works for you it may make sense to have the batteries redone, but a new drill may be a better upgrade.
Phil
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Normally I'd just tell you to get new batteries. Especially with the holidays coming up. DeWalt religiously runs a $25 off $100 purchase at Christmas. That means I can buy two 18V NiCd batteries for $75. Can't even rebuild them that cheap.
However, the tools you have are so small, in your case I'd say splurge on a 20V Li tool set in red or yellow.
I'm looking for good reasons to upgrade to LiOn batteries myself, but I've got 8 tools that use DeWalt's old 18V batteries, and when I can buy a new battery for less than $40 and it lasts a couple of years, it's hard for me to upgrade. The amp-hours available on the 20V LiOn batteries make my mouth water though. DeWalt offers a 20V LiOn battery that has 5 amp-hour charge. That's almost twice what my 18V NiCd battery is.
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MountainWood said:
I've often wondered why there's not a 3rd party manufacturer that could step in and offer nothing but batteries for 5 years and older cordless tools.
Chaps my hide.
Have you looked? I guess to make sense they could only do it for popular tools. As I posted above;
"I wound up buying aftermarket batteries from Amazon for a reasonable price."
See ya later,
Bill
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If it was just the drill, then it would be a fairly easy decision. In my case I have a whole suite of tools, all Bosch in either the 14.4 or 18v category: Jig saw, recip saw, impactor, even a hammer drill (bought an 18v set for 50 bucks a few years ago). These are very well made tools and being cordless are very handy to have. I would bet that the newer versions that are running on lithium aren't any better except for a better battery system.
What sucks is that the manufacturers (Bosch included) decided on planned obsolescence in that they made sure that you had to go with new tools in order to take advantage of the new technology of lithium. IIRC, only Ryobi through HD made available new lithium batterys that could be used on their older tools. After all, the tool doesn't care as long as its 12 or 18vdc. What is critical is that the lithium battery is always charged in its own special charger and that the NiCad stays in its charger and the two never cross. They could have engineered the batteries and chargers so that that would not happen, but they wouldn't be selling more new tools that way, just replacement batteries and chargers.
I've also got a bunch of the Bosch 12v lithium tools, I wonder when they will come out with some newer battery tech and will try to obsolete all those tools as well.
As for me, I'll probably buy some more rebuilt batteries down the road. Got one 18v from amazon a while back and it works fairly well. As it is, I still have nicads that are probably 6 to 10 years old that still take a charge and run, though they don't work nearly as long as they used to. But I have plenty of them and multiple chargers to keep one or two ready to go at all times.
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You are correct about the Ryobi tools. The new lithium batteries work just fine in my old Ryobi tools. Hats off to them. They may have lost some tool sales but I bet they got a lot more sales to customers who appreciate that kind of engineering.
Ken
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